Have you heard the statistics?
More than two-thirds of young adults — ages 18 to 22 — who attended a Protestant church for at least a year in high school will stop regularly attending a church once they move to college or in to the workforce, according to a 2007 LifeWay Research study.
Not only is the church dropout rate among college students high but there is also a large unchurched, non-Christian population on college campuses.
Chad Cossiboom, university minister of Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills, believes churches should see college students as an unreached people group and college campuses as missions fields.
“We need to ask ourselves: How do we reach college students with the gospel? How do we reach these campuses?” Cossiboom asked.
Kevin Johnson, associate pastor/college students of First Baptist Church, Florence, said churches in college towns must become visible on campus, make contact with students and use a variety of means to plug students in to their ministry.
“The biggest thing is trying to make that touch with them as soon as they get on campus, and [the sooner] you get in touch with them, the sooner you get in touch with their faith,” said Johnson, whose church is located in the same town as the University of North Alabama. “Put forth the best effort you can and the best product you can so that they realize that Christianity is applicable to their lives.
“So many times, college students think they can take four years off from Christianity, and one of our jobs is to keep the flame burning while they are in college,” he added.
Contact is the key to reversing the dropout trend, according to Brad Waggoner, vice president of LifeWay’s B&H Publishing Group.
“Frequent and intentional contact can either prevent or counter-act the tendency of some to drop out of church,” Waggoner said.
So how can churches connect with college students?
• Help with freshmen move-in day. Many churches use this as a way to initiate contact with students and become visible on the college campus.
• Advertise. The college ministry of First Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, sends out a connect card that includes contact information and its schedule to all the incoming students who have indicated to the University of Alabama that they are Baptist.
• Adopt a group on campus. The college ministry at Bush Memorial Baptist Church, Troy, provides a dinner for international students who have moved to campus early. First, Florence, hosts a watermelon cutting for the soccer team after one of its practices every year. “Every year, we’ve had a soccer player or two be a part of our ministry (as a result),” Johnson said.
• Offer small groups. Once a student visits the church, plug him or her in to a small group. West Mobile Baptist Church and First Baptist Church, Opelika, have found small groups to be the most vital part of their college ministries.
• Provide ministry opportunities. Churches like Bush Memorial Baptist and Shades Mountain Baptist provide opportunities for college students to serve in leadership roles in their children’s and youth ministries.
• Adopt a college student. At Shades Mountain, the college ministry has a Moocher ministry.
A student can sign up to be “adopted” by a family in the church whom he or she can “mooch” off of while in college.
• Offer watch care membership. By allowing students the option to become a member under watch care, they can keep their membership back home while connecting with a church while in college.
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