In one way or another, I've been working with college students and college ministries across the country (and world) for the last 30 years. Now, I'm a parent with college aged kids. It can be a scary experience sending your 18-year-old son or daughter off to the university only to have them call back saying they want to go on a mission trip to Afghanistan with a group called the "Wild And Crazy" (WAC) campus ministry. A fine organization you're sure, but one you know absolutely nothing about.

For all you college students out there, or all you concerned parents (and grandparents), I want to give you a short bio on ten ministries I would feel pretty good about my son or daughter spending time with.

I know I'm going to make some of you mad by leaving out the particular college ministry that touched your life. If it makes you feel any better, it was for that reason I didn't include the organization I founded 20 years ago — Student Mobilization. Looking deeper, though, maybe I was just insecure, fearing others wouldn't think we belong in the top ten!

Leaving out so many great ministries was tough — like many of the Wesleyan Centers,¹ or International Students Inc. (ISI)² which works only with foreign students on our soil. I excluded all the spectacular single campus ministries — like Breakaway³ at Texas A&M (3,500+ coming each week). What's worse, there isn't room to include all the tremendous local church based ministries across the U.S. — like University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, Wa.,⁴ or Grace Bible in College Station, Texas,⁵ or University Baptist in Fayetteville, Ark.⁶

Each campus ministry on my list is different. And that's good. Each group, at each campus, will attract and minister to a whole range of students. We Christians shouldn't be trying to compare or compete. In fact, I have been trying to learn as much as I can from these ministries (and others) over the years. I want be a lifelong learner, so I continue to study their vision and values, their strengths and weaknesses. This gives me objectivity when I train and consult with various organizations.

In my humble opinion, here is a list of ten top college ministries across the U.S. — in alphabetical order.

1. Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM)⁷

Formerly known as "Baptist Student Union," they are now called "BCM" or "Christian Challenge" across the U.S. They are the campus arm of all the Southern Baptist churches in each state. Nationwide, there are over 880 campuses that have a BCM on it; they touch almost 250,000 very diverse students each year, with about 85,000+ actively involved.

Maybe you've been to a noon luncheon (free food!) or an evening worship service or plugged into their Metro ministry trying to reach all the commuter students in many major cities. Besides the weekly large group meetings and the small group bible studies, they host weekend conferences, summer mission trips, and an annual Beach Reach each spring break. Many BCM's are tied into Louie Giglio's excellent Passion ministry that sponsors the ONE DAY and THIRSTY conferences for students and campus workers.

2. Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru)

Founded by Dr. Bill Bright on the UCLA campus in 1951, the underlying concept of Campus Crusade is to "win the campus today and change the world tomorrow." Their strength over the years has been going to major universities and winning key campus leaders to Christ through a simple and transferable tool, The Four Spiritual Laws. Now, 50+ years later, an estimated 43,000 students are actively involved and 2,500+ staff are ministering on or near 1,000 U.S. campuses.

Maybe you've been to one of their life changing Winter Conferences, spring break outreaches, or summer training projects at resorts across the U.S. Or maybe you've logged on to one of their many websites (like www.everystudent.com ) designed to lead students to Christ and help them begin to grow. They just surpassed the one-million mark, passing out "Freshman Survival Kits" containing Bibles, Christian books and music, etc.

3. Campus Outreach (CO)⁸

Founder Curtis Tanner, a layman in Briarwood Presbyterian Church, started ministering on the Samford campus in Birmingham, Ala., in 1978. Today, CO has evolved into a thriving campus ministry with over 400 staff ministering on 65 campuses stateside and overseas. The staff is divided up into regions who work in partnership with (and under the authority of) a large local church, but who maintain a non-denominational profile on campus. Their goal is to win students to Christ and to build them into laborers with a commitment to the Great Commission.

Maybe you've been to one of their huge Christmas conferences or one of their impact summer-long beach projects where they teach students how to study the Bible and share the gospel. As they find, build, and launch Christ centered leaders, they are effectively fulfilling their objective to "build laborers on the campus for the lost world."

4. Chi Alpha (XA)⁹

Begun in 1953 at Southwest Missouri State in Springfield, Mo., this campus ministry is an outreach of the Assemblies of God, headquartered there in Springfield. Dennis Gaylor is the U.S. Director, overseeing a rapidly growing list of campuses, now numbering over 200. Each of their staff are trying to create a Christ centered community of worship, prayer, fellowship, discipleship and witness.

They are known for their lively worship, creative outreach and enthusiastic staff. Maybe you've been to one of their weekly praise sessions or their annual SALT conferences over the Christmas break. Their annual two week Reach the U training session for new staff and student leaders is a life changing experience to go with a whole myriad of mission teams that spread across the world each summer.

5. Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO)¹⁰

Begun in the early 70's, this ministry, based in Pittsburgh, focuses strictly on campuses in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. Their staff work in cooperative partnerships with churches (many of them Presbyterian) and colleges on 69 campuses throughout this region. President Dan Dupee and staff have a unique commitment to "self-examination, repentance from racism and prejudicial ethnocentrism, accountability to each other for our attitudes, words and actions, and an active pursuit of racial and ethnic reconciliation on both individual and institutional levels, especially in the development of a Christian worldview."

