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Making Your Summer Holy

2011-04-27T07:06:00.000-07:00

Even though it has been a long time since I served on a college campus as a Campus Minister, I still feel like taking a deep sigh of relief as the summer approaches! I guess that routine of looking forward to the summer and a little bit slower pace just carries over all the rest of your life once you have lived it as a minister to College Students. The Scriptures teach us to “remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”. In addition to Sundays I think the Bible is reminding us we need some special down time. What I don’t think is that it is calling us to be lazy and neglectful. It says that Sabbath time is “holy time”. may I be so bold as to offer some suggestions on how to make your summer “holy time”?

1. Spend some quality time with your family. How many evenings and weekends have you spent away from your spouse and children? Make sure you spend special time with your family to make up for all that time you have spent away from them during the school year!

2. Renew your own spiritual heart. There are tons of ways to do this, and it takes disciple and self motivation, but it is a must if you are going to be at your best in the fall. Here are some suggestions. Read some of those books you have been meaning to read. Spend extra time in Bible Study and Prayer. Attend a conference that will nurture your soul. Spend time with other Collegiate Ministers sharing ideas and fellowshipping.

3. Plan your fall ministries so that you don’t wind up at the last minute getting stressed out trying plan what you want to do. Evaluate the past years ministry and then thoroughly prepare for the fall, making as many detailed plans so that you start the fall prepared and fresh.

4. There will be fewer students around in the summer time, so find a group that is interested in growing and pour yourself into them in a more personal and deeper way than you have time to do doing the regular semesters. This will be a very rewarding experience.

These are only a few suggestions to get you thinking about how to best honor God and make your summer a “Sabbath” experience! Remember to keep it “Holy”!

John Moore

National Collegiate Ministry Leader

Church and Network Partnerships, LifeWay

The Ripple Effect of Citizens of the Kingdom

2011-03-22T10:09:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I attend the funeral of Myra Gulledge. Myra served as the BSU Director at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA from 1951 to 1988. I had the privilege to serve on the same team with her from 1977 until she retired. There are so many things about Myra and her life and ministry that are absolutely outstanding. I could share a lot of the details of her life writing in this blog. If you want to see more about her life go to this LINK.

However, there is just one thing that I want to focus on here. At the funeral some statistics were shared about her ministry that I found to be amazing. In her 38 years as a BSU Director she produced 117 Church staff members and 15 full time international missionaries. No one kept up with the hundred s and hundreds of Students that came through her ministry who are now Deacons, WMU Directors, Sunday School Teachers or Committee chairs. She did not have a list of the students who served as officers, or Summer Missionaries or in some other role of leadership that prepare them to be Market Place witnesses. As I listened to this report on her life I thought of the hundreds of men and women who serve today and have served in the past and the kind of impact their ministry has had on the Kingdom. I am grateful to all of you who have given you life to this ministry and for what God is doing through you and your ministry!

Meet John Moore Our New National Collegiate Ministry Leader

2011-01-18T11:03:00.000-08:00

We are excited to have John Moore serving as our new National Collegiate Ministry Leader replacing Linda Osborne as she takes on the role of Director of Threads.

John earned a Bachelor's of Science degree from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, LA and holds a Master's of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS). In June of 2006 he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from NOBTS.

Here are a few more things John has shared with us about himself, his experience and background:

I spent over 30 rewarding years working with the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM). During that time, I established and implemented “Reach, Connect and Strengthen” as Louisiana BCM goals. These goals enabled us to develop Campus Minister’s leadership training, greater accountability to local churches and associations, and a quarterly one-on-one update that included ministry updates and local campus strategic planning. I was very proud that we achieved these goals and believe our success was due, in part, to the metrics I established to assess our progress towards achieving our goals.

• State BCM Director Louisiana Baptist Convention Sept./90-June/2006
• BCM Director, LSU June/86-Sept./90
• BCM Director, Louisiana College August/77-May/86
• BCM Director, LSU-Alexandria and LSU-Eunice January – July 1977
• Served on the BCM National Alumni Foundation (1998-2006)
o 5 years as Chairman
• Established Louisiana BCM Directors and Family Retreat
o Raised $80,000 to endow it
• Took a group of students to Hong Kong on a mission trip, summer 1993
• Lead the nation in starting one of the first Campus Based Churches at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA, 1995
• Served on the steering committee to establish the BCM Network and served as first BCNet Contract worker for National Student Ministry at LifeWay (2003-2006)
• Received Louisiana BCM Directors Distinguished Service Award (May 2006)
• Begin Work on 8 campuses in Louisiana. Most notable was at the historically African American campus of Grambling State University
• Developed an internship program at NOBTS where 8 students each semester would minister on a campus in New Orleans and would receive class room credit for their work.

