BSU August Newsletter - The Relationship Between the BSU and the Local Church

In my last newsletter, I made the point that the BSU is not a local church, nor a replacement for one. I wanted to continue that thought in this newsletter to explain what the relationship between the BSU and the local church should look like. The BSU exists as an extension of the local church, or to speak with biblical language, as a “member” of the body of Christ that has a different and complementary function. The BSU’s main functioning relationship with the local church is to be a safety net that catches young adults who are entering a time in their life where they are statistically more likely to start falling out of local churches. The BSU catches these young adults, disciples them through teaching, evangelism, fellowship, service, and worship in the BSU, and directs them back into the local church. Our goal is to make disciples who make disciples of Jesus Christ, and disciples of Jesus Christ belong in His instituted local church.
This isn’t to say that the BSU doesn’t have a specific ministry that it provides to college students. The BSU and its Director are actively involved in campus life and culture in ways that no other ministry can be. The BSU relates to college students in ways that no other ministry can. The BSU has countless more open doors to evangelism and discipleship on campus. The BSU is a place where students and staff can ask questions, request topics for study, and be vulnerable in ways that many local churches don’t offer. Importantly, the BSU’s reputation is that of a ministry that is specifically “here for the campus.” A local church serves people across different counties and is involved in various different types of ministries. A BSU is seen as a ministry that is specifically in
place for its campus, and there is real value in that.
The BSU serves its students and campus in unique and specific ways that simply aren’t available to the local church. There are two points to draw from this. The first is that partnership be tween the BSU and the local church is essential and necessary for the benefit of both ministries and for the sake of following the biblical guidelines for believers being a part of a local church. Secondly, without college ministries like the BSU, countless more students would fall out of the local church during their time at college. Our statistics for college students who stop going to church would be much higher without college ministries such as the BSU.
Local church, our relationships is essential and necessary. Let us pray and consider how we might partner for our shared calling of building up the Kingdom of God.
With this in mind, we are now heading into the beginning of the fall semester. There are many ways that local churches can partner with us. Our Back to School BBQ, Wednesday Lunch, Pie Day, and bible study nights are scheduled, and the only way I plan to change these things is to add some improvements, such as offering free coffee during Wednesday Lunch, handing out goodie bags with local church information during the Back to School BBQ, and more. I will continue to meet with churches and seek more ways for us to partner. One thing I would ask of you is to send me weekend projects that your church needs done. Manual labor jobs, evangelistic ministry events, and anything you need volunteers for, reach out to me and I’ll start scheduling times for the BSU to come your way. Lastly, I want to reiterate that my door, phone, and email are always open. Send me your opinions, ideas, suggestions, and partnership opportunities.
There are many important and valuable collegiate events coming up that our BSU students will have to pay for. If you are interested in providing financial help to BSU students to attend these events, mission trips, and more, reach out to me [email protected]