{"id":40537,"date":"2021-08-02T11:15:38","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T16:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/?p=40537"},"modified":"2021-08-02T11:38:53","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T16:38:53","slug":"college-park-church-reaches-students-seeking-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/2021\/08\/02\/college-park-church-reaches-students-seeking-community\/","title":{"rendered":"College Park Church reaches students seeking community"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. LOUIS \u2013 <\/b>A July 2021 InterVarsity Christian Fellowship survey found that today\u2019s college students, identified as Generation Z, experience isolation and lack social interaction in their lives. For church they desire community, Scripture study, and prayer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jordan Cox, lead pastor of College Park Church, which meets at Missouri Baptist University (MBU), saw the same characteristics among students, leading him to plant the church a year ago. Fellowship of Wildwood in St. Louis County was the sending church, and NAMB\u2019s Send Network provided support. Cox is bi-vocational: He\u2019s also assistant professor of music, director of choral activities, and fine arts chairperson at MBU.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur students want to learn more about what many mature Christians think are the basics: how to study the Bible, prayer, and evangelism, and then how that practically plays out in their lives,\u201d Cox says. \u201cThis generation wants discipleship. They want people to pour into them. They want someone to live life with them.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Cox says that he and his wife, Kasey, learned as they worked with students (she\u2019s an MBU assistant professor of theatre) that \u201cthey were struggling to connect with a local body\u201d if they weren\u2019t from the area. If they were, some \u201cdidn\u2019t feel like they really belonged to the church their parents were connected to. They weren\u2019t engaging.\u201d Also, though it\u2019s a Christian university, MBU has \u201ca lot of students on campus that don\u2019t know the Lord. So, there\u2019s an evangelism opportunity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The church focus is similar to other churches that serve the communities around them. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn a college campus your immediate community is those that are on that campus,\u201d Jordan says. \u201cI probably see my congregants more than most full-time pastors because I see them at the coffee shop on campus. Or, I walk past them on the way to class or I\u2019m going to chapel service with them. We\u2019re in community throughout the week.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

He says ,\u201cWe have a unique opportunity here to have our (church) framework built around the crazy schedules of a college student.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

His wife Kasey explains that \u201ccollege is a very busy time for most students. Most of them just do not have the time to engage outside of a Sunday morning. Their schedules are weird. They might work through the night, then they have a ten to noon slot open for a Bible study but they\u2019ve got to find a church that has that. Then, they have to go off campus for it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

College Park\u2019s Sunday morning service started with the 2020 fall semester in August with about 50 members\u2014MBU students and families from Fellowship of Wildwood. During the summer attendance dropped to about 40 but Jordan sees that increasing when the fall semester begins. <\/span><\/p>\n

On Palm Sunday the church had its first baptism service with eight baptisms. \u201cThat was so exciting to get that affirmation from the Lord that He was at work and He was moving,\u201d Jordan says. <\/span><\/p>\n

College Park\u2019s small group Bible study is handled through MBU\u2019s Office of Faith and Service. The partnership boosts participation in a program MBU was already providing, and provides College Park members additional discipleship opportunities. <\/span><\/p>\n

Resource sharing between church plants and established on-campus organizations, such as the Baptist Student Union, is a model Jordan believes could be used to meet the NAMB Send Network goal for multiplying churches.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also says that though other churches might not have the close exposure to congregants that he enjoys, they should still strive to engage students. Pastors, student leaders, and other adults can connect through students\u2019 interests and activities, participate in their lives by attending their sports or extracurricular events, or keep connected when they\u2019re away from church.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, such actions should be around student needs. \u201cWe need to know our students and not assume their thoughts and concerns,\u201d Jordan says. \u201cThis generation greatly values authenticity and that extends to our conversations and relationships.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The Coxes say that a young person\u2019s life can be a critical time between youth ministry and the individual becoming fully engaged as an adult church member. If a student has a lack in their life during that critical period, Kasey says \u201cthe enemy comes along and he finds that void and he will find something to put there.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

College Park meets at 10:30am Sundays in the campus coffee shop, The Perk.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A July 2021 InterVarsity Christian Fellowship survey found that today\u2019s college students experience isolation. Jordan Cox, lead pastor of College Park Church, saw the same characteristics among students, leading him to plant the church a year ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":40538,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_selected_social_profile":[]},"categories":[177,41,40,298,299,45,8,47,48,17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCollege Park Church reaches students seeking community<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A July 2021 InterVarsity Christian Fellowship survey found that today\u2019s college students experience isolation. 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