Local Church Experience
By serving churches in my local community throughout the years, I have developed a sense of the importance of Ministry through the local Church. Several churches had various needs that I was able to fulfill as evidenced by the roles I played listed below.

• Interim Pastor, Poland Baptist, Alexandria, LA
• Interim Youth and Education Minister, Homewood Baptist, Alexandria, LA
• Interim Youth Minister, Emmanuel Baptist Alexandria, LA
• Interim Minister to College, University Baptist, Baton Rouge, LA
• Interim Pastor, Big Island Baptist, DeVille, LA
• Interim Pastor, Parkview Baptist, Pineville, LA
• Interim Pastor, FBC Hornbeck, Hornbeck, LA
• Interim Pastor, Unity Baptist Church, Pineville, LA
• Interim Minister to Young Adults, Emmanuel, Alexandria, LA

Other Experience
I have had many other experiences that have led to having a broad background in ministering to college students and serving the local church

Home Mission Board
• Served as a Consultant for Student Summer Missions, Home Mission Board (1980-1984)
• Served as a Campus Minister Consultant for Home Mission Board, appointed with family to help start 4 churches in Michigan (Summer 1982)
• Served as a Committee Chairman on the National Steering Committee for Mission 95 and Mission 2000
o Led the nation with student attendance at Mission 95 with 496
o Ranked third in the nation in 2000 with 417 students in attendance

Various
• Served as State Student Directors Association President 1991-1992, 2000-2001
o Also served as Secretary, Treasurer, and President-elect for this organization
• Served on Various LifeWay committees as it relates to Collegiate Ministry
• Served on Louisiana Baptist Convention Mission Trip to Korea November, 1980, Hong Kong, June 1992
• Served as Special Worker for Church Training, Louisiana Baptist
Convention, 19789-81

Note from Linda

2010-07-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

My favorite air to breath is Fall air on a college campus. Fall and the arrival of students, new and returning, is here! Football players, Resident Assistants, Sorority recruitment leaders, and band members are likely on your campus right now. Others will quickly follow! Wooo Hooo!

Most Freshmen arriving on your campus in a few weeks were born in 1992! Other happenings in 1992 were:
• A League of Their Own, Sister Act, and A Few Good Men were popular movies.
• The Pelican Brief by John Grisham, Every Living Thing by James Harriot, and The Way Things Ought to Be by Rush Limbaugh were best selling books.
• Murphy Brown, Home Improvement, and Cheers were weekly television hits.
• Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy and Kris Cross’ Jump were at the top of the musical charts.
• University of Alabama football record was 13-0-0.
• Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series: 4-2 against the Atlanta Braves.
• The first black female astronaut, Dr. Mae C. Jemison, spent more than a week orbiting Earth.
• Johnny Carson left The Tonight Show. I still miss him.
• Quebec voted to remain a part of Canada.
• The LA Riots followed the recorded beating of Rodney King.
• Minnesota’s Mall of America, the largest shopping mall in the US was constructed.

My hope is that this newsletter will give you some practical tools to begin the 2010-2011 school year—from welcoming Freshman and International students to resources which can be used to make collegiate disciples.

Blessings for a new ministry year,

Linda H. Osborne
National Collegiate Ministry Leader

The Call You Don’t Want to Make or Receive

2010-06-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

My heart joined hundreds of sad hearts this week as I learned of the death of Palmer Maphet, a sophomore at TN Tech serving as a missionary in Maine through Baptist Collegiate Ministry. Palmer and his team were traveling to minister at Laconia Motorcycle Week in Laconia, New Hampshire when a car accident ended his life on earth.

I met Palmer on February 6 at a Freshman Retreat which he coordinated. His leadership/ organizational skills, quick smile, and the ability to talk and ice-skate simultaneously were impressive. I grieve this loss, only knowing him a short time. My heart hurts for his family, his mission team, his friends, BCM, and track team.

