The Collegiate Ministers Fellowship Meeting

 The Collegiate Ministers Fellowship will be in Shreveport, Louisiana July 11-13 at the LSU-Shreveport BCM Center.  It is open to any College Minister who wants to attend.  It is three days of whiteboard sessions, connecting with others who have a passion to do college ministry better and just being with others that get it.  It starts at 2:00 on Monday and will end at 11:00 on Wednesday.  All lunches and dinners are provided at no cost by different Baptist entities.  There is no registration fee and your only cost is travel and lodging......and you have to pay for your own golf.

"The Summer Meeting" as many have called it through the years started in a Grandy's Cinnamon Roll Restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas one night following a regional College Minister meeting at Southwestern Seminary in the early 80's.  This "after meeting meeting" was eight or ten College Ministers sitting around a table sharing ideas when someone said, "This is better than the conference; we should do this more."  The next summer, a small group met at Arkansas State University with no agenda other than starting with a whiteboard and the question, "What do we want to talk about?"  That continues to be the format.  While there are some very informal talks made....mostly, it is just a lot of "How do you do that?"

There was one point where a few called it "Top Gun School" which led some to mistakenly think it was an exclusive invitation only meeting.  Rather the nickname was meant to convey it was for those who just wanted to get better and better at reaching college students for Christ.  Steve Masters, BCM Campus Minister at LSU, has been the Coordinator of it for the last several years.  This year Corey Oliver, BCM Campus Minister in New Orleans, is taking on the leadership and coordination.  And, he will be cooking some of the meals which is GREAT good news!

I credit this meeting and the National Collegiate Ministers Summit as being the two best, most encouraging and most helpful events I have attended.  "Freshmen Survival" which many college ministries do in some form or other came out of a Texas College Minister (Dave Jobe) sharing he had done a conference for freshmen prior to classes starting.  Many of us quickly copied the idea and found it to be one of the best things we ever did.

To attend, you just need to let Corey know you are coming.  You can text him at 504.616.4216.  This is necessary to plan for food and set up.  While it is primarily BCM/BSU/BSM types there, Church College Ministers are invited and welcome.  Oh and you have to pay for your own knee surgery, if your old knee crumples in one of the late night basketball games.  I suggest you stick to golf or a movie.  But, just like the topics....that is up to you.

Arliss Dickerson's book, Tips for College Freshmen:  124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades, is available at amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9.