The Campus Across The Street: Encouraging the Local Church to Engage the Nearby Campus

Brian Musser, Baptist Campus Minister at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pa., and colleagues from the Baptist Collegiate Network produced a guide, complete with narrative and helpful tips, to help churches engage campuses.

May 20, 2024
Brian Musser

I had the privilege of serving as the chair of the Multiplication Committee of the Baptist Collegiate Network (BCNet) and we produced a guide to help churches engage campuses.

From the Introduction:

Over the next several chapters we will go on an imaginary journey with different individuals from Terrace Hill Community Church as they start to intentionally reach Oak College. This journey is imagined but along the way, you will hear other stories from real-life churches that are actively engaging campuses and students. You will be introduced to real ideas, information, and resources that are being successfully used at colleges and universities throughout the country. There will be tangible activities for you and your church to do to help you connect with the young adults in the nearby campus community. At the end of each chapter, there will be a quick summary of the main ideas, a resource list, the suggested activities, and discussion questions.

The goal of this book is not only to ENCOURAGE local churches to ENGAGE the nearby campuses with the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the sake of the Kingdom of God but also to EQUIP and EMPOWER the local churches to succeed.

Comparatively speaking, writing a book that motivates churches to reach young adults would be an easy task. We are trying to be a little more ambitious. We want to create an experience that will guide a congregation through the process. We do not want to just identify the needs but also provide the tools to address them.

This book will highlight seven mindset shifts that the normal church will need to make to reach the ordinary campus across the street. When we tell stories about real-life churches, we will be featuring stories about small to medium-sized congregations. We will also use examples of churches reaching small to medium-sized campuses. Often multiple church-based, para-church, and denominational ministries are dedicated to reaching our large state schools. Many times, the smaller private schools and community colleges get overlooked. Yet most of the time there are ordinary congregations in the same neighborhood as these smaller campuses. This book hopes to encourage, equip, and empower the local congregation to engage the campus across the street.

Matthew 9:35 – 38, where Jesus is discussing the need for laborers in the harvest, will be our foundational text. It is also our imaginary campus minister’s favorite scripture.

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (ESV)

We believe there are seven mindset shifts that will help accomplish this task. Each chapter will concentrate on one of these shifts as illustrated by Matthew 9.