Churches and Campus Based Collegiate Ministry-Roles and Cooperation

The campus based collegiate ministry of the SBC has various names that vary from state to state. The most common name is Baptist Collegiate Ministry which will be the name that represents the SBC campus based ministry in this section.

Baptist Collegiate Ministry is the ministry arm of the local and state churches to a campus. The BCM is not a church. The BCM is a religious organization whose purposes include: 1. Share Christ with students that do not know Him as Savior. 2. Provide opportunities for participating students to grow and mature in their faith in Jesus Christ. 3. Develop students as Christian leaders. 4. Provide opportunities for students to participate in local, state and national mission ministries. 5. Help students to stay or become involved in a local church.

There is much discussion today about college ministry. In some places, the discussion relates to how to do it better and deal with the strong response. In other places as finances decline, the talk is whether to do away with it or not. College ministry is necessary if we care about the future. Some would advocate doing away with campus based ministry and doing it solely out of churches. Others suggest that we need to plant churches on campuses and that is the only way to do it. In other situations, the campus based ministry is having to compete with the very local churches it is trying to help. Many of these tensions can be eased simply by appreciating the value of both church and campus-based ministries. Their differing roles allow more students to be reached and discipled. In fleshing out this partnership, several aspects need to be considered.
First, we must recognize that no simple answer fits all situations and locations. Those that suggest that college ministry should only be done out of churches almost always come of large churches or even mega-churches with considerable budget and staffing. This is not the norm. In many situations, if the campus based ministry were not there, there would be little or no intentional ministry with the local campus. Church based and campus based ministries really have different roles. The campus based ministry relates to a college administration, is involved in leadership development and often is able to provide specialized ministry to such groups as freshmen and international students. The campus based ministry is a convenient entry point for many students that would not attend a local church, at least in the beginning.
A huge role of the church based ministry is to help students to connect to, love and see the value of the local church. This cannot happen anywhere else. When students graduate from college and move into young adulthood, will they connect to a church? The church based ministry can have a huge role in that happening. The grads that have been in the total life of a church see its value. In some situations the church based ministry copies a successful campus based ministry. When this happens, it often results in the emphasis being placed on week night student only events. This does not connect students to the total life of the church and instill a “love for church”. The church based ministry needs to recognize this and work to see the students connect through the Sunday School, Sunday Morning Worship, etc.
Campus based ministries have the responsibility to train leaders for our churches of the future. Many church leaders received their first experience in serving and leading as a “BCM committee member or leader”. It is also the task of the campus based ministry to encourage and help local churches in their ministry to students. For churches with full or part-time staff this means it’s critical that the church based collegiate minister and the BCM director meet, plan, evaluate and work together to maximize their partnership and understand their different roles in the lives of students. The BCM based ministry provides the college ministry for the smaller churches that cannot provide one.
Some denominational leaders advocate doing campus based collegiate ministry at a local church. If only the “mega-church” provides a college ministry, should the college students from other churches move to that church?
One well known college church pastor has advocated the idea that students be active in the campus ministry their freshman and sophomore year and a local church their junior and senior years. This raises the question of who will be the role models and the leaders for the campus based ministry? In most situations, some students will lead out on campus and attend their college church. Others will simply attend some on-campus events and lead out in their church. Again, it is not a one size fits all answer. Both the church based and the campus based ministries should give consideration to when each schedules their events. Many have simply said, the church based ministries get Sundays and Wednesdays and the campus based take the other week day nights.
No one ministry can do it all. Church ministries can best help students connect to all generations and learn to love the church. Campus based ministries can best help students understand and deal with the transition to college life and see ways to minister on campus. In some places there are no local churches for college students and there the church on campus approach meets a need. But, in situations where there are local churches actively reaching out to students, to start a church on campus is to provide what is more likely an unhealthy competition.

No one ministry can do and be all. We need both church based and campus based ministries and we need leaders that see the value of both and work for the good health of both.

By Arliss Dickerson, Leadership Contract Worker