BCM Testimony--Ben Bryan

Susan and Ben Bryan

My on-campus involvement with BCM spanned seven years. I got involved during my first semester on campus, became active as a student leader and remained so in graduate school, and then served as the BCM intern. From the senior class during my freshman year, to those who were freshmen while I was intern, I had contact with an entire decade of students.

Many of the testimonies on this board are students I knew, and some I’ve not seen in years. It’s wonderful to know that their experiences through Baptist Student Union and Baptist Collegiate Ministry have had a lasting effect on their lives, spiritually, just as it has on mine. As Ward pointed out, college is a pivotal time in one’s life: Habits, values, and relationships formed there have an enormous impact on students for the rest of their lives. And most of us are familiar with studies reporting the number of students who leave the church during college and never return (over 60%). Given the stakes, I firmly believe on-campus college ministry is among the most critical mission focuses for the church today.

But the reason for that importance isn’t just the spiritual health of the students touched directly by organizations like BCM. It’s also because of the extended impact on the lives they reach. I’ve seen first-hand the extent to which the opportunity to serve in Christian leadership at the college level can lead to decisions to enter full-time ministry, or, at the very least, service in a needed leadership capacity at their home church. At the church I attended after college, leadership in the single adult ministry was comprised predominantly of individuals who had served in some capacity in a Baptist Collegiate Ministry in South Carolina.

The duration of my involvement with BCM afforded me a unique perspective: I was able to watch many students make incredible transformations between their freshman and senior years. The year I served as intern, I sat in on meetings in which a nominating committee of student leaders discussed the direction of BCM student leadership the following year. They had a huge vision for reaching the campus and for supporting missions. They could discern the spiritual gifts of younger students they believed would be excellent fits for needed leadership and service positions. These students were able to dream big, share a vision, and lean on God for direction in evangelizing an often-hostile environment. It was only at this point, some seven years after first attending a BSU worship service, that I truly comprehended what a powerful ministry it was: Baptist Collegiate Ministry had an enormous impact on my personal spiritual growth, but it had just as much of an impact teaching me how to serve and to lead as part of a body of believers. I just had to witness it in other students in order to realize it.

Through BCM, I forged life-long friendships. I made lasting memories. I grew personally in my walk with Christ. And I am thankful for the influence that the ministry, and particularly Jane Poster the campus minister, had on my growth as a Christian and as a leader. I pray that God continues to use Baptist Collegiate Ministry as a way to grow and equip future Christian leaders, just as I've seen it do for years in more ways and with greater reach than any ministry I've ever been a part of.

Ben Bryan
University of South Carolina
Class of 2002
BCM intern, 2004-05