Working as residence hall directors, community service coordinators, coaches, student activity directors, faculty or on church staffs, the CCO personnel customize their outreach and discipleship to fit each campus and student. Their campus ministries along with their annual JUBILEE conference help them live out their core values: 1) All things belong to God. 2) Jesus changes people's lives. 3) We love college students. 4) Faithfulness is pursued together. 5) We celebrate life.

6. Great Commission Ministries (GCM)¹¹

Jeff Kern is the President of this vibrant ministry headquartered in Orlando. Begun in 1989, they have now spread to 44 campuses and 23 countries. This movement exists to create church communities that will reach the emerging generation with the message of Christ. They start out on campuses by doing grass roots evangelism, seeking to incorporate students into the starting of a church based campus ministry. This strategy, along with using creative materials and web based tools, has been effective to attract and involve thousands of students.

Maybe you've been to one of their dynamic IGNITE conferences around the country or been one of 2,400 students who have experienced their summer Leadership Training (LT) program. Their outstanding Board of Directors and dedicated staff are committed to world missions and leadership development and thus supplying the church around the world with a fresh supply of equipped laborers.

7. Intervarsity Christian Fellowship (IV)

In 1938 Stacey Woods, the Canadian IV director, met with students at the University of Michigan and formed the first IV chapter in the U.S. Today, there are more than 1,000 IV staff serving more than 34,000 students and faculty on more than 560 campuses nationwide. They have a "rich tradition of campus witness, thoughtful discipleship, and a concern for world missions." President Alec Hill, located at the IV headquarters in Madison, Wis. oversees a very multi-ethnic and multi-racial staff, resulting in 35% of students involved being from ethnic or racial minorities.

IV is known for the excellent materials and books they publish each year through Intervarsity Press. IV's world missions emphasis and summer teams are capped off every third year by the 20,000 strong student Urbana missions conference they've been sponsoring since 1946. During this conference, thousands of students commit their life to God's glory and purposes throughout the earth.

8. Navigators (Navs)

Dawson Trotman started leading sailors to Christ and discipling them in the early 1930's. These new disciples started ministries as they enrolled in colleges around the country and the movement has today grown to over 70 staffed campuses, with another 100+ led by volunteers. Dr. Jerry White is now President of the Navigators, who have staff in 105 countries. The collegiate arm's ministry goal is: To reach, disciple, and equip college students in the U.S. to know Christ and to make Him known through successive generations in all the nations.

The Navs are known for their spiritually deep staff who work with students one-on-one and in small groups seeking to build biblical convictions and personal character. Their excellent Bible study materials (published by Navpress) along with the conferences they hold at Glen Eyrie, their impressive Colorado Springs headquarters, help them to fulfill their goal of building life long laborers for Christ.

9. Reformed University Fellowship (RUF)¹²

RUF, the collegiate ministry arm of the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA), began in 1973 on a single campus, but today is moving towards staffing 90 campuses nationwide. They have over 12,000 students involved in 30 states, mainly across the South. Dr. Rod Mays directs the organization from their headquarters in Lawrenceville, Ga. Holding to the Westminister Confession of Faith, the ordained staff are seminary trained to effectively teach the great doctrines of the Bible to students.

Maybe you've been to one of their meetings, loudly sang some of the old hymns, and listened to the staff person explain Biblical truth in a simple, but profound way. Or, maybe you've heard of their annual summer conference in Florida that hundreds of students flock to in order to learn and grow — all in an effort to carry out their motto: "A heart for God, a love for the campus."

10. Victory Campus Ministries (VCM)¹³

Begun by ten campus ministers on two campuses in 1990, VCM staff members are missionaries who work in and through a local church. They are the collegiate ministry arm of the worldwide church planting movement MorningStar International. Rice Broocks is the President, while Bret Holman directs VCM from Torrance, Calif., where the ministry has a unique partnership with Fuller Theological Seminary — new staff goes through Fuller's six month "Campus Missiology" training module.

The staff seeks to win, establish, train and send students into the world. They have a strong emphasis on involving students in the local church as well as raising up an army of missionaries. Ministering on close to 50 campuses (and many more overseas), and through an exciting annual conference called CAMPUS HARVEST, they are trying to fulfill their mission: "Change the campus, change the world."

Final Note:

All of us are growing and changing, seeking to take the unchanging gospel and make it relevant and applicable to an always changing collegiate culture. This list represents only ten U.S. based college ministries. There are hundreds of others in this country and abroad I wish I could include and describe.

Most of the ten ministries listed above (and others) have a story of a college student's changed life included in a recent book by Steve Shadrach entitled: The Fuel and the Flame: 10 Keys to Ignite Your College for Jesus Christ .

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1. www.gbhem.org
2. www.isionline.org
3. www.breakawayministries.org
4. www.upc.org/page.asp?id=1
5. www.grace-bible.org
6. www.ubcfayetteville.org
7. www.student.org
8. www.campusoutreach.org
9. www.chialpha.com
10. www.ccojubilee.org
11. www.greatcommission.org
12. www.ruf.org
13. www.vcm.com