College students like Palmer -- Brian, Sandy, Tom, Brad, John Wesley, Greg—have died young, with lots of dreams and ministry plans and with grieving family and friends left behind. While we each desire to never be the bearer or the recipient of such news, those who have walked this path have wisdom to share.

The God Talk:

· Do more listening and loving than speaking. Save your best devotional thought for later.

· Allow scripture to speak for itself. Writing or speaking a verse of comfort can be very helpful, without your added interpretation specific to the grief situation.

· God’s grace is often best delivered though simple, thoughtful acts. I lost a baby years ago, and my well meaning Christian friends had many flowery words to share. God’s grace was delivered powerfully to me through a bouquet of lovely Spring flowers with only one word printed on the card. The word? Paul. Paul was a college student involved with the ministry I led who knew that less was more. He knew because he, too, had experienced loss, the death of both of his parents. His signature was all that was needed.

· Share a book for later. Getting Through the Night: Finding Your Way after the Loss of a Loved One by Eugenia Price is a great book to keep on your shelf to give to grieving college students and families. It’s hopeful and full of scripture. It’s short. Grief takes work, so long books usually are too much for one in the midst of grief. It’s inexpensive, $5.99 at LifeWay.

The Practical:

· Contact the family in an appropriate way, depending on your role and relationship to the student. Don’t get in the way or be demanding of time, but make contact soon. Ministry of presence early on is hugely helpful!

· Help the family get any and all information possible, as soon as possible. Weaver McCracken, Director of the Collegiate Ministry Department of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, encourages ministries to help the family travel to the site of the loss, providing financial support to make this happen. “This helps the family better understand how this happened and where it happened,” McCracken acknowledged.

· Encourage college students and others connected to the loss to gather factual information prior to communication via text, Facebook, etc. Misinformation can easily be spread quickly in a tragedy situation. Joe Graham, Collegiate Ministries Specialist for the Georgia Baptist Convention, notes, “If I’m with a group in the midst of a tragedy, the first thing I’ll ask is for everyone to turn off their electronics. Someone has to assess the situation and contact relatives and other vital contacts.”

· Help the family know you remember and you care, long after the loss. McCracken said, “I have Greg Gomez’s birthday in my permanent calendar, so I will remember. I also have noted how old he will be each year, so I can contact the family with knowledge of things that are doubtless on their minds. He was one of ours. We own the loss and always will.”

· Have a plan that allows the students to process and remember, particularly the first year. Daniel Berry, Baptist Collegiate Ministry Director at the University of Kentucky, planned opportunities which gave students chances to pause and remember their friends, Brad and Tom. A memorial 5K run was one of the meaningful opportunities for students.

Your Personal Grief:

· Find other college ministers who have also experienced the loss of a student in their collegiate ministry who understand and will listen. Berry remarked, “Shock/ responsibility will keep you going for the first week or two. As time goes on and you are grieving, it can be very lonely. You can feel like no one remembers your students and wonder things like, ‘How can this world be functioning like normal?’ Darrell Cook (BCM Director at Virginia Tech) provided immeasurable help in my life.”

· Be patient and gracious towards yourself as well. Grief takes time, even for a college minister.

· Wayne Oates’ Grief, Transition, and Loss; A Pastor’s Practical Guide can be a helpful read for you.

· Go to sleep each evening, and wake up each morning remembering our hope in Heaven, in eternity, in Jesus.

Linda H. Osborne is National Collegiate Ministry Leader for LifeWay. She is thankful today for her friend and former student, Hannah, who lived but witnessed the loss of her summer missions team members over a decade ago.

APRIL UPDATE

2010-04-29T10:43:00.001-07:00

I love reading the facebook status’ of my collegiate minister friends this time of year!

“You guys made it! Have a great summer! Be safe traveling home.”

“Looking forward to the Senior Cookout at our house tonight-last BCM event of the year!”

“Just cleared a bunch of pictures of men in kilts off the college ministry camera”

“Spring Fling event today. Hope I don’t get suckered into the dunking booth.”

“Midnight Pancake Breakfast tonight at the BCM!! 11pm to 1am gets you 10 pancakes!! Hope to see you there.”

“Shipping some Inupiaq language New Testaments out to Barrow for a friend”

“Apparently needs to learn a few synonyms for “homey” before playing Catch Phrase again”

“Pumped about the baseball game tonight. Go Tops!”

