EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is drawn from several student ministry articles featured in the current issue of Texas Baptist Crossroads magazine. The more detailed articles in Crossroads deal with a shift in how churches disciple and minister to students and offer advice for churches transitioning to a home-based student ministry.

The statistics are stunning: Southern Baptists are baptizing a steadily decreasing number of students, and droves of them—about 60 percent—are leaving the church after graduating from high school.

The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention staff isn’t letting the numbers numb them; they’ve been busy writing curricula, planning events and organizing think tanks to equip parents and youth ministers with biblical strategies and responses to the alarming mass departure.

Morevover, the SBTC is offering resources redefining the youth minister’s role, tapping parents as partners in student ministry, and even mobilizing other students to reach their communities and peers for Christ.

Intersecting the Christian home and youth ministry, SBTC staffers developed the “Home-Based Student Ministry” (HBSM) curriculum, which has two key components:

—Engage parents as primary Bible teachers for their children.

—Release student ministers to provide service and leadership opportunities for students.

Bookending the HBSM is a five-session, DVD-based discipleship study course for parents titled “Inheritance: Passing Down a Legacy of Faith to Our Children.” The study entails four video teaching sessions complete with printable PDF documents, a leader’s guide, home Bible study materials, and other resources for a complete, user-friendly package. Retailing at $69.95, Inheritance materials may be ordered at planetstudents.org. SBTC-affiliated churches receive a 20 percent discount.

Anticipating young adults’ transition to college and career—when they are most prone to drop out of church life—the SBTC staff is forming a web-based resource enabling parents and young adults to find viable churches and other ministries the young adults can plug into upon arriving in their new locales. SBTC Church Ministries Associate Ken Lasater will gather insights at the upcoming Student Leaders’ Escape, Oct 5-7, at the Highland Lakes Center in Spicewood.

The SL Escape is a think-tank laboratory meeting, combining ideas and information to develop workable strategies to strengthen the church-student connection.

“There’ll be no keynote speakers to give us education from their viewpoint,” said Lasater, who invites all interested parties to attend.  See sbtexas.com/slescape for additional information or to register.

Training new church leaders

Another disturbing statistic is the amount of time churches invest each week in training students for church leadership roles—on average fewer than 15 minutes.

“That means we’re in great need of developing the right kind of leaders for the future: those who are skilled, prepared and committed for the long haul,” Lasater noted.

The SBTC’s answer is two-fold: Summer Worship University (SWU)—focusing on developing worship skills—and Student Leadership Training (SLT) covering other areas of church leadership. SWU classes include vocal and instrumental music, creative arts, and technical media. SLT classes offer training in student ministry, missions, public speaking, teaching, preaching, general church leadership and church recreation and fellowship.

Registrations for the July 13-18 SWU and SLT camps at Schreiner University in Kerrville received by May 1, $235; and after May 1, $265. Fees include all materials, a learner’s syllabus, a shirt, meals, lodging and conferences and all fees. For additional information: sbtexas.com/swu, sbtexas.com/slt, or sbtexas.com.

Evangelism is the engaging answer

There’s yet another staggering statistic: The Lone Star State has more than 1.1

million college students. And Lance Crowell, director of SBTC collegiate ministries, wants to know who’s reaching them with the gospel.

“When you look at churches, the 18-30 age bracket is pretty much a black hole,” Crowell admitted.

Crowell has launched an effort called “green-mission” to reach the 1.1 million students for Christ, with the color green representing new life and growth in Christ.

“We are in the early stages of creating discipleship and leadership development materials for churches to help them think about what it means to reach college students,” he said.

Included in this effort are two regional events called Regional Leadership Conferences; one is scheduled for June 5-6 at FBC Houston, and another for Nov. 13-14 at Paramount Baptist Church in Amarillo.

For more info visit sbtexas.com/collegiate/1.1million.html.

While many students spend their summers working, vacationing or just loafing, some others spend theirs preaching, witnessing and ministering—thanks to the efforts of the SBTC’s Engage Ministry emphasizing student-led revivals.

Begun in 2007, Engage impacted nine churches with two student evangelism teams serving for about five weeks. In 2008, Engage teams served in 20 churches. Matt Hubbard, SBTC student evangelism specialist and coordinator, said he hopes more churches will be blessed through Engage teams.

“Unbelievable. I can’t come up with the words to describe the discipline, passion, and vision that these three young men possess,” said Ken Durham, pastor of First Baptist Church, North Channel, Houston, speaking of three collegians who helped his church last year.

Scheduled by host churches, Engage revival meetings run from Sunday through Thursday.

“These are not youth revivals,” Hubbard said, “but are for the entire church and community.”

Through the week, Engage teams lead in VBS, sports camps, youth evangelism training and Bible studies.

This summer’s Engage training kicks off May 26-29 at Riverbend Retreat Center in Glenrose. Churches hosting a revival team will receive a free, detailed planning guide. The Engage ministry culminates at the SBTC’s 2009. Student Evangelism Conference, Aug. 7-8, at the Dallas Convention Center. Parties interested in the Engage revival teams, or the annual statewide Student Evangelism Conference, may contact Hubbard at 817.552.2500, or mhubbard@sbtexas.com. More info is available at planetstudents.org.

Student ministry leaders are trying to reach schools also in a statewide effort called Campus Blitz involving SBTC staffers and student ministers.

The strategy encourages students to witness to their friends for 30 days through a process that leads up to a large evangelistic event. The goal is for those friends to become Christians during the 30 days. Campus Blitz should be ready for release at the Student Evangelism Conference. This year’s theme is “Message Received. Message Sent.”

“The SBTC’s work in student evangelism is focused on maximizing the local church’s effectiveness in reaching lost students with the gospel,” Hubbard said. “Whether through training parents in how to share the gospel with their own children at home with the Inheritance Project, or through the equipping, empowering, and mobilizing of teenagers to share the gospel through the Engage Ministry, or through the annual statewide Student Evangelism Conference, spreading the good news of Jesus Christ to students across Texas and beyond is of utmost importance to our SBTC churches and convention leaders.”