Why attend and support a Georgia Baptist College?

The most precious opportunity we have as Christian parents is to raise our children in the Lord and armed with a Christian worldview. Yet 80% of us will send our children to institutions to study under faculty who disdain the message of Christ. In addition, numbers of believers will decide to support those same secular institutions, rather than the colleges that reflect the values espoused in Georgia Baptist pulpits.

Our Georgia Baptist college faculties are doing a wonderful job in preparing students, while many secular institutions seem to draw faculty representing a liberal bias both politically and theologically. A recent editorial in The Christian Index by Gerald Harris, “Postmodern World Tolerant of everything but evangelical Christianity,” defines the battle that our young people are engaged in each day in non-Christian institutions.

In addition, an article by Marilyn Gilroy, “Is There a Liberal Bias Among the Academic Elite? Does It Matter?,” reports that liberals outnumber conservatives by an overwhelming number in most state and non-sectarian schools. Real life consequences of this reality equate to creating a “hostile environment for conservatives.” The Washington Post reported in 2005 that most faculty at non-Christian colleges disdain Christianity and characterize themselves as liberal.

Whom do we want to mold the worldview and lifestyle of our students? And, do we want to increase the possibility that our students will return to their churches following undergraduate training? Truett-McConnell College president Jerry Pounds stated recently that he wants students to return from college prepared academically and as stronger Christians and church members.

The numbers of high school seniors in our churches are huge. Currently, the Education Commission of the GBC reports that there are more than 20,000 college-ready seniors in GBC churches. Only 15-20% of those students will attend any Christian college, with only 3% of that 20,000 – roughly 600 – attending a Georgia Baptist college.

Steve Henderson, president of Christian Consulting for College and Ministries, in his article, “Why Choose a Christian College? Is a Lower Price Worth the Cost?” indicates that 52% of all student believers attending non-Christian institutions will stop attending services and generally drop out of Christian life. The number is even higher for those attending private secular colleges/universities.

If one imposes those statistics on GBC churches and colleges, it is highly likely that more than 10,000 students attending public colleges and universities may be lost to the faith during their college careers. Thus, each year 10,000 members could vanish from future Georgia Baptist life.

Before choosing a college, parents should walk the streets of the town housing the institution on a Friday or Saturday evening. Parents should also keep in touch with their students, encouraging church attendance and involvement in student ministries and mission trips. Be vigilant. Know what courses your student is taking, and if possible, the instructor.

Pastors should also be influencers to send students to a GBC college. Ask your college leaders how many students disappear from church rolls during their college years and return following college. I urge pastors to open a dialogue with the youth director and/or Bible study leaders.

Finally, the convention and its member churches should support the three GBC colleges. Recent decisions regarding the Mercer “divorce” settlement, while understandable in a business sense, are discouraging to colleges that have actively sought to embrace the theological direction of the convention. The reality is that if we supported colleges by sending students, there would be adequate funds generated. Quoting Gerald Harris, “… we need to support those colleges that are distinctively Christian such as our own Georgia Baptist Colleges: Brewton-Parker, Shorter, and Truett-McConnell.”