Morgan Owen
BCM Specialist, TBC
Morgan Owen
The phone call was one that, as a campus minister, you love to receive. Reed Tallman from Immanuel Baptist Church, Elizabethton, contacted me in July 2015 to pass along contact information on a student coming to the University of Tennessee at Martin. The importance of the call was vital for Tallman because the student from his youth ministry, Roger Clark, lived more than 400 miles away from Martin. Tallman knew that this transition to college would be a huge step for Clark and he wanted to do all he could to build a bridge from the high school campus to the college campus for Roger.
The transition from high school to college can be very challenging, frightening, and eye-opening. So many changes take place emotionally, socially, and spiritually that it can truly be a “rollercoaster ride.” The college years can become a time of confusion as the budding young adult struggles with the onslaught of “freedom” and “temptation.”
When dealing with “Generation Z” (those born from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s), many church leaders are frustrated by the statistics that suggest eight out of 10 young adults walk away from the church in their college years. Even more alarming, small country churches face the overwhelming reality that there may be no one to assume the church leadership role in the future. For larger churches, the solution has been to hire a college minister to work directly with students and to spearhead effective outreach and discipleship to such a vital population in our communities.
My word of advice: Don’t give up on college students! I am thankful for those who played a crucial role in my college years and challenged me to seek God in all of my “life-changing decisions.” They did not give up on me and I encourage you — youth pastor, pastor, Sunday School teacher, parent — don’t give up on college students. No matter what your context may be, small church or large church, let’s partner together to impact the incoming class of 2016 for the kingdom!
I am encouraged by the investment that Tennessee Baptists have made through our Baptist Collegiate Ministries across the state. With support from the Cooperative Program, the Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions, local Baptist associations, and supporting churches, BCMs are ministering on 24 Tennessee college campuses. At the BCM, students will find a community of acceptance, friendships for a lifetime, caring peers, and a campus minister who wants to invest in and disciple them, opportunities to serve in leadership, and missions ventures throughout the year. But what sets BCM apart from many other college ministries on the campus is the value of church involvement. Many BCM student leaders use the ministry as a bridge from the campus to the local church. By inviting new students and peers to church, students are able to be the arm of the local church to a generation that desperately needs to hear the gospel or be encouraged to return to the fellowship.
Down through the years, youth pastors, like Tallman, have extended their ministry investment to those who have gone on to college. They have seen the importance, as Tallman states, to “walk with them as they prepare to transition to college.” Tallman shared “I make a personal contact to help students get connected. Whether it is a phone call or an e-mail, I do what I can to connect with them. I can’t be every place where I have a former student, but what I can do is call them periodically to just touch base and see how they are doing and ask if they are plugging into college ministry and church.” Tallman’s energy paid off when it comes to Clark. Clark was involved in the BCM at Martin this past year and will be serving on the BCM leadership team for 2016-17.
I am also encouraged by the increasing number of churches that are taking important steps to engage and invest in college students. This investment is different in each church’s setting. Some amazing ministry is being done by churches that have hired a college minister. Through one-on-one discipleship, outreach events, and worship gatherings, college students are sensing that spiritual life after youth group truly does exist. I am thankful for the churches across our state that have seen the need and are taking action to do something when it comes to ministering to college students.
Other churches are finding ways to make a difference. For example, Mac McCaleb, pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Martin, sees the need to keep the college students of his congregation engaged in church. “We just all seem to back away from college students when they transition. We need to step forward toward college students. We have the opportunity to invest in their lives” said McCaleb. His approach has been basic and effective over the years. From having lunch once a week with some of the college guys, to leading a small group college Bible study on Wednesday nights, McCaleb tries to be relevant in the lives of college students at his church. Tommy and Debbie Mount assist the church’s mission to college students by teaching college Sunday School and hosting fellowships/Bible studies in their home. McCaleb’s desire is to see the church members live a life of faith in front of students. By speaking truth, seeking truth, and living truth before the eyes of his college students, McCaleb can sincerely encourage them to understand that the “habits for life are established and the regrets of life could be dodged by investing in their walk with God.”
So, if you are a youth pastor, pastor, church secretary, Sunday School teacher, I encourage you to build the bridge for your teenagers preparing for college this fall.
(1) Contact the BCMs where your students are heading and share their information (go to tnbcm.org or here for a listing of BCM contacts).
(2) Contact the local churches where your students are heading and share their information.
(3) Find ways to invest in the college students who are staying at home.
(4) Keep in touch with your students throughout the school year, giving encouragement and guidance.
(5) Pray that there will be an increase of young adults desiring to reach their campuses for Christ.
And don’t give up on college students. They need the church!
