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Ogden church gives a fresh perspective to university students

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RCM Student Bible Study
Redemption College Ministry students share Bible study on the grounds of Weber State University in Ogden

Ogden, UT – In the foothills of Mt. Ogden lies a beautiful college campus east of downtown Ogden that is home to purple-wearing Wildcats fans and commuter students from all over the Wasatch front mountain range. This campus has been host to Saturday game-day celebrations for their winning football program that has produced NFL greats. In the winter and spring, basketball season starts a whole new wave of excitement and anticipation to another winning season hoping for another NBA star to come out of their ranks. Amid all that is Weber State University’s college ministry, Semper Veritas, that has reached Weber State students for many years with a clear gospel message and a truth-filled perspective of Christianity to the predominant faith that many of the students are held captive.  This year, Semper Veritas is experiencing change, but it is a good change.

Redemption Church in Ogden has spent the past several years overseeing the ministry at Weber State under the name Semper Veritas. Now, the decision has been made to transition to the name Redemption College Ministry. Their leader, Casey Swails, explains, “We are off to an awesome start to the school year. We started off the school year with a rebrand of our ministry from Semper Veritas to Redemption College Ministry. The goal of this name change is to help with the goal of connecting students to the local church and for a clearer representation of who we are.” 

RCM Students Tabling
Former GenSend Missionaries have partnered with Redemption College Ministry for tabling opportunities

Swails continues, “Our leaders are doing an awesome job connecting with students. We have been averaging 10-12 people at our weekly Bible studies. A few of these students are not believers. One non-believing student actually joined us at Redemption Church this past Sunday with her boyfriend. Our leaders are leading discussions through the book of Philippians. This has prompted much discussion, questions, and deeper relationships among students. It has been incredibly encouraging to see this kind of attendance and fruit so quickly in the semester.“

Students have also been engaged consistently in tabling on campus. Tabling is when ministry leading students stand by a table in a public setting, more often in high traffic area on campus, and post large banners or a white board with a probing spiritual conversation on the board/banner. Then, the question sparks continuing conversations that lead to gospel appointment and opportunities to share the truth of God’s word.  “We are using the tabling opportunities to invite students to the Perspectives Conversations event. Our student leaders have said that lots of students are excited about the conversation coming up on October 12th. We are praying that this conversation will promote healthy relationships with non-believers so that we can get to know them and show them that Jesus has met them where they are.”, Swails added. The tabling alone has prompted several gospel conversations that has contributed to the increase in Bible study attendance. 

Redemption College Ministry is asking Utah and Idaho Baptists to pray for their ministry on Weber State’s campus. Here are some prayer prompts you can use in your personal and community prayer gatherings:

  • We would greatly appreciate prayers for the coming Bible studies and Perspectives Conversations on October 12.
  • Pray for non-believers to be interested in having these discussions with us.
  • Pray for open hearts to the gospel.
  • Pray for relationships to be formed between the believers and non-believers on campus.

Redemption College Ministry leaders are doing great work engaging the campus of Weber State for the glory of God and the advancement of the Gospel. They value your continued prayerful support. 

This story was adapted from one of the many stories we hear from campus ministries across Idaho and Utah. Please support the Utah-Idaho State Missions Offering because 100% of our college ministry budget comes from a portion of your SMO dollars given.

Redemption Leaders

Seminary President brings hope for life after death to Weber State

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Ogden, UT – Dr Jamie Dew, President of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary spent an evening with Weber State University students and faculty answering questions about life after death. This was a great opportunity to present a biblical perspective to students who may have a differing worldview. 

In preparation for the event, Redemption College Ministries along with a supporting mission team from Mississippi personally invited nearly 1,000 students. They were also able to survey over 300 students on the subject of life after death to generate student interest in the subject, and have gospel conversations. It became clear to us that students have extremely diverse perspectives on life after death. We learned that while life after death interests students, very few have any kind of certainty or hope concerning eternal life. 

As students and community members arrived at the event they received a raffle ticket for door prizes, a Bible, information for Redemption College Ministries, a gospel conversation guide, a response card with a pen, and Dr. Dew’s notes to follow along with his talk. Our ministry leaders were able to connect with several new faces from Weber State and the community. 

Dr. Dew delivered a biblical, apologetic, and philosophical argument for why life after death is a coherent perspective to hold. He spoke on the biblical expectation of a life after physical death. He then argued that the philosophical basis for such an expectation is in the immaterial reality of the human soul. If humans are more than their material beings and are a soul, it is natural to trust in biblical claim of life after death. 

After the presentation, Dr. Dew took several great questions on the concepts of faith, materialism, addictions, resurrection, and much more. We closed the conversation with Dr. Dew defining Hell as eternal torment, Heaven as eternal bliss, and the only pathway to eternal bliss is through trusting in the person and work of Jesus. After handing out the door prizes, Jamie continued conversations with students and community members on this subject. Leaders from Redemption received three response cards that are being followed up with by campus leaders. 