“Just sent a new option for the Haiti team. If you are on that team, check your email for the new and ever changing plan. This team is getting to practice flexibility before they go!”

“Seniors, I have decided that I really don’t want you to graduate. See what you can do about changing your plans.”

Collegiate ministers are amazing-semi-exhausted at the end of the school-year, yet still nurturing, still sharing the gospel, still cooking, still playing games, still guiding, still organizing, still leading. Be encouraged as you make the transition to summer school, Orientation for new students, and mission trips.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength. He demonstrated this power in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens-“ Ephesians 1: 19-20 (HSCB)

Hope to see you at Collegiate Week at Glorieta! It’s almost sold out! : )

Linda H. Osborne

National Collegiate Ministry Leader

Church and Network Partnerships, LifeWay

January Update

2010-01-27T13:50:00.001-08:00

The National Collegiate Ministry purpose statement is: To LEAD college students and others in the academic community to faith in Jesus Christ, to DEVELOP them as disciples and leaders, and to CONNECT them to the life and mission of the church. It is so encouraging to see collegiate ministries leading, developing, and connecting students. This quarter's newsletter is focused on developing collegians as leaders.

Some quotes from leaders who make me think follow:

"A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position." John Maxwell

"A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus." Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The most effective way to do it, is to do it." Amelia Earhart

"Outstanding leaders go out of the way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish." Sam Walton

"A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be." Rosalyn Carter

"Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too." Robert Half

"Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person." Mother Teresa

"A leader is somebody you follow. I have this friend who wants to be a leader but nobody follows her. I don't think you can be a leader if nobody follows you." Julianna Osborne

As you select leadership teams, discover ways to connect your students to the devastation of those in Haiti, call out gifts in Sophomores that Sophomores have yet to see in themselves, mentor students both in formal and informal ways, and strive for continued growth as a leader in your own life, may the words in this newsletter be helpful to you.

Linda Osborne
National Collegiate Ministry Leader

Network Partnerships

Collegiate Week Video

2009-10-28T12:02:00.001-07:00

Collegiate Week from threadsmedia on Vimeo.

You can share this video at state meetings or student gatherings to encourage students to come to Collegiate Week.

You'll also find posters and save the date cards to download here.

2009-10-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

Football games. Homecoming. S'mores. Retreats. I love Fall and the sense of newness that arrives with the red and yellow leaves-- especially on campus.

This week I heard Nick Howard, Collegiate Minister in the Houston TX area, speak about the importance of new wine being placed in new wineskins from Matthew 9:15-17. Nick was a bit graphic regarding the goat neck in which the wineskin was made, yet his was a wise reminder of the new things that take place in a college student's life during this season. As you watch leaves change and celebrate your team's victory ( or grieve it's loss), be aware of the new things God is doing in the lives of students around you. This quarter's newsletter is built around the theme of discipleship. You will find articles, models, and even recipes that we hope will assist you as you develop students.

Earlier this month, I very much enjoyed being a part of the fresh and enthusiastic gathering of those serving through BCNet (Baptist Collegiate Network). Some of the most creative, dedicated, and passionate college ministers from a variety of ministry settings and a variety of regions dreamed and made plans to reach collegians for Christ, develop them as disciples and leaders, and to connect them to the life and mission of the church. The following collegiate ministers lead each focus area of ministry:

Church Based- Steven Smith, First Baptist Church, Jackson MS- ssmith@fbcj.org
Under-Reached Ethnic Students-Jonathan Santiago, Baptist Convention of New York, jonathanstgo@hotmail.com
Evangelism- Rahul Agarwal, University of South Florida BCM- ragarwal@flbaptist.org
Leadership- Daniel Berry, University of KY BCM- daniel_berry@kybaptist.org
Global Missions - Brenda Sanders, Baptist General Convention of Texas, brenda.sanders@bgct.org
North American Missions Sub-group- Connie Ricks, Florida Baptist Convention, cricks@flbaptist.org
International Missions Sub-group- Stacy Murphree, Tennessee Baptist Convention, smurphree@tnbaptist.org
International Student Ministry Sub-group- Rose Bear, Indiana State University BCM, huldah22@yahoo.com
Discipleship- Peter Hyatt, Charleston, SC BCM- peter@charlestonBCM.org

These college workers want to help you as you minister to collegians. Find useful information from each group at www.bcmlife.net. Contact them with your questions, suggestions, and needs.

