The GOOD Things:
1. Many college ministry veterans express the feeling that we have some of the best young College Ministers we have ever had. The future is bright and many of them are already in key positions.
2. Paul Worcester serving as National Collegiate Director at the North American Mission Board is a big plus to our ministries nation wide. Paul continually travels the country speaking at collegiate events and College Minister events. His emphasis on "Gospel Conversations" has been widely adopted and has become a staple.
3. There is a renewed emphasis on encouraging and developing college students sensing and responding to God's call to vocational ministry. Steve Masters led in developing the sbccalled.com website that has a wealth of information beneficial to both students and College Ministers. Shane Pruitt's new book, "Calling Out the Called: Discipling Those Called to Ministry Leadership" is being used widely and Shane is developing other resources to go along with it.
4.There continues to be a significant number of College Ministers who are raising their own salaries to serve in locations where there are no state or local resources to provide for SBC college ministry. And in many situations, they are the only Christian ministry. The temptation is to start naming examples, but there would be some left out that ought to be at the top of the list. Whatever we can do to help and encourage them needs to be done. They are heroes of college ministry!
5. State Baptist Collegiate Ministry leaders have stepped up to continue Collegiate Week at Falls Creek, The Collegiate Ministers Summit, and Beach Reach and that is a huge plus. These events were formally planned and coordinated by Lifeway. This is simply "volunteer work" on their part and in addition, many are providing the finances to make it happen and to fund BCNet. This is a group of committees leading in several crucial areas. Plus, BCNet committees are also staffed by church and campus based College Ministers who are volunteering their time and investment in our national movement.
The Not So Good:
1. Over the past several years the number of campuses being served has declined. At one point, we were reporting some sort of ministry on approximately 900 campuses. In recent years, the best estimation by some is that we now have ministries on about 700 campuses or so.
2. There have been reductions in full time BCM Campus Ministers in some states over a period of the last several years. Some years ago the North Carolina Baptist Convention significantly reduced their number of full time College Ministers. In the last five years the Georgia Baptist Convention has greatly reduced their number of full time College Ministers. This year Arkansas stopped allowing local BCM ministries to have additional staffers that raised their own salaries.
3. Lifeway's elimination of the college ministry position along with the three part time contract worker positions has reduced our support of local ministries and national programs. Several years ago there were as many as 15 full time people serving in the National Collegiate Ministries office at Lifeway. This number was gradually reduced to the one full time person and three part time that were let go during the funding cuts brought on by the Covid pandemic.
4. To my knowledge, there is no person in SBC life who has full time responsibility for International Student Ministry. Perhaps the greatest ministry opportunity we have are the thousands of students coming to our campuses from all over the world. Many of them countries closed to our missionaries. In 2021 there were 763,760 enrolled in the U. S. In 2020, it was over 1 million. Most return to their countries to become the political and economic leaders. While there is International Student ministry being done in many local situations, there is no one with that as their prime responsibility sounding the call, providing training, and encouraging these ministries on a national basis.
5. We are not sending out as many Student Summer Missionaries as we formally did through the North American Mission Board. At one point, there were 1500-1600 students serving in short term summer ministry opportunities every year with 350-400 Semester Missionaries. This strengthened the ministries in a wide variety of places and provided an experience that God used to call students to vocational ministry. NAMB is currently sending out 350 to 400 students each summer to assist in church plants. The International Mission Board is sending out a significant number of students in different mobilization efforts. Some State Baptist Collegiate Ministries have continued to send out Summer Missionaries. So, there are some good things happening as well as some losses.
Much good is happening that God is using and we need to celebrate it and encourage those that are doing it. But, as we lose some things over time, it is easy to lose sight of the overall sum of the effect on ministry to the 18 million U.S. college students. Many churches have greatly expanded what they are doing to reach and minister to college students. Many volunteers are serving to fill voids left by the loss of full time College Ministers. God is still at work on college campuses.
Let's both celebrate and resolve to do more!
Arliss Dickerson's book, Almost Everything About College Ministry, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX and A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV.
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