One common way to describe the role of Baptist Campus Ministries (BCM) is that it is an arm or extension of the local church body. Across Alabama many local church bodies have been actively involved in partnering with BCMs, working together to equip and strengthen believers while making the gospel known on campuses across the state.
One picture of local church bodies engaged and working in this kind of ministry is Momentum, a monthly worship service at Auburn University sponsored by Auburn’s BCM as well as First Baptist Church, Parkway Baptist Church, Lakeview Baptist Church and Farmville Baptist Church, all in Auburn.
Through lots of planning, brainstorming and developing, Auburn’s campus ministers and local pastors were able to see an idea come to life in September with a worship service they call Momentum, held on campus in one of Auburn’s ballrooms.
Building ‘Momentum’
The collaborative worship service allows college students from different churches and BCMs to connect with one another.
Auburn student and BCM freshmen ministry leader Allie Plemons said, Momentum “has opened up friendships between everyone. … [I] get to mingle with people I wouldn’t necessarily have met before.”
Momentum also has an evangelistic component. Students hand out flyers inviting others to the service on campus in hopes that people will come to connect with fellow believers and ultimately connect with God.
At the University of South Alabama (USA), October’s Engage 24 emphasis proved to be another picture of church bodies engaging and partnering with BCM to make the gospel known. Engage 24 is a nationwide collegiate ministry strategy, targeting a specific day in October to encourage believers to share their faith on their campuses. In Alabama the focus is usually Oct. 1–24.
In Mobile, Engage 24 featured 24 days focused on fasting, praying and training and mobilizing college students to share their faith.
Jerrod Brown, USA campus minister, described it as a time to “train students in personal evangelism, pray specifically for evangelism efforts on campus and mobilize students to share on campus both individually and as part of larger projects.”
This emphasis is meant to be a catalyst for future evangelism on campus throughout the year.
And through partnerships with local churches, that intention can become a reality. Dauphin Way Baptist Church, Mobile, has a history of cooperation with USA’s BCM and partnered with them for Engage 24.
During the emphasis college students were invited to share their personal stories and hear stories of redemption through Christ. Dauphin Way Baptist and BCM partnered to host several “Story Tables” on campus, where they were able to engage college students by doing short surveys, passing out drinks and snacks, giving away Chick-fil-A gift cards and encouraging people to complete spiritual life surveys.
Brown said this year 25 students were trained and mobilized to share the gospel through Engage 24.
Destyne Pound, a USA junior who also is involved at Dauphin Way, said the time she was able to spend hearing people’s stories was especially meaningful.
Need for the gospel
“We asked [college students at USA] about their stories and sometimes they were really heartbreaking,” she said. “Sometimes we forget the urgency behind the need for the gospel in peoples’ lives.”
Justin Majors, also a USA junior, said his experiences with Engage 24 in 2014 helped teach him “to step up as a disciple — to be a disciple maker instead of just a believer being poured into by others.”
By the end of the 2015 Engage 24, Brown said they collected more than 100 contacts to follow up with personally and shared the gospel with more than 40 students. In addition, one accepted Christ and many others were encouraged in their walk as disciples.
Brown said he and Jeremy Montgomery, student pastor at Dauphin Way, talked with a student who was a growing Christian and were able to connect him with both BCM and a local church.
So much of the ministry taking place on Alabama’s college campuses would not be possible without the support of local churches.
“BCM exists as a partnership ministry between the State Board of Missions of the Alabama Baptist Convention and the local associations surrounding college campuses,” Brown explained.
BCMs across the state need partners and the best partners are local, faithful churches helping support the work of BCM, he said.
Once a partnership is formed the missions opportunities are endless. For instance, Dauphin Way provided air mattresses for the USA BCM missions team on its fall break trip to New Orleans and will partner with USA’s BCM for its 2016 spring break missions trip to Atlanta.
The cooperation also provides much-needed encouragement for campus ministers from other ministry leaders and allows students opportunities to be mentored.
Local churches can partner with BCMs by praying, giving and going. Pray for the work happening on college campuses throughout Alabama. Consider mentoring college students or serving a home-cooked meal as a way to get connected.
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