Lead Defend equips students for next generation gospel impact
Scheduled March 7 at Immanuel Baptist Church and the City Center in Little Rock, Lead Defend and Lead Defend Foundations equip the next generation to
February 5, 2026
Scheduled March 7 at Immanuel Baptist Church and the City Center in Little Rock, Lead Defend and Lead Defend Foundations equip the next generation to
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Campus ministers from community colleges and smaller college campuses around the state gathered in Little Rock this weekend to attend the Arkansas
Several Arkansas Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) students delayed their Christmas break to serve on mission in the Arkansas Delta. Christmas in the Delta, which was Dec. 12-16, is an Arkansas
Students gather at Panther Stadium in Cabot for Fields of Faith, where 3,680 were in attendance. (Submitted/Abigail Rose Photography) CABOT, Ark. – Fields of Faith
College students gathered at Camp Paron recently for a BCM Fall Retreat. (Submitted) PARON, Ark. – More than 300 college students gathered this past weekend,
Eight students were baptized following a fellowship meal at Second Baptist Church in Russellville. (Submitted) God’s spirit is moving among high school and college students
(Photos by Luke Dawson) DAVIS, Okla. – More than 100 college students from across Arkansas recently traveled to the Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center near
Denver Broncos’ Quarterback Bo Nix and his father, Coach Patrick Nix, sit down with Lead Pastor Chris Dixon during Night of Champions at First Baptist
Photos by Alex Blankenship/ABSC We joyfully concluded an incredible week of JoyWorks and PraiseWorks camp on Friday, July 18, 2025. This year, over 900 campers—from
ENGAGE Missions Camp is set for June 16-20 at Camp Paron. The camp combines biblical teaching, worship, evangelism, fun, and fellowship with hands-on ministry opportunities
Each spring for the past 16 years, student groups from across the state have come together in April for a weekend of missions and ministry
LITTLE ROCK – Aubrey Lee, an 11th grader from Grandview Baptist Church in Berryville, has been involved with Bible Drill for nine years. Bible Drill
The Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) Evangelism + Church Health Team is welcoming two new members to its service to Arkansas Baptists. On Wednesday, April
More than 200 Arkansas Baptist college students from around the state recently traveled to Panama City Beach, Florida, to spend their spring break serving others
Students lead worship Wednesday during Spiritual Emphasis Week. (Mary Alford/ABN) SHERWOOD, Ark. – It’s Spiritual Emphasis Week at Abundant Life Christian Academy (ALCA), and students
Students encourage one another at Lead Defend 2025 in Little Rock. (Photos by Cassidy Higgins/ABSC) LITTLE ROCK – More than 1,900 students, young adults and
The 2025 Replicate retreat is set for Sept. 19-21. Replicate is a weekend of life-changing messages, powerful worship, small groups, and interactive experiences challenging students
Students worship during Reality Check at First Baptist Church in El Dorado. (Submitted) Disciple Now (DNow) events across the state are serving as catalysts for
JoyWorks and PraiseWorks worship arts camps have become powerful equipping tools for the state as children and students are discipled as the next generation of
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The 2025 Lead Defend apologetics conference is just around the corner. Lead Defend and Lead Defend Foundations are scheduled March 8 at Immanuel Baptist
Perception Artist Sean Emory trains adult church volunteers on how to share the gospel. (Alex Blankenship/ABSC) VILONIA, Ark. – The Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) recently
Campus ministers from community colleges and smaller college campuses around the state gathered in Little Rock this weekend to attend the Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) Community College Winter Workshop.
Students and leaders from the University of Arkansas in Fort Smith BCM pose in New York during Christmas break mission trip. Photo submitted Ministry didn’t
A group of University of Arkansas Baptist Collegiate Ministry (UA BCM) students recently served in the Marion and West Memphis area for Christmas in the
Arkansas Baptists have a lot to look forward for 2025. A few events to mark on the calendar are: Evangelism Conference The 2025 Statewide Conference
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – “God has been moving big here this semester and it has been amazing to see and be a part of,” said Hayden
WHITE HALL, Ark. – Three young ladies recently put together a lemonade stand to raise support for Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief (ABDR) and Hurricane Helene
Revival is happening on college campuses across the nation, including in Arkansas.
Luke Schonauer has a heart for missions. He had the opportunity to put that passion into action this summer through serving at First Baptist Church
Arkansas Baptists were well-represented at National Collegiate Week, held Aug. 4-8 at Falls Creek, Oklahoma. One hundred and thirty-four Arkansas students and leaders from both
Sunday morning! The sun is out, the church doors are unlocked, the AC is on (and working!), and the fellowship hall smells of homemade breakfast. A week has come and gone, and now it’s time to worship and fellowship with the church family.
