When she was 15 years old and in the ninth grade, Claudia Hixon attended her first Super Summer Alabama, a week-long leadership and discipleship camp organized by the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.
The experience changed her life.
“Super Summer was where the Lord began to reveal Himself to me in a way that had never happened before. It was three years later at Super Summer where the Lord called me into full-time ministry,” Hixon said.
Hixon, student ministry associate at Valleydale Church in Birmingham, was part of a team of over 100 Alabama Baptist ministry leaders from across the state who gathered on the University of Mobile campus July 8–12 for Super Summer Alabama 2024.
Their focus — to create a unique experience that challenges and motivates students in grades 8–12 to dig deeper into the Word of God and be the leader God has called them to be.
‘Hearts burning for Christ’
Daniel Atkins, senior pastor at Taylor Road Baptist Church in Montgomery and a 2007 alumnus of the University of Mobile, served as camp pastor for Super Summer Alabama 2024.
“My prayer for students this week is that they would love the Word of God and love the Son of God,” Atkins said. Along with Josh Meadows, student ministry strategist for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions and Super Summer camp director, Atkins planned and prayed for the 225 students from 32 churches across the state – including one church from Louisiana – converging on the Alabama Baptist university campus.
“Daniel and I have been praying for months now that the students’ hearts would burn for Christ, that they would love Jesus and His Word in a way they never have before,” Meadows said.
Each morning, students took classes on topics ranging from apologetics to discipleship. They learned how Christians should lead in the marketplace and in faith-based ministries. They studied the doctrine of the church, the doctrine of the holy spirit, the doctrine of the trinity and the doctrine of salvation.
Morning and evening worship was led by college students in UM’s Ignite Worship ensemble, and campers’ days included Bible studies, prayer time and fun events like spikeball tournaments. They lived in college residence halls and experienced a taste of college life on the Christian campus.
At one morning session, UM President Charles Smith spoke from John 6 and shared his prayers for campers during their Super Summer experience and beyond.
“We are delighted to have each and every one of you on our campus,” Smith said. “This is a sacred place. God has used this university to challenge and equip countless kingdom leaders; I pray that is your experience this week.
“Specifically, I am praying three things:
- That you would grasp the depths of God’s love for you.
- That you would commit to walking with him, and
- That you would consider joining us here at the University of Mobile.”
College credit, scholarships
While Super Summer Alabama has operated since 2008, this is the second year it was held on the University of Mobile campus in a partnership that offers college scholarships and college credit to students.
Recognizing the intensity of the program, the university offers three hours of college credit to students who attend at least four years of Super Summer Alabama. Plus, all students who attend the camp on the university campus, then later enroll at the University of Mobile, are eligible for a $2,000 UM visit scholarship.
Super Summer Alabama is “more than a summer youth camp — it is a highly academic, intense biblical studies course,” said Steve Bowersox, director of special projects and ministry relations in the university’s Office for Advancement. Through the partnership, “We’re investing in the future of Alabama Baptists. Wherever they go, we want these students to have an impact and an encounter with the Lord.”
‘Authentic worship, intentional relationship’
One aspect of the partnership is the role the university’s college students play in mentoring Super Summer campers. Ignite Worship, a college student ensemble in the university’s Alabama School of the Arts, led worship services throughout the week. UM students led Bible studies and mentored campers.
Savanna Adams, a senior majoring in worship leadership, says the Ignite Worship team aims “to accomplish genuine and authentic worship, but also intentional relationship with students. The best possible way to do this is to be present and to be real, not to put up a façade, but to love and reach out to them from a place of humble confidence in the Lord.”
It is a privilege to lead campers, she said, just as it is a privilege to worship God here in a broken world.
“To be able to understand this as a blessing and then to be able to lead kids to that is so awesome to witness,” Adams said.
Caris Snider, author of the Anxiety Elephants series and Car Line Mom Devotional, led an adult leader Bible study and devotional on biblical coping skills for anxiety. She noted the interaction between college students and the middle and high school student campers.
“This is my first time ever coming to Super Summer. It is incredible to see students coming to draw near to God and go deeper into His Word. Seeing college students leading in these groups is a beautiful reminder of how God is using Gen Z to change the world,” Snider said.
Lives changed for eternity
Other states have Super Summer camps, but none are like Alabama’s, said Denis Tanner, associate pastor at Shades Crest Baptist Church in Hoover.
Students return year after year to Super Summer, progressing in their studies, deepening their faith and building a network of like-minded friends across the state who share the desire to grow in their walk with the Lord while learning to lead and disciple others.
Student ministry leaders, pastors and college students who serve as mentors and teachers throughout the week also return year after year, developing their own network of colleagues throughout the state who can encourage and support one another.
“The reason I love Super Summer is I have seen kids’ and adults’ lives changed not just for a week or two but, it seems like, for eternity,” Tanner said.
Coleman Windle, student and young adult minister at First Baptist Hazel Green in Hazel Green, Alabama, said he has seen students from all over the state give their lives to Christ at Super Summer. Along with his wife, former Miss University of Mobile 2011 Cierra Windle, who has also served at the camp, Coleman sees the impact that Super Summer has on students and their relationship with the Lord.
“I have witnessed numerous students answer the call to ministry through their involvement in Super Summer Alabama,” he said. Many return to serve in leadership roles, continuing the legacy of leadership and spiritual growth.
Claudia Hixon agreed. When she made her decision at Super Summer to answer the call to ministry, “I was able to talk with ministers and pastors at Super Summer about next steps and how to honor God in that.
“Almost 10 years later, I have the privilege and honor to serve at Valleydale Church and, each summer, we bring students to Super Summer. It has been such a blessing to watch the Lord work in the lives of students the same way He began such a work in my life many years ago,” she said.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today in ministry had it not been for the many leaders God has raised up who make Super Summer happen each and every year.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Kathy Dean and originally published by the University of Mobile.
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