University of Louisville Baptist Campus Ministry is led by Brian Hinton. Small Bible study groups like shown are part of the ministry.
A service with the Eastern Kentucky BCM, which is led by Jake Hancock.
Students pack a service for the EKU BCM.
Students are engaged at the Morehead BCM, led by campus minister Matthew Mofield.
Some Baptist Campus Ministers posed for this photo in 2022. From left: Jonathan Clark (Murray State), Josh Skipper (Northern Kentucky), Jake Hancock (EKU), Daniel Johnson (UK), Matthew Mofield (Morehead), Paul Worcester (NAMB) and Jonah Pack (executive pastor at FBC Richmond),
Morehead BCM students and leaders engaged the campus community about their spiritual condition recently.
A service with the Louisville BCM.
EKU BCM campus minister Jake Hancock speaks to a gathering.
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University of Louisville Baptist Campus Ministry is led by Brian Hinton. Small Bible study groups like shown are part of the ministry.
Students pack a service for the EKU BCM.
A service with the Louisville BCM.
EKU BCM campus minister Jake Hancock speaks to a gathering.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) – More college students than ever are hearing the gospel as Kentucky Baptist Campus Ministries (BCM) thrive on eight regional university campuses and expand to community colleges and other campus sites.
“We’re making progress,” said Tommy Johnson, the regional campus minister at Western Kentucky University and the group leader for the Regional Campus Ministry of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. “Campus ministry is growing in a couple of ways. It’s growing with the BCMs with increased student involvement and participation and growing in added work at smaller campuses where we don’t have a BCM work.”
A service with the Eastern Kentucky BCM, which is led by Jake Hancock.
There are eight regional campus ministries at seven state universities – Western Kentucky, Kentucky, Louisville, Eastern Kentucky, Murray State, Northern Kentucky, Kentucky State – and Berea (currently without a primary leader).
The regional campus ministers are part of the KBC Mission Board staff. The KBC, through Cooperative Program funding, provides a maintained student center, a campus minister and a part-time administrative assistance at each campus. Local churches help with day-to-day ministry needs.
Typically, the BCM is one of the largest organizations on Kentucky campuses, Johnson said.
Johnson estimated that probably 2,000 students are involved and engaged and many of those are growing ministries on the eight primary campuses. “We touch a lot more than that,” he said. “Students who are involved through outreach touch many more students on campus.”
Morehead BCM students and leaders engaged the campus community about their spiritual condition recently.
One demonstration of that increasing involvement is the more than 600 people who have registered for the Converge Conference that takes place every September. “If you have 600 at a state conference out of 2,000, that’s pretty good,” Johnson said.
The “Every Student, Every Campus” initiative began in 2018 with 18 campuses and has expanded ever since. Many of the campuses are in community colleges, where a lot of students are beginning the college experience.
“We started to get some traction doing this ‘Every Student, Every Campus’ initiative to bring awareness of the need for churches to engage campuses in their own backyards,” Johnson said.
There are now Campus Ministry Leaders (CML) on 35 campuses across Kentucky, including seven new works that started this fall. Johnson said nine CMLs were added in 2023 (seven new works and two replacing previous ministry leaders).
Campus Missionary Leaders are typically church staff members or someone recently out of college but on a church staff or an active leader in church. It may be the student minister at the church, a pastor or staff member of lay leader, Johnson said.
It is critical for the CML to have support from a church and association, he said. The regional campus ministers are another resource that can be used by these leaders as they begin building the organization.
“We’re starting the new work through churches or associations, using the persons who are designated as CMLs,” Johnson said. “They do three things: They start and coordinate new BCM work, work under the sponsorship of the church or association in partnership with the KBC.”
Students are engaged at the Morehead BCM, led by campus minister Matthew Mofield.
The KBC provides a 12-month startup assistance grant that goes through the church and the regional campuses can provide resources and some funding, too. “The vision is for that church to adopt that campus and continue that ministry,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the “Every Student, Every Campus” initiative started under the direction of Carlos De La Barra in 2018. Johnson said it added “fresh eyes to extend to more campuses” to give every college student on every campus the opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel.
Neil Bassett is the CML at Bluegrass Community Technical College in Lexington and serves as an assistant at the University of Kentucky BCM.
“The only issue I’m having thus far is commitment from students,” Bassett said. “At the community colleges, they are there from 9 to 3 and then they’re gone. They are all commuters and really not committing to a lot, especially after hours.”
But Bassett said it’s early in the game and he has already assembled some dedicated leaders willing to lead Bible studies.
“I’ve been working with staff advisors and trying to determine the best timing (to meet) and to see about some big upcoming events where we can have a table. As of right now, I’m interested in meeting students who might want to be involved.”
Should he find some committed students, he sees it as a way for those who transfer to UK to funnel them to the BCM activities there.
Bassett is currently a remote student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His sponsoring church is Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Lexington.
“That’s going to be the key if we are going to reach more campuses,” Johnson said. “We’re seeing more and more students start at community colleges. The key to reaching a community college campus is to have a church engage it with a consistent presence.”
Charles Hawkins is the CML at the Jefferson Community Technical College in Louisville. He is still in the organizing stage as well but is looking forward to developing relationships with students on the campus.
He already has found two interested in being a faculty advisor for the organization.
“My wife is a faculty advisor for Elizabethtown Community College, so I have a lot of insight there,” he said. “I laid a lot of groundwork before I got started.”
Hawkins has spoken to five area pastors who are interested in doing Bible studies with students.
South Jefferson Baptist Church is the sponsoring church along with the Louisville Regional Baptist Association.
“I was going to try and boot strap it,” Hawkins said. “I found out KBC had all this resources.”
He said his wife said at the Elizabethtown campus that some years they have 35-40 participating and some years 5-6. “It’s the nature of the community college,” Hawkins said. “But I’m excited about getting it started.”
Johnson said they are in the beginning stages with more than 100 college campuses in the commonwealth.
“We have a great group of campus ministers on our primary campuses and we’re seeing a great group step up in CML roles,” he said. “It’s frontier territory. We want to get the word out to churches and associations so we can have a ministry on many, many campuses through the work of a church, finding a leader and having support.”
Some Baptist Campus Ministers posed for this photo in 2022. From left: Jonathan Clark (Murray State), Josh Skipper (Northern Kentucky), Jake Hancock (EKU), Daniel Johnson (UK), Matthew Mofield (Morehead), Paul Worcester (NAMB) and Jonah Pack (executive pastor at FBC Richmond),
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