By HENRY DURAND
The Christian Index
More than 300 students gathered Aug. 18, at Georgia Southern University to worship for the first time in a newly built Baptist Collegiate Ministries facility that houses both the ministry’s worship center and BCM offices. The building also includes shops and living space for students.
Chris Bryan, Georgia Southern campus minister, said that last year the BCM Primetime weekly worship gathering averaged about 200 students in attendance.
“We had a great opening night,” Bryan said. “Lots of energy from students who are excited to worship Jesus and see revival happen on campus at Georgia Southern.”
The new space is designed to help BCM reach students, disciple believers, and serve the Georgia Southern campus. “Our BCM has grown in number over the last few years, and we’ve seen more students reached than ever before with the gospel,” Bryan said.
The new building is part of a larger redevelopment project of Georgia Baptist campus ministry properties designed to replace aging facilities, expand ministry space, and create ongoing income for collegiate ministry.
Thomas Hammond, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, has described the redevelopment as “an opportunity to strengthen campus ministry for years to come.”
Hammond said the effort grew out of the Mission Board’s larger push in recent years to reduce overhead and redirect more resources into ministry. Georgia Baptists were spending between $800,000 and $900,000 a year maintaining 14 aging BCM properties across the state, with most of those facilities 60 to 70 years old.
The Mission Board identified several BCM properties for redevelopment, including sites at Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, and the University of Georgia. Under the plan, older buildings would be sold while Georgia Baptists kept ownership of the land. A developer would then replace the older facilities with mixed-use buildings that include first-floor ministry space for BCM, along with student housing and other leased space.
The approach allows Georgia Baptists to receive new BCM facilities without paying to build or maintain them, Hammond said. “Instead of having facilities that are a turnoff, we’re going to have facilities where hundreds of students are going to be living.”
Proceeds from the sales have been allocated to generate ongoing annual income for BCM ministry. Hammond said that income will help Georgia Baptists strengthen BCM in several ways, including support for student missionaries, upkeep of remaining BCM properties, and major evangelistic efforts on college campuses.
Each summer, he said, about 135 college students serve on mission trips and typically raise their own support. The Mission Board hopes to increase that number to 200 and provide each student with a scholarship to help launch their fundraising.
The Georgia Southern facility is the first of the redevelopment projects to open. Similar projects are also under construction at Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, with both expected to be completed by summer 2027.