Murphree
Tennessee Baptists have been faithful to one of our state’s most strategic mission fields for 100 years.
Baptist collegiate work can trace its roots to the late 1800s and early 1900s with the Student Volunteer Missions Movement and students dedicating themselves to prayer for their campuses and the foreign mission field.
It was a humble beginning, but in 1925 the Tennessee Baptist Convention made a commitment to launch a ministry focused on reaching college campuses across our state with the gospel.
While ministry methods and campus culture have changed over the last 100 years, the mission remains the same. Here are several reasons why Tennessee Baptists’ investment in collegiate ministry is both vital and strategic.
It’s strategic because of gospel opportunity. There is an openness among this generation—spiritually lost students who are willing to engage in conversations about the gospel and who want to be part of a biblical community. It is a poignant moment, and Tennessee Baptists are strategically positioned on this front-line ministry.
It’s strategic because of this moment in students’ lives. The college years are such a formative three- to four-year window in a young adult’s life. Students are making major life decisions, choosing career paths, establishing community and forming their worldview.
Through BCM, we have the unique opportunity to guide students in making life choices through the lens of the gospel.
It’s strategic because of their availability. College students often have time during this season to mobilize for sharing the gospel on campus and to participate in spring break or summer missions opportunities. They are discipled and equipped to be missionaries.
No one is more prepared to share the gospel with another student than one who is authentically living out their faith on campus.
BCM students from East Tennessee State University pose for a picture during Beach Reach. Each year, BCM students spend their spring break in Florida, sharing the gospel during Beach Reach. — File photo / B&R
International missions experience also begins on campus, as the nations of the world come to Tennessee’s campuses — many from countries with little access to the gospel.
It’s strategic because of partnerships. The dynamic collaboration among local churches, associations and BCM is a remarkable representation of Baptist cooperation over the past 100 years. Visionaries during those formative years purchased property and built ministry centers in the heart of campuses that remain in use today.
Local churches and associations support BCM through funding, prayer, providing meals for students, partnering in campus outreach and supporting students in missions. (If your church is interested in reaching its local university campus, we would love to connect and help.)
But being strategic and seizing opportunities is pointless without engagement.
Here’s an example of how opportunity and engagement converged as fall 2025 began. Fall semesters are vital because much of what college students do and who they connect with during their first three weeks can determine the trajectory of their college careers — and even their lives.
Your TBC BCMs on 25 campuses:
- Hosted more than 100 events resulting in 10,667 connections with students.
- Partnered with more than 80 TBC churches for outreach events.
- Connected with 301 international students.
- Assisted more than 2,000 new freshmen moving into dorm rooms.
It would be incredible if those visionary Tennessee Baptists who formally established Tennessee BCM 100 years ago could see the legacy of their work. Today, we share their same passion and mission — to mobilize students for the cause of Christ on their campuses and beyond, while “calling out the called” to be leaders in vocational and marketplace ministry.
Thank you, Tennessee Baptists, for supporting BCM and ensuring that together we can strive toward the goal of every Tennessee college student having the chance to hear and respond to the gospel for the next 100 years. B&R
