When I first started doing communications work for MBCollegiate, the Missouri Baptist Convention‘s college ministry arm, in January of 2020, I was given one task:
Tell the story.
Easy as pie, right? The MBCollegiate staff simply wanted to do a better job of communicating what God is doing in and through Missouri college ministries.
It’s been my job – and my joy – to find, hear, and tell those stories over the last year-and-a-half through social media and Pathway articles. I get to spend my work hours hearing about what God is doing and sharing that with our audience- recounting His faithfulness and His power at work and proclaiming it to others.
Toward the end of 2020, the fuzzy vision for a new initiative started to form. As I got to know our campus missionaries through their reports and interviews, I began to realize what a wealth of wisdom, experience, and passion they possess. I was so blessed, encouraged, and challenged in my own ministry to college students through my conversations with them; I didn’t want to keep that to myself.
Over the last eight months, the fuzziness has cleared and that vision has taken shape, hence the birth of this resourcing blog. We decided to call it The Collegiate DiscipleMaker because, aside from the fact that “Resourcing Blog” is boring, the title encapsulates the purpose of this site – to equip people to make disciples of college students (or college-aged young adults, which these days is typically 18-25). If you are ministering to college students/young adults in any capacity – as a parent, a fellow student, a college minister, a volunteer, a mentor, a pastor – then I am confident these resources will provide encouragement and add tools to your ministry toolbox.
Our contributors have been working hard to write their first round of articles, and I can’t express enough how pumped I am for you to read what they’ve been working on. Each of our contributors comes from a different background. Some are campus missionaries, others are collegiate ministries strategists, still others are young adult pastors. Their ministries are structured differently. The nuances of their theology may even differ slightly. Their writing voices range from academic to lighthearted and conversational. The beautiful thing is that they share a common passion for Jesus, His gospel, and for college students.
You can expect to find new articles that are theologically rich and pragmatically applicable published on Mondays and Thursdays on topics ranging from discipleship and evangelism to mental wellness and relationships to leadership development and devotions. You’ll hear from our team of contributors on a regular basis, but you’ll also get to hear other voices from guest posters including students, counselors, and more.
Are you excited yet? I am. This post is just a teaser – stay tuned for the first article for the official launch of The Collegiate DiscipleMaker on Monday, August 16, 2021.
Until then, you can learn more about who we are or get to know our contributors. If there’s a topic or question burning on your mind that you would love for us to write about, contact us. And don’t forget – subscribe to our email list so that you’ll never miss an article or resource.
