College Ministry Influencers??

 I am always fascinated by Time Magazine's list of "The World's Most Influential People".  It lists one hundred people and is divided into categories of Leaders, Artists, Pioneers, Titans, and Icons. It always makes me wonder who was number 101 or what 10 people just barely missed the list.  It also causes me to think about who are or should be influential people in the college ministry world.  I benefitted greatly when I first began by learning from folks like Ron Wells at Texas A&M and Ircel Harrison at Mississippi State.

I do not think college ministry leaders get nearly enough credit.  So, I thought I should do a "College Ministry 100".  There are two purposes for this list, first to give some credit and recognition to some who deserve it.  But, even more, here are some folks each of us can learn from.  I first started to list both non-Baptists and Baptists, but I did not think my awareness was great enough to even make a swing at that list.

 Here is my "100 Baptist College Ministry Influencers....really just 19" which comes as a result of my own thoughts, the suggestions of others I asked and those who responded to my Blog request for "nominations".  One person said in sending a name, "This person is not well known nationally but should be."  There are MANY who would fit that category.

Clayton Bullion - He served for several years at Tarleton State in Texas and is known for his efforts in discipleship and helped found Campus Multiplication Network.  He currently serves on the Texas state wide BSM college ministry staff.

Paul Worcester - Paul first became widely known for his ministry at Chicot State and emphasis on one to one evangelism.  Since then, he has become the National Collegiate Director at the North American Mission Board. 

Steve Masters - Steve is the BCM Director at LSU and has served as the informal leader of the summer College Ministers Fellowship for many years and developed SBC Called (sbccalled.com) which is a tool for ministerial students.  Steve's specialty is finding new ways to get freshmen names and connecting with them.  

Beth Masters - Beth has served for several years as the college ministry professor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary which has done so much to promote and encourage College Ministers.  .

Jared Gregory - Jared is College Minister at FBC, Denton and is the President of  College Metro which is an organization for church College Ministers. Jared is an example of the excellent large group speaker/preacher at a weekly collegiate event.

Linda Halfacre Weir - Linda is Director of College Ministry at Pinelake Church which is a large multi-site church in Mississippi with locations in college towns. At Pinelake she also leads a large College Ministry Intern program.

Steve Shadrach - Steve is known for his book, "The God Ask" on support raising for ministry salary. He has recently done an update of his book, "The Fuel and the Flame" with Paul Worcester which is aimed at students and is being used widely.

Beverly Parrish - After the dramatic financial cuts and downsizing of staff in Georgia Baptist college ministry, Beverly is leading out in connecting churches and training volunteers to serve campuses with no fulltime Campus Minister in Georgia. She is a model in doing more with less.

Gary Stidham - He is known for his success in working on a primarily commuter campus at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) and his influence in personal evangelism and discipleship.

Michael Ball - Michael is the BSU Director at Mississippi State University where they recently built a BSU Center that will seat 400 for worship and his ministry has been known through the years for their freshmen ministry and outreach Lunch Program.

Darrell Cook - He is the BCM Director at Virginia Tech and is known for his ability to work with alumni for ministry and staff funding.  He also has led out in developing staff and sending them out to to other campuses.

Joel Bratcher - Bratcher is the BSM Director at Texas A&M and is recognized as a leader in staff development, International ministry and just making it work on a huge campus.

Tommy Johnson - Tommy serves at Western Kentucky University where he is known for his ministry to International Students and helps coordinate college ministry for the entire state.

David Buschman - Buschman is at Princeton where he is seen as a role model for ministry outside the Bible Belt.  When NAMB stopped funding Buschman and others, he began raising his salary to be able to continue to build on his years there.  Busch is famous for not answering his phone.

Ryan Scantling - Ryan is serving as Chairman of the Leadership Committee of the BCNet and has led  in providing leadership training done on line, at Summit and Collegiate Week  He is beginning his second year at the University of Arkansas after serving at Central Arkansas University.

Scott Smith - He is the long serving BCM Campus Minister at Lander University in South Carolina.  Lander has awarded him an honorary Doctorate in recognition of his ministry to the students and faculty.  Scott is a role model in both what it means to relate to the WHOLE university and for the benefits of a long term commitment to one campus.

Chris James - Chris is pastor of Mill City Church in Lowell Massachusetts.  His seminars at Collegiate Week are always packed out.  He is known for his discipleship and mentoring of guys. He is seen as an example of someone who has planted his life in a non-Baptist setting despite many "Southern Opportunities".

John Moore, Bill Noe, and Mark Whitt were nominated for their work promoting college ministry nationally as the College Ministry Leader at Lifeway Christian resources before that position was eliminated. John is semi-retired in Texas and doing Interim Pastorates.  Bill is on the statewide collegiate staff in Texas and Mark is BCM Campus Minister at Middle Tennessee State University where he is developing a model for reaching a primarily commuter campus.

Of course, there are people not on this list who deserve to be here.  I hope you will add them in some way or other.  Or, let me know for a follow-up blog article.

Should your college ministry be reaching more students?  Check out Reaching MORE Students:  Next Level College Ministry atAmazon.com/dp/B0BMW8NPMN.