By CHARLES JONES, The Christian Index
As Baptist Collegiate Ministries marks its 100th year in Georgia, its impact is evident in the number of lives changed by its presence on the campuses of Georgia colleges and universities. It is a ministry whose value has been multiplied many times over by those who have made decisions for Christ, have been discipled in their faith, rededications of faith, calls to vocational ministry, and the untold thousands who have responded to the gospel presented by revival and mission teams.
From its beginning, the BCM created an environment where priceless, lifelong friendships were forged, and couples met and fell in love. Dr. Searcy Garrison, who served as executive director of the GBMB 1954-1972, met his future wife Antoinette Jackson at a state convention while serving as the state president of the Baptist Student Union (as it was known at the time) in 1935. Roy McClain, pastor of FBC Atlanta from 1954-1972 was called to the ministry at a BSU week at Ridgecrest in 1936, and several years later met his future wife while attending another.
The BCM had a humble beginning nationally in 1922 with the engagement of Frank Levell by the Sunday School Board to oversee it. Prior to his enlistment, Levell served seven years as the Baptist Young People’s Union director for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. A visionary, Levell began to enthusiastically promote the work across the South. This included editing and writing materials for The Baptist Student, a magazine that promoted, provided continuity, and connectivity with the ministries across the South.
Georgia’s delay in establishing the ministry until 1925 was not from a lack of desire. The post-WWI economy, which included the arrival of the boll weevil across the South, resulted in a decline in mission giving. The Georgia Baptist Mission Board found it necessary to lay off state missionaries in 1925 because of budget shortfalls. Financially, it didn’t seem to be the time to establish a new ministry.
On the other hand, students, particularly those who attended state colleges and universities, were not joining local churches near their campuses. Furthermore, many were not returning to church life after college. In other cases, students were being lost to Baptist life by joining campus ministries supported by other denominations or parachurch ministries like the YMCA. The positive impact of the BSU ministry among Baptist students was already being demonstrated in other states, illustrating the need for this ministry in Georgia.
When the Enlistment/Evangelism department of the State Mission Board was laid off in June 1925, one man was kept and reassigned to establish and oversee ministry on college campuses. Thirty-eight-year-old, Dr. David Bascom “Brother Nick” Nicholson (1887-1962) was chosen. Previously, he had been a schoolteacher, high school principal, basketball coach, lay preacher, and had maintained a law practice for six years prior to his call to the ministry. He pastored churches in Jeffersonville and Claxton, serving as a dean at Brewton Parker College while pastoring the latter. He accepted a position with the Enlistment/Evangelism Department of the State Mission Board at the end of 1924 only to be reassigned six months later.
Much of the success of the student work in Georgia was a product of the early leadership provided by “Brother Nick.” He quickly relocated his family to Athens to establish a BSU on the University of Georgia campus and began traveling the state to organize “volunteer bands” on other campuses. In 1926, in his first annual report to the GBC, Nicholson stated that in addition to the work at UGA, volunteers were leading the work on other campuses: Georgia Tech, Georgia State Teachers College, Tift, and Mercer.
The much beloved Nicholson referred to the students as his “chillun.” The Christian Index stated, “He is the eternal sophomore. He enters the life of each student, and each student loves him. He has the sympathy to enter into every mood of the student-joy, sorrow, confusion, or dedication.” He frequently told students, “It takes all you have every moment of every day to live a worthwhile life. To do less than your best is a sin.”
He was effective in organizing, motivating, and discipling. An important focus of the early ministry was the establishment of two statewide meetings each year. The year following its organization, the Georgia BSU hosted a national meeting at FBC Atlanta attended by more than 2,100 students from 17 states.
Soon, BSU revival teams were organized, and in subsequent years, BSU summer missionaries were recruited to help with Vacation Bible Schools and other ministries. Seven years after its founding in 1932, it was reported that students had already “reached 625 churches” by the month of June. An article published in The Baptist Student in 1949 reported 70 men had been called to vocational ministry and 40 women to missions or other vocational ministries through the ministry in Georgia to date.
That mission spirit continues to live on today through the efforts of Send Me Now. It is a ministry that reaches across America and around the world, providing opportunities for students to serve for a few days and for up to a semester in mission settings.
By 1951, when Nicholson retired after 26 years, the ministry had expanded to eight full-time campus ministers serving on 20 campuses. Today, full-time, part-time, and volunteer leadership continues to lead BCM ministry on 45 college campuses across Georgia.
It was a ministry that began under difficult circumstances in an era of dwindling resources in 1925. Beginning the same year as the Cooperative Program was adopted, it has proven to be a wise investment of a portion of those mission funds for 100 years. The ministry that “Brother Nick” launched in Georgia has and will continue to pay dividends in eternity.
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All BCM alumni are invited to the 100th Anniversary celebration during the GBMB annual meeting. Sunday, Nov. 9, at 8:00pm in the Lakeside Room at FBC Atlanta.
