Reaching Freshmen Later In The Fall Semester

Two of the best BCM presidents we have had during my 20 years at LSU didn’t become involved in our ministry until January of their freshman year. Both of them went on a BCM ski trip and meet and connected with our students and staff. They both stayed very involved in our ministry and became presidents during their senior years.

This is a great reminder to me each year to not give up on involving freshmen in our ministry. There is no question that most of the freshmen involved in our ministry do so during the first two weeks of the first semester. Some become super involved and either stay or become involved in one of our local sponsoring churches. Others for a variety of reasons don’t attend anything we sponsor. It’s easy to think they just aren’t interested when in many cases this is not the case. Many of them want to get involved. I think it’s very important we keep trying to reach out to them. Here are some suggestions on ways you can involve freshmen in your ministry at the end of the fall semester or at the beginning of the spring semester.

1. Retreats, Events, Mission Trips – Each fall our BCM sponsors a mission trip to work with the Bowery Mission in Lower Manhatten during the week after finals in December. We always have some freshmen sign up for the trip that weren’t involved at the beginning of the semester. We have had some sign up that didn’t attend anything at the BCM until they signed up. We sponsor a ski trip each January and have the same experiences with freshmen. Many of you attend the Passion Conference in January. These types of trips can be a great way to involve freshmen.

2. Ministry Meals – I have had good success with involving freshmen into our ministry later in the semester by either hosting them for a meal at our BCM or taking them out to eat. If I or one of our leaders calls a freshman and they are interested in our ministry I set up a meal with them. I invite a couple of other freshmen or upperclassmen leaders to join us. This has been a great way for us to really connect with the students. For many of them it’s their first visit to the BCM. We also set up meals with freshmen after they attend a BCM meeting.

3. Collegiate Church Ministry Partnership – We provide the names and contact information of freshmen that attend our BCM for the first time to our local collegiate churches so they can reach out to the student and invite them to their church. This has been a great way to help the freshmen get involved in a local church. Many of them have then attended the BCM as a result of meeting and getting to know BCM students at the church.

4. Parents Surveys – Send a letter to the parents of all of the freshmen whose names you secure. Ask the parents to partner with you to reach and involve their son or daughter in your ministry. Ask them to fill out a survey that provides you with information about them. The vast majority of parents of college students want their son or daughter to grow and mature in their faith while they are in college. This week I have met with five different freshmen who want to get involved in our ministry as a result of parents survey information. Email me if you would like me to send you a copy of our parents survey.

5. Youth Ministers – Email the youth minister of the church where an incoming freshman was involved in high school. Ask them to partner with you in involving the student. Ask them to encourage the student to get involved in your ministry.

Steve Masters, Transitions Contract Worker

An Open Letter to a College Freshman

Here's a good article: An Open Letter to a College Freshman by Timothy Dalrymple

Reaching Freshmen

Reaching out to freshmen is one of our most important tasks. The following are some ideas you might consider using to reach freshmen for your ministry.

