The following blog post comes from Benson Hines and I found it to be a helpful reminder to college ministers as they continue to plan out their spring break itinerary.  I had posted near the end of last year an idea of bringing your ministry to beach reach and if you need other ideas feel free to contact our office.  Benson's blog site is exploringcollegeministry.com.  

I was thinking about Spring Break last night, and I figure I’ll post a few times about that this week. (While some of you may have some big plans already in the bag, I figure it’s still a good week to think about that BIG WEEK coming soon on the college ministry calendar.)

Today, an easy question that might require a hard answer:

Are you letting tradition decide what you do this Spring Break, or prayerful strategy?

There are college ministries out there that have “standard fare” for Spring Break activity – it’s a ski trip every year, it’s a mission trip to the same place every year, it’s a mini-Sabbatical for staff every year, it’s a rotation of two or three things every two or three years.

And traditions can be a great thing – if they’re the best way to accomplish your present purposes. But what may very well have fit this ideal two years ago may not, in fact, be best for hitting this year’s targets. So can you honestly say you pondered this year’s Spring Break like you should have, or did you just go with the norm because it’s the norm?

As college ministers, we daily face the temptation to “run cool plays” rather than score points. Spring Break is only one of many moments when good traditions can sometimes be replaced by traditionalism.