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August 2010 Issue

Baptist Collegiate Ministries
Cooperation That Bears Eternal Fruit
by David Roach

God is touching lives at the University of Miami (Florida) through its Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM).

Consider, for example, a student from the United Kingdom who recently came to the university uncertain of God's existence. After some BCM students befriended her, she not only professed her faith in Christ, she began ministering to others.

Consider also that after the BCM president cast a vision for a campus-wide evangelistic emphasis, students organized a forum where Christians and non-Christians could dialogue about spiritual issues. As a result, lost students began to consider the Gospel.

But according to Miami-area BCM director Becky Crandall, such Kingdom advances are possible only because of the intricate web of Southern Baptist cooperation that supports BCMs.

"Aside from the theological distinctions that we have, the thing that I love most about Baptist life is that we are in cooperation," Crandall said. "And I tell students all the time that I am able to do what I do, and they are able to be ministered to, because of the cooperation."

Several sources support the ministry of the BCM. According to Bill Choate, collegiate ministry specialist with the Tennessee Baptist Convention and national director of the Baptist Collegiate Network, funding for local BCMs most often begins with the respective state Baptist convention. In many places, the local association and local churches offer additional ministry support, both in terms of funding and with ministry volunteers.

In Miami, this support is augmented by the North American Mission Board (NAMB) which provides funding for part-time semester missionaries who serve as BCM staff. NAMB also oversees evangelism and ministry to international students. Joining with NAMB, the International Mission Board (IMB) and the state conventions connect students with numerous missions opportunities. LifeWay Christian Resources produces resources to facilitate BCM operations and provides national leadership for collegiate ministry.

This is a story repeated time and again across the Southern Baptist Convention: cooperation within its multi-faceted structure facilitates efficient and effective ministry that reaches the lost with the soul-saving, life-changing Gospel.

Cooperating for Campus Evangelism

Of course, particulars in the equation vary from campus to campus. Some BCMs are funded by state conventions while others in more unchurched areas have a campus minister funded through NAMB. Local Baptist associations participate in the work to varying degrees, depending on the number of human and financial resources they can muster.

But the bottom line is always cooperation to make disciples on campus.

A consortium called BCNet — short for Baptist Collegiate Network — coordinates Southern Baptist college ministry by bringing together representatives from every organization involved in the work. Through eight committees, local campus ministers, state convention BCM directors, SBC entity collegiate ministry specialists, and even local church college ministers, discuss how to bring resources to campus without unnecessary duplication of labor.

During the 2008-2009 academic year, BCMs located on 773 campuses across the nation reached more than 333,000 students. Through those ministries, nearly three thousand professed faith in Christ for the first time.

"We come together for the good of the whole," said Linda Osborne, national collegiate ministry leader at LifeWay. "I think it's a brilliant model actually because it really does take us all."

LifeWay's role is to resource BCMs across the continent. That work includes hosting national events like Collegiate Week at the Glorieta Conference Center and producing literature for small group Bible studies.

Osborne encourages campus ministers and discovers how LifeWay can support their ministries. BCM "is definitely a ministry that continues to do well," she said. "Students continue to need Jesus, and Baptists continue to provide a strong ministry for helping students know Jesus. So that's great. I think it is one of our success stories as Baptists."

As collegiate ministry team leader for the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, David James supervises more than forty staff members on college campuses, many of whom have their salaries paid by the convention. Churches, individuals, and associations join the state convention in funding program budgets.

"This is not about BCMs. It's not about associations. It's not about [particular] churches," James said. "It's reaching a college campus, where there are lost students, there are students that need to be nurtured.

"We have hundreds of thousands of students in Arkansas who come to college; and they walk away from the church; and they literally live a lifestyle that is not pleasing to the Lord. So how do we work with those students, and how do we reach the lost students? That's what our focus has to be."

According to James, the multi-level cooperation allows a variety of people who care about college students to use their gifts in ministry. One of the most exciting aspects of that cooperation involves large state conventions helping with campus ministry in unchurched regions, he said, noting that Arkansas has helped fund college work through the Baptist Convention of Pennsylvania/South Jersey.

"People don't run over each other, but we can cross over and still support and encourage each other," he said. "And in some ways it becomes layer upon layer upon layer of encouragement, support, belief, and results."

Cooperating for Missions

Recruiting students for North American and international missions is another component of BCM work. And once again, partnership makes the task possible.

The IMB and NAMB work together in producing brochures, hosting conferences, and advocating missions at special events. They even have staff members who work for both entities simultaneously.

"I won't just say there are multiple levels of cooperation; everything we do is cooperative," said Mike Lopez, director of imbStudents. "We have to work that way because I'm not here to do missions on behalf of BCMs or on behalf of Southern Baptists. I'm here to facilitate what God is calling them to do."

Between 1,500 and 3,000 college students share the Gospel overseas each year through IMB ministries. That includes short-term trips, semester missions, spring break trips, and summer missions.

Lopez noted that BCM students raise approximately $10 million annually to fund their global missions projects — a total not figured into Southern Baptists' overall missions giving.

"It's important to mention the significance of the investment that BCMs make in global missions," he said. "There are students and leaders from all over the country that believe in missions. They want to get their students involved in missions. They want their students to be international missionaries with us."

In addition to overseas trips, BCMs help reach the nations as they come to North America. Among NAMB's responsibilities is coordinating ministry to the 671,000 international students on American college campuses, including vast numbers from India and China.

"What we've got to do is think in terms of what the impact of (international ministry) is if they come to Christ and go back home," said Mark Lydecker, a collegiate coordinator with NAMB. "And even if they don't go home, they will reach a people group that most of the time we can't reach or don't reach."

Cooperating for the Gospel

NAMB also helps BCMs share the Gospel among American students. Those efforts include producing resources and launching a new evangelistic Web site.

Of the eighteen million registered college students in North America, Lydecker estimated that 10 percent or fewer know Christ as Lord and Savior. He hopes that many will be open to campus ministry even if they would not set foot inside a traditional church.

"I still think students are open to listening to a church ministry and a campus ministry that are open, genuine, and loving," Lydecker said. "They just want to know that people are real and care for them."

Students often are unaware of the funding streams required to keep BCM going, but that's fine with SBC collegiate ministry workers. They just care about the results of their labor.

"The approach that we've taken is helping them integrate matters of faith into the overall picture of a campus community," said Crandall, the Miami campus minister. "This year, more than ever before, we've really seen our students understand that and grasp that."

For more information on Baptist Collegiate Ministry, go to www.bcmlife.net.

David Roach is pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Shelbyville, Kentucky.

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