Norvell
Baptist college and university work has been a mission of Southern Baptists for over 100 years. Whether you know it as the Baptist Young People’s Union, Baptist Student Union (BSU) or Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) the mission is still important and critical to the future of Baptists and your church.
BCM was started for many reasons but really championed our denomination, its work, and the local church. Baptists knew that colleges and universities often presented a challenge to faith, and students needed to have a strong biblical influence at such a critical time in their development while they were away from home. They also knew that students were not the church of tomorrow — they are the church today. Here are just a few reasons why BCM is on a mission to help your church connect with students.
Number one is discipleship and spiritual growth. Learning to follow Christ is a life-long journey and does not stop after you are baptized. Developing spiritual disciplines and habits, such as daily Bible reading, prayer life and worship, without parental guidance is critical to creating mature followers of Christ. BCM focuses on students making disciples that make disciples.
Number two is missional training. Many churches no longer teach missions education to students, which is critical to the support of the Cooperative Program and understanding the mission of the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board, as well as our local associations and ministries. Being Southern Baptist means being a part of the greatest missionary sending network of churches in the world.
BCM leaders have a time of worship during the Baptist Collegiate Network Leadership Summit at FBC, Collierville.
BCM educates best by sending students on mission with our missionaries both locally and abroad. Experience means that they pray with informed and greater fervency, they give with greater awareness, and they volunteer to go themselves regularly.
Most importantly they learn to share the gospel. Doug Hayes, the pastor of Everett Hills in Maryville, said, “When I was a student at the University of Tennessee, the BCM was a place of refuge and training. A place of refuge because it provided me a place amid a secular university to find like-minded friends who love the Lord. Training because it was at the BCM that my love of missions was formed.” Hayes served the IMB eight years and is in his 16th year of serving as a Tennessee Baptist pastor.
Number three is championing the local church. BCM is a denominational ministry that acts as a missionary branch of Tennessee Baptist Mission Board churches. BCM belongs to you. We are not a parachurch student organization that raises money from your church to do their own ministry. We are your missionaries on local campuses.
When a student accepts Christ as Savior, they are connected and baptized into the membership of a local Baptist church. BCM does not program events during Sunday worship, but instead introduces all our students to local Baptist churches. Furthermore, BCM has local Baptist pastors preach and teach at collegiate worship services and events during the week. We introduce students to local Baptist missions and ministries so students can learn to support and volunteer with them.
BCM students from Vanderbilt University eat together during a recent Beach Reach in Panama City Beach, Fla.
Number four is biblical community. Christians are called to love one another and care for one another, pray for one another, not to mention fellowship with one another. We bring students from Tennessee and all over the world together to form a strong community on campus where they are. So many students are relieved to find lifelong friends in a community of like-minded individuals that follow God together. While it is not our intent to form Baptist couples, many alumni can testify to finding the love of their life at the BCM. Students need other students to grow, learn and play with as they experience the demanding requirements of higher education.
Number five is leadership training. BCM develops student leaders both for the church and the secular world. Students are taught, coached, and mentored by campus ministers, as well as upperclassmen, on how to lead Bible studies, small groups, mission projects, outreach events, fellowships and much more.
Experience is a great teacher and for many students it is the first time that they have ever done some of these things. It is a safe place to be creative and even to fail if necessary. They learn to share their testimony, they learn how to lead a person to Christ and they might learn how to be responsible for events or activities. This is a part of leadership development.
Hayes said, “Having a place where Baptist students can have their faith strengthened while trying to navigate the secular worldview of a college campus is vital to produce future church leaders and missionaries.”
There are several of other reasons too. BCM helps students stay mentally and spiritually healthy providing balance to the academic, physical and emotional demands of school. BCM helps students formulate solid theological opinions and a biblical worldview in environments that may be culturally biased against them.
BCM helps use faith to guide students on current events, world issues and social action. BCM helps students stay in school and finish. BCM is the voice of Tennessee Baptist churches at a time when parents and home churches may be far away and unable to offer the influence that they desperately need at a most critical time in life. B&R
