The Baptist Collegiate Network (BCN) is a
Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
college-level organization that can be found on many
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...
campuses in the United States and Canada; many of its collegiate ministries operate under the name Baptist Collegiate Ministry or the Baptist Student Union. The organization, while Baptist, functions as an interdenominational and coeducational fellowship,
student society
A student society, student association, university society, student club, university club, or student organization is a society or an organization, operated by students at a university, college, or other educational institution, whose membership t ...
and
service organization
A service club or service organization is a voluntary nonprofit organization where members meet regularly to perform charitable works either by direct hands-on efforts or by raising money for other organizations. A service club is defined firstly ...
. Baptist Collegiate Network is primarily associated with the
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Chr ...
.
History
The organization was founded as the Baptist Student Union in 1919 by the
Baptist General Convention of Texas
The Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT), more commonly known as the Texas Baptists, is a Baptist Christian denomination in the U.S. state of Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Baptist World Alliance. Tex ...
. Joseph P. Boone, a
Baylor University
Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...
graduate, was the first secretary. In 1920, the first state-wide convocation members was held at
Howard Payne University
Howard Payne University is a Private university, private Baptist university in Brownwood, Texas, United States. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Noah T. Byers and John David Robnett founded Howard Payne College in 18 ...
in
Brownwood, Texas
Brownwood is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, Texas, United States. The population was 18,862 as of th2020 census Brownwood is in the Texas Hill Country and is home to Howard Payne University, which was founded in 1889.
History
...
. 300 students from twenty schools came for the development of programs. Churches and state conventions were deemed crucial to its growth.
In 2012, the network had more than 69,500 students actively involved in campus ministry through this organization and its affiliated state-level Baptist conventions, in 839 college and university campuses;
782 of these are in the United States and 57 are in Canada.
References
External links
* {{official, https://collegeministry.com/
Baptist education
Evangelical Students Fellowships
Student organizations established in 1919