This summer at Tech BCM we mobilized 23 students. That is nearly 40% of our average attendance for BCM serving at camps, on mission trips, and in local churches.
Where is my mission field? This was the question students and adults from across the state and Missouri explored last week at Camp Paron as
Arkadelphia, Ark. – Thousands of students from across the state have gathered this week on the campus of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia for Super
Aubrey Lee and Aden Thompson compete at the National Bible Drill Competition in North Carolina. (Submitted) Concord, N.C. – Aubrey Lee from Grandview Baptist Church
Church group time can be one of the most pivotal moments for a student ministry during camp.
New beginnings can be tough. Here are some ways you can help keep high school graduates connected to God.
I will begin by saying that these “keys” are pointed more for campus-based ministry; however, these can prove to be helpful to church based collegiate
Leading a college ministry is one of the greatest privileges in the world, and I truly believe the college campus is the most strategic mission field on earth.
Leaders will make or break a ministry. They will determine who comes and who does not come. They will set the pace for your ministry in many different ways.
Collierville, Tenn. – More than 700 Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) leaders from across the country gathered last week at Collierville First Baptist Church in Tennessee
Reconciliation with Christ is found through genuine obedience to the call from Christ.
If you share the Gospel with more people, more people will have an opportunity to get saved.
Ministries that consistently see people respond to the Gospel have a culture in which calls for response are frequent in sermons, in personal conversations, and the personal witness of the ministry leader(s).
From Portland, Oregon, to Panama City Beach, Florida, Arkansas Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) students from around the state traveled near and far during their spring
More than 1,800 students, young adults and church leaders converged in Little Rock on Saturday for the 2024 Lead Defend apologetics conference.
BENTON, Ark. – More than 100 students gathered at First Baptist Church in Benton Jan. 26-27 for PraizFest 2024. Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) Worship
The three-day camp will feature preaching, teaching, and breakout sessions expressly focused on various vocational calls to ministry: pastoral ministry, student ministry, music ministry, and women’s ministry.
Twelve college students, along with our director and two recent UAM graduates, entered the city with the purpose of aiding four important ministries.
We need to operate under the assumption that no one else is going to tell these young, godly, humble leaders that they ought to consider if God is calling them to ministry.
Campus ministry is meant to multiply, because the church is meant to multiply.
It will take the effort of every Baptist Collegiate Ministry and every church working cooperatively together to reach these nearly 150,000 students with the Gospel.
God has promised us His power and the way for us to access it is through prayer, and yet prayer many times is our last option.
Over 200 students from Arkansas State University and Williams Baptist University gathered for a night of prayer and worship on Sunday, October 1.
More than 50 students made decisions during Replicate, Sept. 22-24. (Submitted) Editor’s note: This article was written by Mitchell Waite, marketing supervisor for Camp Siloam.
Editor’s note: This article was written by Northark BCM Leader Jeff Brasel. HARRISON, Ark. — When God’s people come together, amazing things can happen. One
One of the best ways for us to help build biblical community within our church is through small groups.
Something unique is happening within the next generation.
Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) across the state kicked off the fall semester of ministry with over 1,200 students in weekly worship across ten locations!
Heading to college is a big deal for the students, the parents, and the local church.
Have you ever watched the movie “Inside Out” by Pixar? My 20-month-old baby girl has been watching it lately. The film revolves around 11-year-old Riley
Arkansas Hispanic WMU and Iglesia Bautist Neuva Jerusalén in Little Rock recently partnered together to provide a student missions event for Arkansas Baptist Hispanic churches.
There are many opinions on what makes a strong leader.
Lightstock Photo This article by Aaron Summers, pastor of First Baptist Church in Crowley, TX first first appeared at Lifeway Research. As a new school year approaches,
She found herself in a completely new environment with many challenges. However, she was grateful for the opportunity and the support of her parents to pursue this new adventure.
Arkansas Baptists churches have a heart for people all over the world.
Less than two months from now college ministries across the country will be in the middle of the second most important time of the year – “Welcome Week.”
A few reminders and encouragements for churches when it comes to collegiate ministry.
The Pine Bluff Baptist Collegiate Ministry equipped and mobilized three recent graduates to go to Sao Paulo, Brazil for the purpose of encouraging Christians in Sao Paulo to “not grow weary of doing good (Gal. 6:9),” and to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, teaching them to obey and see people move from enemies of God to children of God (Ephesians 2:1-10).