The success of this event encouraged leaders to hosting more Perspectives conversations and events next school year! They were thankful for the partnership of the UISBC to make this quality event possible for the students of Weber State and the community of Ogden. The event was a success in that eighty-four people were encouraged and challenged with the coherent nature of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Hundreds more were given the Gospel in preparation for the event. Our prayer now is that we would be faithful to continue the momentum created through the event and that God would give the increase for His glory (1 Cor. 3:7). 

To watch the event On Demand, click this link

To download a copy of Dr Dew’s notes on the topic, click this link 

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Dr Jamie Dew, NOBTS President
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Jamie and Tera Dew at Weber State campus
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Leaders were encouraged
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Opportunities to hear about the ministry of NOBTS was provided
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Redemption Leadership was grateful for great volunteers
Prayer Night at Church

Day of Prayer opens doors for ministry at Boise State

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By Sadee Crowder and Morgan Brendle

Boise, ID – The National Collegiate Day of Prayer was February 23rd. The leaders of Foundation College Ministry in the Treasure Valley decided this was a perfect occasion to celebrate by doing a campus outreach where we hand out Hot Chocolate and Donuts and pray for students on the campus. The impact was incredible. FCM joined with other campus ministries and church friends who volunteered to help serve the students of Boise State with us. We prayed with a handful of students, listened to numerous prayer requests, and we went through twenty dozen donuts by the end of the morning. It was the perfect day for hot chocolate as it even snowed on us at one point. 

 

Here is a list of some of the requests we heard about:

  • Upcoming Tests and Assignments (several)
  • Stress over an upcoming move
  • Passing of an aging loved one where they were primary caretaker
  • Can’t afford to fail this semester like last time
  • Upcoming Mid-Terms
  • Family moving away from Idaho to California and leaving her behind

The requests were personal, some sharing names. This was the most transparent students have been than anyone at FCM can remember. Overall, over twenty-five students asked for prayer for one thing or another.

The day did not stop there, later that night FCM and the other campus ministries connected to Boise State joined together for a prayer meeting. It was so encouraging seeing everyone get together with the same heart of praying for each other, their campus ministries, and for the students of Boise State. The night consisted of worship then moved into praying for each ministry. A representative from one group would share what God is doing and specific requests for their ministry, then we would spend time praying over what was shared followed by the next ministry representative ending that time by praying for them from the stage before sharing about their ministry with the group. By the end of the night, students and leaders encouraged one another and the ministries were unified with the same goal of reaching their campus with the gospel.  

Perspectives Promo 3

Seminary President to speak at Weber State University

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Ogden, UT – “What happens after we die?” “Is there life after death?” “Are heaven and hell real?” These and many other questions will be answered by Dr. Jamie Dew, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Dew will be coming to the Shephard Union on the campus of Weber State University, on Monday, March 27 at 6:30 PM. The public is welcome to attend, but priority seating will be given to Weber State students in attendance to hear Dr. Dew’s perspective on this important topic. 

Dr Jamie Dew, President of NOBTS and his wife, Tara

Casey Swails, Family Pastor at Redemption Church in Ogden had a vision to invite President Dew to give a new and eternal perspective on life after death that goes counter culture to the predominant perspective found on this northern Utah campus. Swails, who oversees the Redemption Church college ministry at Weber State shared that the vision for this event grew out of a relationship the church built with Dr. Dew, his family, and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Swails said “While connecting with Jamie and his wife, Tara, last year at a ministry event at hosted at our church, he expressed his interests to aid in the continued ministry of Redemption Church. Considering his expertise in philosophy and theology, we concluded that inviting Jamie to speak on life after death would be an excellent opportunity to reach the campus with a gospel perspective and he gladly accepted our invitation.”

Every student that attends will receive a Gospel conversation guide, a follow-up card with links to continue the conversation with students through gospel appointments. They will also be entered into a drawing for additional prizes to be given away at the event. The first 40 students in attendance will get a free Bible. Following the presentation, students will have the opportunity to have a question and answer moment with Dr. Dew. Please pray for students that will respond to the invitations and attend this event with an open heart to hear a clear presentation of the Gospel and for them to consider the biblical truth of what happens after this life is over and what they can do now to be prepared of that moment.    

This event is made possible through the cooperative efforts of many organizations and groups that seek to reach and minister to the students at WSU. The leadership and volunteers have expressed gratitude for the generosity of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Evangelism Department of North American Mission Board, as well as funding through the State Missions offering of the UISBC and direct sponsorship by Semper Veritas at Weber State, the college ministry of Redemption Church in Ogden.  

Semper Veritas

Students are actively sharing their faith on Weber State Campus

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Ogden, UT – Semper Veritas has just completed their Bible study through the book of Galatians for the semester. This Bible study proved to be extremely fruitful and generated lots of great discussion. One Weber State faculty member saw one of our posters advertising for our Bible study and decided to attend. He said that there weren’t very many genuine Bible studies that he could attend, but this one worked with his schedule. He and I talked for a while after the Bible study. Through our conversation at the Bible study and a later lunch conversation learned that he attends a local ward, but holds mostly to orthodox confessional Christianity. The reason he hasn’t left the ward is in order to avoid conflict in his family. I am maintaining contact with him and plan to meet with him again to help him walk through some basics of what it means to follow Jesus according to the Bible. 