Being a part of the disciple-making process during the college years is such an amazing experience!

Blessings as you make disciples,

Linda H. Osborne
National Collegiate Ministry Leader
Church and Network Partnerships

Relationships at the center of collegiate ministry, leader says

2009-10-15T20:42:00.001-07:00

Written by Chris Turner

Linda Osborne hasn’t met a person she isn’t willing to engage in conversation, especially if college students are involved. She likes to talk. But ask her about her vision for collegiate ministry and ideas come quickly and to the point: Partnership. Networking. Equipping. Strengthening. Reaching. Connecting.

Before taking her role as national collegiate ministry leader for LifeWay, Osborne gained 21 years of campus ministry experience serving at Arkansas State University, Florida State University, and Louisiana Tech University. The Winona, Miss., native plans to draw from her experience and her vast network of collegiate ministers to bring focus to LifeWay’s effort to assist in the mission of reaching college students with the gospel and helping them grow in their faith. Osborne took a brief break from a busy Collegiate Week at Glorieta Aug. 6-10 to discuss her ministry philosophy and the future of collegiate ministry.

Q: How would you describe your ministry philosophy?
LO: In a single word: relationship. College students want relationships. They want to talk and they want to be in community with others. This was a significant finding in a study done by LifeWay Research earlier this year titled, “Young adults falling away from church.” Relationships open the door for campus ministers and church ministers to have spiritual influence in their lives. Students will talk about anything and ministers need to be a part of the conversation. Relationships pave the way for sharing the gospel with them and providing godly counsel.

Q: You’ve also talked about relationships among leaders themselves. How does that philosophy extend to what you’d like to see LifeWay accomplish in relation to churches and campuses?
LO: One of the great joys I have in this position is getting to work with college ministers and BCM [Baptist Collegiate Ministry] directors across the country, many of whom have been good friends for years. We are all aware of the needs on college campuses. We do have BCMs on 839 campuses and work with 42 Baptist state conventions that minister to more than 279,000 students. However, there are more than 18.7 million college students on campuses across the United States. There is a lot of work to do. Most of those don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus. I believe having a relationship with leaders across campuses, conventions and churches is going to be critical if we are going to have an impact for Christ.

Q: What will LifeWay’s role be in these relationships?
LO: Years ago the Southern Baptist Convention gave LifeWay the responsibility of collegiate ministry. Last year a number of state collegiate directors met with President Rainer, and asked him if LifeWay could make collegiate ministry more of a priority. He responded in a very positive way. One of the positive changes was to put collegiate ministry in our network partnerships department. This is a perfect fit. It gives us a chance to build relationships with state convention leaders, ministers, the International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, and a host of others. We all realize that if we are going to make a dent in that 18-plus million, it is going to take all of us working together to do more than we can do as individual entities and my goal is for LifeWay to offer leadership in helping bring this about.

Q: What type of impact do you think this week makes in their lives?
LO: I believe it makes a huge difference. Consider, Collegiate Week is just one aspect of what we believe will be a comprehensive equipping approach to collegiate ministry, but it is a very important aspect. We have students here from campuses across the country, most of them secular. I’ve already heard a number of comments from them about how this week is spiritual preparation for going back into challenging circumstances, in many cases where there is hostility toward Christianity. Here they get solid biblical teaching during our large group times and more specialized training during small group sessions in areas like apologetics, evangelism and missions. It helps to equip them for their personal ministries. The really cool thing is that they literally have a chance to reach the nations for Christ right on their campuses with so many international students coming from every corner of the world.

Q: What role does the local church have in your vision for collegiate ministry?
LO: Campus ministry is not the church. While BCM is an important arm of the church, the church is the Bride of Christ and ultimately that is where students need to connect. It is important that we help them make that transition. The LifeWay Research study that released in August showed that 70 percent of teenagers who say they attended church regularly in high school drop out of church between the ages of 18 and 22. That is an alarming figure. We’ve got to help them make that transition and to not walk away from their faith. However, it is important for local churches to embrace their role in ministering to college students. Unfortunately too many churches that are not in “college towns” don’t see themselves as college churches, but if your church has a single student who has gone off to college, then you are a college church and there are lots of ways that church can support the student.