Do you have a compelling vision that is empowering others to be Gospel sowers who are impacting lostness in their life?
The call of God on a person’s life is an invitation to follow Him to salvation, to a deeper relationship with him, to church membership, or to vocational ministry. Because I believe that God is always calling people, I am unapologetic about boldly giving invitations at the conclusions of my sermons.
Ministry to the next generation has never been more important. Those who minister to the next generation are at the front lines of some of the most strategic ministry in the world.
Across our state, collegians are wrapping up a semester and year of study by taking finals. This is one of the more exciting times of
We live in a world where pain and loneliness lurk around every corner. Almost daily, I talk to people who long for hope and help.
We plant seeds. We water. We labor.
Why? For the sake of advancing the Kingdom here, and everywhere, on earth.
Graduation is just around the corner! For university students, it will happen in a matter of weeks and for high school students, in about a
We’ve taken this semester to build community, and establish our mission to “Help Students Find Jesus and Follow Jesus.”
Beach Reach photo University of Central Arkansas senior Kaylea Jobe spent her spring break, March 18-24, in Panama City, Florida, serving the Lord and sharing
In student ministry we encounter all different types of students and meet them in all different seasons of life. In campus ministry, we are constantly
In Matthew 28, Jesus commands all disciples to “go and make disciples of all peoples.”
The 2023 Lead>Defend apologetics conference welcomed record attendance Saturday, March 4, as more than 2,000 students, young adults and church leaders gathered at Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock.
There is no greater calling than to make disciples!
Discipleship is a key component to college ministry and can bring lasting change to those that are fully committed! Real discipleship involves many hours of
Editor’s note: This article was first published Feb. 24 by Bill Elliff on his website’s blog. Elliff is the founding and national engage pastor of The Summit Church in North Little Rock, Arkansas. He also serves on the Prayer Task Force at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.
One of the most important gifts you can give your family is to help them know how to spend time with God. Before my wife,
Brandon Moore serves as the Conway Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) director where he loves to help students explore their faith and lead them to obedience. Our BCM’s
BENTON, Ark. – More than 100 students gathered at First Baptist Church in Benton this past weekend, Jan. 27-28, for PraizFest 2023. Arkansas Baptist State
God has redeemed all of us from the domain of darkness and has placed us in His Kingdom of light to do His ministry.
One of the most exciting parts of leading Baptist Collegiate Ministry on a university campus is training students how to share their faith.
Students interested in joining the excitement of PraizFest still have time to register. Set for Friday night and Saturday, Jan. 27 and 28, at First
Reaching the next generation doesn’t happen without intentionality.
Tyler Hoffpauir, campus minister at Arkansas State University, offers two ways for churches to connect better with youth and young adults.
Over 33,000 students will graduate from Arkansas High Schools this year, according to the ADE Data Center.
“Be sure to invite your friends!” These are words that we often hear when it comes to church-related activities and services. We hear those words
“Calling Out the Called,” a new book written by SBC leaders Shane Pruitt and Scott Pace, discusses the importance of raising up the next generation of ministry leaders.
We desperately need to equip more ministers if we want to replace the countless number currently retiring or leaving the ministry for a myriad of other reasons.
God uses BCM ministries to raise up and call out students to a variety of ministry callings.
I want to spend a few minutes focused on characteristics of Gen Z (born 1995-2012) that I find encouraging and even exciting.
It’s no secret that we have trouble slowing down to rest these days.
On August 17, a team of DR volunteers from across the state assembled to serve in a different way.
This year over 5,000 international students have come to study at colleges and universities in Arkansas.
One of the greatest resources church members can provide is prayer. There is a great need for prayer warriors to be lifting each campus across the state of Arkansas in prayer.
My first time as a camper in the land of a million smiles was the summer of 2017. Our group of six people (four campers
With summertime fading, the new school year is at hand. According to home school, private school, and public school data, just over 513,000 Kindergarten through 12th grade students will be in Arkansas classrooms very soon.
Emily Smith serves on the Evangelism+Church Health Team as the Children’s Specialist at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. As kids explore, discover, and grow, their
We have to share the Gospel and the only way to do that effectively is to share the Gospel through those we have some type of relationship with in our community.
Putman baptized Ben on Easter Sunday at Mount Zion Baptist Church, Walcott, Ark., where he serves as the bi-vocational pastor.