One of our student leaders, Connor, has been engaging other students as he goes to the gym. He said that he met a student named *Stephen who is LDS, but was curious about Connor’s beliefs since he was wearing a Redemption Church shirt that said, “Bringing Hope to the Valley.” Stephen asked Connor if he had ever read the Book of Mormon. This began a long conversation between the two about the differences between the LDS faith and biblical Christianity. 

Connor had a similar encounter with another LDS individual named *Mark. They engaged in the same conversation where Mark was very intrigued by what Connor had to share about biblical Christianity. Mark ended up attending a Semper Veritas Bible study and Connor is staying in touch with him. 

Another student leader, John, was able to connect with an agnostic classmate named *Dennis. They discussed together evidence for the existence of God and the validity of the Bible. It was a challenging conversation for John. As he invited Dennis to attend the Bible study with him, he politely declined the invitation. John hopes to continue to engage with his classmate. 

We are excited to pick up a new teaching series in January for the start of the Spring semester. There is much planning going into reaching the campus with the gospel next semester. We will have mission teams helping engage the campus, we will have a “Perspective” event with Dr. Jamie Dew, President of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where he will give a presentation on “What happens after we die?” We are praying for God to continue moving in the hearts and lives of students at Weber State. Thank you for praying along with us and for your support. – Casey Swails

Casey is a volunteer collegiate ministry leader from Redemption Church in Ogden and leads Semper Veritas college group on the campus of Weber State University. Check out this recent report of the work being done on that campus through resources you provide through the Utah Idaho State Missions Offering. 10% of the State Mission Offering is designated to do work on our college campuses across Idaho and Utah. Thank you for supporting collegiate work through your prayers and giving through the York-Dillman State Missions Offering.

*names have been changed to protect the identity of students who are questioning their current faith traditions on our college campuses.

SBCCalled

SBCCalled.com launches to encourage young adults to answer the call to ministry

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Louisiana – One of the greatest challenges facing the future of our denomination centers around the lack of leaders being called out and developed through our Next Generation ministries in most of our churches.  Steve Masters, BCM director at LSU, has created a website which is chock-full of resources every Pastor, Youth Pastor, College Pastor, Campus Minister or anyone else invested in the lives of young people, should know about. Honestly, EVERY Baptist church and ministry leader should know this site.

We are talking about the SBCcalled.com website. This site could immediately be helpful to you and your church as you attempt to help young people navigate a possible call to ministry.

The first thing you will see at the site is the purpose statement and it is as follow:

Welcome to SBC Called. The purpose of this website is to provide information, resources, and training for High School Students and College Students who feel called to ministry. We hope this website will help these students with their journey into ministry.

The resources are almost overwhelming. There are so many helpful things scattered around the site but the main tabs are as follows…

  • Preparation – This section will help you in areas of personal preparation as you explore your call to ministry.
  • Resources – This section contains resources that will be helpful in your path to ministry.
  • Education – This section provides helpful information for continuing your education as you prepare for ministry.
  • High School Students – This section is to help High School students with your calling into ministry.
  • College Students Ministry and Missions Opportunities – This section contains information about ministry and missions opportunities throughout the SBC.

The tab titled “SBC INFO” covers information related to the IMB, NAMB, the CP, and the BFM. The site also describes the basic anatomy of Baptist life and how associations, state conventions, and our national entities serve our cooperative effort. Each of our six seminaries and every one of our over 50 Baptist-related colleges are mentioned and linked to from this site. It is literally the one-stop-shop for those who serve our high school and college students as they help our young people consider the possibility of a future in ministry.

The fact is, most of us have heard of the discouraging news related to the lack of young people entering vocational ministry. A number of our states have more churches than they do pastors to shepherd those churches. 

This resource is one that will help your ministry and your church identify, encourage, and equip your young people to navigate their call to ministry. Desperately needed, this site is appreciated and ought to be regularly utilized. God had placed this burden on the heart of Steve Masters which was ultimately fleshed out in the form of this website. 

Please let your ministry friends, as well as, any young people you know who might be interested in ministry know about the SBCcalled.com website and let’s pray God uses it in a mighty way.

The article was reprinted with permission from SBCVoices.com by the author, Louisiana Pastor, Jay Adkins. 

Another great resource that goes along with this website is a new book launched this week (November 1, 2022) by Scott Pace and Shane Pruitt 

Ministry comes with many weighty responsibilities. Ministry leaders are called to teach, serve, and lead. But in leading those under their care, there comes a moment when they recognize the future leaders under their leadership. With this recognition comes an all too familiar question: What comes next?

In Calling Out the Called, Scott Pace and Shane Pruitt answer this question by giving direction, encouragement, and a charge for ministry leaders to recognize the future leaders in their midst and do what needs to be done for the future of ministry: the calling out of the called. 

For more information, checkout www.callingoutthecalledbook.com 

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