Barnabas File

Have you ever had something you wrote come back to haunt you?  About 20 years ago, I was asked to write an article for The Campus Minister journal on “Where are We Going in Student Ministries?” and did so.  I had long forgotten this but it was brought to my attention recently by friend Wanda Kidd who sent me a copy.  As I reflect now on the ten observations in that article, I realize that some were general enough that I could not miss by including them. I am also reminded about how much things have changed in Baptist life since 1990, changes that led me to leave employment by the Executive Board of the Tennessee Baptist Convention and cast my lot with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.  So where did I get it right and where did I miss the mark? One prediction was, “We will use ‘high tech’ equipment and resources, but it will not take the place of ‘high touch’ activities.”  I was pretty much on the mark there.  I even commented that “we will ...

According to a person who has the opportunity to observe what is going on in theological education across the country, there are an increasing number of students in graduate theological education who haven’t grown up in the church, so they need spiritual formation while in seminary.  I don’t question the need, but I question the premise that those who HAVE grown up in congregations have been spiritually formed.  This is an unwarranted assumption.  Some have and some haven’t. I spent almost thirty years working with college and university students.  Many came from strong church backgrounds.  They were regular participants in worship services, youth programs, and summer camping programs.  Many were healthy, growing believers, but many had much to unlearn.  Although most of these young adults had sat through hours of Bible study, they did not know how to study the Bible for themselves.  They knew what their pastor or youth minister believe...

While attending the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly last week, I found myself talking to a former campus ministry colleague.   He commented, “When are these folks going to realize that old campus ministers run this group?” I think we can agree that no one “runs” a group of Baptists, but he reminded me of how influential campus ministry (or “Baptist Student Union” or “Baptist Student Ministries” or “Baptist Collegiate Ministries”) has been in Baptist life in the south in the last (almost) 100 years and its contribution to progressive Baptist life today.   One of the strongest influences of “student work” has been in the realm of missions.   The student missionary movement of the last 1940s and early 1950s not only expanded the number of field personnel sent out by Baptist entities, but it also planted the seeds for short-term and volunteer mission activities that are so central in the ministry of churches today. Baptist campus ministry also h...