Baptist Student Ministries Returns to Campus
For more than 95 years, Baptist Student Ministries (BSM and formerly BSU) has worked to equip college students across the country to follow Christ and transform the world. After a two-decade hiatus, BSM is back on Baylor's campus and director Charles Ramsey, PhD, is excited to continue its work.
"BSM exists to engage college students with the person and message of Jesus Christ and to equip them to work in partnership with churches to make a difference in the global community," Ramsey said.
BSM Past and Present
Mark Jones, PhD, serves as campus consultant for BSM and is a Texas Baptist representative working with Baylor to both reboot and sustain BSM's presence on campus. Jones attended Baylor back when BSM was known as BSU (Baptist Student Union), and was highly involved with the organization.
"BSU was a big part of Baylor life for decades," Jones said. "Over time, as Baylor grew, along with Spiritual Life and Student Activities, a lot of its identity got lost in the rest of what was going on around campus."
The organization, Jones said, slowly became dormant. He and Ramsey have taken a different approach than before: partnering with Spiritual Life and Student Life to get BSM back up and running in a way that encourages and enhances the work current organizations are already implementing.
In the process of revitalizing BSM at Baylor, Jones says they felt God has his hand in the whole process, especially in finding Ramsey to lead the charge.
Commitment to Faith
Ramsey has been busy meeting students on campus, launching new events and working with Spiritual Life to re-introduce BSM to the student body.
"I cannot think of a better group of people in which to invest my time," Ramsey said. "They want to combine excellence with Christian character and are actively looking for examples, ideas and opportunities to do so."
BSM is located on 110 different campuses across the state of Texas. What sets Baylor apart, however, is its core commitment to faith.
"We want to help every student know that there is a church in the community ready to receive and invest in them, and that there is an incredible range of service opportunities, here and abroad, that they can jump into," Ramsey said.
Bridging Leaders and Students
Ramsey has spent time bringing together leaders of various ministries and organizations on campus for intentional discipleship leadership training. He is actively seeking out the faithful, available and teachable, and helping guide them to growth in their own spheres of influence.
"BSM is by definition a student-led organization," Ramsey said. "I have the incredible privilege of listening, facilitating and even inspiring students to imagine what we could do together to make a difference in our community."
It Takes a Village
As BSM continues to build traction, so do opportunities for involvement. The organization welcomes faculty and staff to both serve and participate in BSM events and projects.
Ramsey voiced a need for members of the Baylor community to help host on- and off-campus activities, join on mission trips, help develop film and media projects and help imagine new pathways for leveraging Baylor's role as a nationally ranked research university that boldly pursues its motto: Pro Ecclesia. Pro Texana.