By Mark A. Taylor
It was a typical college visit, the kind high school students across the land make in their junior and senior years. But something special happened at this one.
To get a real feel for the school she was visiting, this student stayed overnight in the dorm. That evening her host invited her to a get-together on campus, a Bible study sponsored by the Christian campus ministry there.
Later her parents smiled as they spoke about their daughter”s positive experience with the group of Christian students and the campus minister she met. Christian parents of new college freshmen everywhere are wishing for something similar.
This week”s issue is dedicated to helping make that possible.
Of course, campus ministries on secular campuses aren”t the only way college students strengthen their faith.
Some attend a Christian liberal arts college where they pursue a wide variety of studies in an institution committed to a Christian worldview. Whether their degree is premed or preaching, students learn from professors who believe the Bible.
Others go to Bible college. Established originally to prepare vocational Christian workers, more and more of these schools are broadening their offerings. In fact some of them have morphed into schools much like Christian liberal arts colleges; they offer a wide range of degrees besides those in Bible or ministry. But all of them offer scholarship in an atmosphere of faith.
Our churches support 30-some schools that fit into one of these two categories. And students from our churches flock to them, as they do to several other similar colleges and universities with evangelical rather than Restoration Movement roots.
But many students who grew up in our churches go to state or private secular universities. And many, unprepared for the onslaught to their faith and values from classrooms and classmates they encounter there, soon fall away from church.
Some at secular schools, however, graduate with strong faith and a firm sense of God”s call. The reason almost always includes a dynamic Christian outreach on the secular campus.
Each year CHRISTIAN STANDARD lists the Christian colleges and Bible colleges supported by our churches. (See our March 15 issue this year.) And for several years we”ve also listed campus ministries supported by Christian churches and churches of Christ.
Look carefully at this week”s list“”especially if your family or congregation has teenagers preparing for college. Listen to the passion and purpose of the campus ministers who speak in this issue. Their influence for Christ is as strong as that found anywhere.
We”re glad to feature their ministries in this issue.
0 Comments