1. Parents Surveys – Send a letter and a student survey to the parents of all of the freshmen names you secure at orientations, from churches, etc. Ask the parents to fill out the survey about their son or daughter. The survey would include such things as their church background, the students interests, their high school involvement, etc. At LSU we receive over 50 of these surveys each year. It greatly increases our chances of involving the student. Ask the parent to partner with your ministry to help the student become involved in the campus based ministry and to stay or become involved in a local Baptist church.
2. Youth Minister Email – Send an email to the youth minister of each freshman name you secure. Ask them to partner with you to help the student to get involved. Ask the youth minister to share with you information about the student. Many will do so. This involves them in the connection process.
3. Personal Cards and Letters – Have current college students in your ministry or adults in your local churches write a personal note or email to all of the freshmen whose names you secure. First Baptist Church of Lubbock, Texas does this each year and it’s been an effective way to reach freshmen for them.
4. Freshmen Bible Studies – Many collegiate ministers sponsor specific Bible study groups for freshmen. These are usually led by upperclassmen. Other leaders could include church or campus based ministry staff. One of the reasons for sponsoring such groups is because of the common interests, backgrounds, etc. freshmen have. One of the issues to deal with if you sponsor such groups is how to help the freshmen and upperclassmen in your ministry get to know and connect with each other. The purposes of the Freshmen Bible studies are Bible study, prayer and fellowship.
5. Freshmen Council/Freshmen Leadership Team – Sponsor a leadership group for freshmen. The purposes of this group would be fellowship, leadership development and ministry. If you have such a group, give them specific ministry responsibilities. Freshmen want to use their gifts, talents and abilities for the Lord.
6. Freshmen Retreat – Sponsor a retreat for your freshmen. Let it be led by the upperclassmen in your ministry. Doing so provides wonderful opportunities for the freshmen to get to know each other.
7. Freshmen Praise Band – Form a Freshmen Praise Band. The main responsibility of the group would be to led praise and worship for area youth ministers. Many of the freshmen coming in to our ministries played or sang in a Praise Band during their years in their youth group. Having such a group gives them a place of service and helps them feel ownership of your ministry. Having such a group also helps you prepare students for leading your ministry in worship as your worship service Praise Band and helps you connect with future youth for your ministry.
8. High School Seniors – Consider inviting High School Seniors to your weekly meetings or to a mission trip, retreat, etc. Your college football team is working with, getting to know, recruiting, etc. High School Seniors. They have a team of people doing this. This is an excellent example of how we can more effectively reach freshmen in future years.
9. Freshmen Adoption – Have the upperclassman in your ministry adopt a freshman. Ask the upperclassman to be a prayer partner, mentor, etc. to this student.
10. Campus Based/Church Based Partnership – If you are a campus based ministry then share the names and contact information of all freshmen that attend your ministry with your local churches. If you are a church based ministry do the same with your campus based ministry. We want a freshman to be involved in both and not just either.
11. Mission Trips/State Conferences – One of the best ways to reach a freshman is by inviting them to one of your retreats, mission trips or by their attending a state or national conference. This is especially true for commuters.
12. Referrals – As you reach out to freshmen ask if they would like your ministry to contact a friend or friends of theirs to invite them to your ministry. We have had a lot of students get involved in our ministry as a result of these contacts.
13. Continue to Reach Out – Many of the freshmen that become involved in our ministries do so during the first few weeks of school. However, others may not get involved right away. Some of the sharpest freshmen we have reached where I have served as director didn’t get involved until their second semester or even the end of their first year. Some of these were involved in our college band or athletics or a fraternity and sorority or something similar which kept them from having as much time to be involved in our ministry. I feel it’s never too late to reach a freshman. If they don’t get involved during their freshman year then keep trying during their sophomore, junior and senior years.

Please email me at lsubcm@eatel.net with other ideas/strategies, etc. that you have used to reach freshmen.

by Steve Masters

3 Ways to Encourage Students Entering College to be Involved

TRANSITIONS WEBSITE – We would ask each of our nation’s Collegiate Ministers to take responsibility for entering the names, contact information and college choices of the graduating 2011 High School Seniors from their church into sbccampusconnect.net, our SBC transitions website. Please invite and encourage the youth/student ministers in your area to do so.

NAMB CAMPUS MISSIONARY MINISTRY – The NAMB Student Ministry Team invites youth in our SBC churches to be a Campus Missionary. When they make this commitment they are committing to reaching their school for Christ through their church. They are assigned a mentor to help them do so. They are commissioned by their church. There is a lot of support and accountability. High School Graduating Seniors are asked to commit to reaching their college campus for Christ during their freshmen year. The local Collegiate Ministry (church or campus based) will either serve as or assign them a mentor. Their church will commission them. Check out this ministry on the NAMB website. You can find it in the student section.

COLLEGIATE WEEK AT GLORIETA – Last year at Collegiate Week at Glorieta a record number of incoming freshmen were in attendance. Attending was a great way for these students to grow in Christ and to become connected to their local Collegiate Ministry. Now is the time to start promoting this event for 2011.

By: Steve Masters, Transitions Contract Worker