BCM students have incredible opportunities during the summer to serve in a variety of ways.
These first four weeks are incredibly important in the life of these students and our ministry.
After well over two years, Super Summer Arkansas made its return, continuing its focus on evangelism and discipleship for students in 6th-12th grades.
Arkansas Baptist churches across the state have available, hospitable, and selfless members ready to be key advocates to help the church reach young adults.
The transformation so many of these near-hopeless college students are looking for is going to come from the Holy Spirit.
A good summer of planning a few simple things in your spiritual life can make a great fall!
Through a partnership with Jeremy Aylett, NAMB missionary and Arkansas native, we recently took a team of 11 students from our BCM at the University of Arkansas to serve alongside church planters in the greater San Diego area.
The Gospel is powerful. The Gospel transforms, heals, and restores. People are in desperate need to hear about the hope found in Jesus Christ. They just need someone to tell them.
The key strategy in making an impact this summer, in your kids ministry, is to be intentional—don’t let the elongated days of summer pass by without impacting the life of a child with the Gospel.
The nations are no longer in a difficult geographical location to reach, they are on our college campuses, in our neighborhoods, at our jobs, and in our churches.
If a church has a great next gen pastor, then that congregation should do everything within their power to cultivate a favorable environment for the pastor to have a long, fruitful ministry in the church.
Graduation is the launching pad to send out Baptist Collegiate Ministry students across the globe for ministry and mission.
High school seniors need help navigating the multitude of changes headed their way.
Summer is an incredible time for hosting events where fun and friendship can be facilitated. Planning these types of events can be as important as small group Bible studies for building relationships and fostering community.
As someone who grew up in the church, I heard how important it was to share my faith with others early on in my life.
The best way for a student to spend their summer is with a week at a summer church camp or on a mission trip.
The idea would be that the event would not be a debate, but rather an opportunity for each perspective to be shared uninterrupted. Point CounterPoint was born.
College students involved with Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) ministries across Arkansas spent their spring break serving others and sharing about Jesus in various contexts across the country.
Churches have an opportunity to share the gospel, make a difference, and change a child’s life. Kids are worth it and VBS can still be a powerful tool to make an impact in your kids ministry this summer.
More than 1,600 students, young adults and church leaders gathered Saturday, March 5 at Immanuel Baptist Church (IBC) in Little Rock for the 2022 Lead > Defend apologetics conference which is a Cooperative Program ministry of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC). That number included middle/junior high students who attended Lead > Defend:Foundations.
Building an evangelistic culture is no small feat for any church or organization.
God has opened my eyes to the international students all around me.
Brasel said his team of BCM students and volunteers from the school and surrounding area churches hand out goody bags. Even Brasel’s grandson gets in on the distribution.
The annual Lead > Defend conference is right around the corner on March 5.
The college campus is an explosion of character, culture, education, ideology, religion, lifestyle, and worldview.
Having a discipleship blueprint is key when ministering to the next generation
If it’s true that the big attracts and the small keeps, our ministries must be good at doing it big and making it feel small.
Being the Collegiate Church Mobilizer for the Metro New York Baptist Association involves helping churches reach over 80 college campuses with over one million students in a city with over eight million people.
BCM’s equip and empower student leaders to share this news boldly with the people God has placed in their lives. Here is the one-story (among many) of Gospel transformation shared by one of our student leaders, Landon.
The amazing privilege of being missionaries on the college campus is the opportunities it affords our staff and student leaders to share life with others
“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” – 2 Tim 2:2 (ESV)
Kevin Wieser is a firm believer in the impact of Christian higher education.
Adam Venters serves as the campus minister for Little Rock Baptist Collegiate Ministry, formerly Metro Baptist Collegiate MInistry. New Name On Nov. 9, the Little Rock
God has been asking the same thing from every person for all time, “obey me.”
My college years were some of the most transformational years of my life
We have a responsibility as believers to grow in our relationship with God. We also have the responsibility to be helping other people grow in their relationship with God.
Because someone has directly discipled me, I have a desire and a goal to disciple others and to share with them what Christ has done in my life.
Jared Farley is the BCM Campus Minister at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia. Over 300 college students from across the state gathered this past weekend
For southern Louisiana, they are living through the aftermath.
The university campus is the greatest and most strategic mission field in the entire world.
God and His mighty power at work within us, can do anything He wants to do through us.
The first weeks of school for an incoming freshman are some of the most pivotal days of their lives.
The impact that short-term missions can have on an individual is immense.
Arkansas Baptists, through your generous support, you are investing in first-generation students.
