New Baptist Student Union study begins with a look into 1 Peter
Posted by The Skyliner on September 2nd, 2009Samantha Mayo
Staff Writer
Baptist Student Union is offering students the opportunity to grow, serve and plug in on campus this semester through Thursday night worship and impact teams aimed at serving Christ, the church and the community.
This semester, BSU director Jody Jennings and the BSU council chose to study the book of 1 Peter in Thursday night worship. In the past, BSU has generally used theme or topic driven messages rather than book studies, so studying 1 Peter is a new development for BSU.
“We want BSU to be a place where you can grow deep in your faith and connect as a community, and one of the best ways I know to do this is by working systematically through a book,” Jennings said.
BSU president Katie Potter, junior early childhood education, described BSU as an opportunity to worship in an environment specifically designed for college students.
“We can come together in the middle of the week and forget about studies and just worship,” she said.
“It’s really a great way to give students a chance to get involved, and it delivers spiritual nourishment,” Thomas Sieberhagen, freshman theatre, said.
Weekend impact team leader James Lind, sophomore Christian studies, described BSU as a chance to worship God and be amazed by Him.
“I can think of no better thing than to learn and then to give away,” Jennings said.
BSU offers students the opportunity to serve through two types of impact teams. The first type is the weekend team. Weekend teams minister by traveling to churches on the weekends to assist with various ministries such as youth retreats, children’s events, church functions and revivals.
The other group of teams, community teams, is designed to meet specific needs in the community. Community teams assist with after school tutoring, minister to at risk youth and children, visit nursing homes and help the homeless in addition to many other ministries.
Potter described impact teams as an opportunity to share the gospel and demonstrate love for others.
“I hope that’s why we exist, to not only share the gospel and live the gospel, but also to invest our lives in others,” she said.
After serving on a community team that visited hospice patients, Lind also said that love is a key part of impact team ministry. He said it was difficult trying to share the gospel with people who had less than six months to live and who were often mentally unsound.
“Without the love I gave them, those words were meaningless,” he said.
Mandy Kirkman, junior early childhood education, said that participating in an impact team helped her to not only serve Christ, but also to develop relationships with other Christians.
“They are a great way to get involved. They give you a chance to get to know fellow believers and serve with them in ministry,” she said.
“Our goal is to overcome together and interact with other believers in a way that we can learn and grow,” Lind said, referring to relationships developed through BSU. “We want to take opportunities to…invest in each other’s lives.”
“Community, internal growth, external connections” is BSU’s mission statement. This semester BSU is seeking to produce those three things in North Greenville’s student body. BSU begins at 7 p.m. every Thursday in Turner Chapel.
Tags: Fall 2009, Vol. 109 - Issue 1