October 22, 2026
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Mike Camire extended an invitation after a worship service during the mission camp his students attended this summer. A seventh-grade girl came to his wife, Julie, following the invitation and asked to talk.
“So, my wife took her, and then a couple of her friends actually went with her,” said Camire, “and they went out into the hall, and my wife shared the gospel with her and led her to the Lord.”
That young lady came to Julie in that moment because she had developed a relationship with her as Julie led her small group. Camire, pastor of NextGen Ministries at Parkway Baptist Church in Moseley, Va., said the student had already been asking questions about what it meant to be a Christian. The foundation was laid so that when the Holy Spirit moved, she had a trusted person engage in that conversation.
Southern Baptist churches will highlight the importance of reaching the next generation with the gospel on Student Baptism Sunday, Oct. 25. Ministry leaders say that kind of fruit grows from authentic relationships with students and a steady focus on the Bible.
“One of the best things we can do in reaching the next generation is to meet students where they are and offer them real relationships as real people,” said Shane Pruitt, national next gen director for the North American Mission Board. “As a generation that’s grown up surrounded by technology, with artificial intelligence on the rise, students are hungry for truth and in need of interaction that takes place away from the screen.”
Camire, who also serves as the student ministry coordinator for the Southern Baptist Convention of Virginia, led the seventh-grade student to follow through in believer’s baptism.
“She ended up being baptized at one of our 8 o’clock services because students who are really nervous, we ask them to consider getting baptized at our 8 o’clock service. There’s not as many people there,” Camire said.
So, a few weeks ago, that’s what she did, and in the audience that morning was a young adult who, upon seeing her testimony, came forward to be baptized in the next service.
“It was this amazing moment,” Camire said, “because I always tell my students, ‘You have no idea how the Lord might use your testimony of baptism in the life of someone else who is watching and witnessing you being baptized.’”
This year, Pruitt released Reaching Generation Alpha, a book rooted in research and written to give ministry leaders insight into the issues facing the rising generation and how to minister to them.
“We continue to see God move in the lives of college students and high school students,” Pruitt said. “The pace of technology and other issues in our culture, though, mean the young people who are currently making the transition from kids’ ministry to student ministry are facing unique challenges. What doesn’t change is the Word of God and their need to be engaged with Scripture.”
Zachary Miller is pastor of students at Eagle’s Landing First Baptist Church in McDonough, Ga., where they have seen their church reach and disciple students as part of the entire church adopting a focus on reaching their community.
“The mission of our church is: we exist to invite everyone, everywhere to know and follow Jesus,” Miller said. “The vision behind that is that we want to see 1 percent of Henry County’s population come to know and follow Jesus in the next five years. So, this is being pushed through every ministry aspect of our church because we want to reach our county.”
The churchwide emphasis on evangelism helps Miller’s students keep that same focus in their efforts to reach their peers. It keeps him and his student leaders focused on practical equipping.
“Our life groups have, more recently, really taken ownership of getting into the community, partnering with the community, and really trying to live on mission,” said Miller.
Warren Church is a multisite church in Augusta, Ga. With campuses in different contexts, each ministry takes a slightly different approach to ministering to students, but one constant remains across locations: equipping students to know and apply the Bible’s teaching.
Every five weeks, each campus hosts “equip nights” for students and leaders that go into greater depth in understanding the Bible, doctrine, and how to live out and share the faith. As a result, they’ve seen students become leaders both in their church and in on-campus student groups like Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
“Recently, we’ve seen an influx of our students really reaching other students, their peers. That’s been tremendous as far as life change,” said next gen pastor Shane Padgett. “I think that this year, we’ve seen more than 60 student baptisms.”
To see success in student ministry, each leader emphasized the importance of training students to be hospitable and welcoming to new attendees and elevating the Bible and the gospel above everything else.
“For about 23 years now, I’ve just talked about how Jesus is better,” Padgett said. “We can add it up, stack it up, pile it up, Jesus is better. Even in your suffering, Jesus is still better.”
Camire, Padgett, and Miller each participated in NAMB’s recent Youth Leader Coaching Network, which wrapped up its fall semester last month. Registration for 2027 cohorts opens soon. For more resources designed to equip students and leaders, visit gensend.org.
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