The first three weeks of a collegian’s time on campus are the most pivotal. They begin to set patterns that literally shape the rest of their lives.
God can use one week to completely change the trajectory of a college student’s life.
The College and Young Leaders Team has partnered with several church leaders to craft a one-day, overnight retreat to help your ministry and your students move into this season of discipleship and mobilization.
Pool parties, camps, retreats, waterslides, float trips, worship nights under the stars, and advancing the gospel in some of the most remote places in the world. This is the opportunity that college students have in the uniquely special season of life of the after high school but before being a professional kicks in.
Each and every generation faces new and unique challenges as it seeks to serve the generation coming behind it. As children and teenagers are plunged into the digital world, we know that today’s challenges may be unlike any we have seen before
With the first day of classes fast approaching, the attention of campus ministers across our state is turning to connecting to students as they arrive on campus, especially those freshmen that are coming to campus for the first time. If we are being honest, connecting with students, introducing them to the Gospel, and getting them plugged in to our ministries is something that we think about all day, every day.
CONWAY, Ark. – The Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) recently hired Brandon Moore as Conway Baptist Collegiate Ministry’s new campus minister. Moore most recently served at Christ Community Church in Huntersville, North Carolina where he was the College & Young Adult Director.
In the first part of this series, we looked in-depth at how Proverbs 10:1-3 can assist as young adults transition to college. Here, we see that there are applications in each of the remaining verses of Proverbs 10 along with the conclusion to the author’s thoughts.
Exciting senior trips, inspiring graduation speeches, nostalgic summer vacations, bittersweet goodbyes in high school and so much more
Reach the campus, and you can reach the world for Christ. Does that seem like an exaggeration? I was convinced that God was willing to do just that through our obedience at Henderson State University. Going to make disciples of all nations needed to start with reaching and discipling students right here on the local campus.
This article was written by Corley Shumaker. She is the assistant campus minister at Arkansas State University BCM. Shumaker lives with her husband, Kevin, and daughter Ellie Joy in Jonesboro. They love taking road trips, visiting National Parks and attending ASU football games.
There are two things that have constantly impacted Jessica Sandusky’s life: Her dad, Mike Sandusky, and Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM).
We have realized that, like me, the Lord has brought many to Walnut Street Baptist Church in Jonesboro to be trained up and sent out.
One of the greatest privileges that college ministers share is participation in weddings for college students.
Our hope is that the Gospel will penetrate the hearts of individuals on these teams and that they will think of their team as a mission field.
More and more students are closed off to the truth. But that does not mean that the Gospel is not still reaching students or that God is not transforming the lives of college students.
This time last year, Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM) around the state had canceled scheduled spring break mission trips.
This article was written by Seth Tucker, Youth Ministry Consultant for the Arkansas Baptist State Convention Summer ministry has been an integral piece to student
These three guys get together weekly to share a meal and study God’s Word with other guys they invite from the baseball team. Almost every week new guys are showing up to study the Bible and hearing the Gospel in a clear way.
In a world that tries to give us twenty million things to put our trust in, there is only one true foundation. There is only one that is worth building our life on and putting our trust in and that is Jesus.
The Arkansas university campuses are not only our most strategic mission fields but our greatest mission agencies.
What if I told you that 70 days or one summer of your college years could change the rest of your life?
We need them to see that the Bible is more than “stories.” It is the inspired, inerrant, Word of the Living God. It is true and it is powerful in addressing all of life’s questions. Questions on values, identity, origins, and so much more.
Brad Branham has served as the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) Campus Minister at Arkansas Tech University since January 2015. Additionally, he planted Hello Church on
Freedom through discipline. Study with rigor. Application for life change. What could be more impactful?
One of the goals of each BCM campus ministry is to develop next-generation leaders. At the UAM BCM, one of the ways this is accomplished is by investing in the lives of students and equipping and challenging them to become student leaders.
The BCM at Southern Arkansas University (SAU) made the decision early in the fall semester to be present on the SAU campus to interact with students with the intention of sharing the Gospel.
Colt Booth is the assistant campus minister at Henderson State University (HSU) and his story is why Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) plays such a critical role on the college campus.
What would you do if you were dropped off in an unfamiliar place, had no friends, knew little of the language or culture, and were far away from family and friends?
This year at the BCM, we began hosting Masterclasses. We saw students desiring to understand what the Bible says concerning certain topics.
Today, when you ask Jackson and his wife Bekah what excites them about college ministry they say “discipling students” without hesitation.
