Not all students at Brewton-Parker College, the conservative Southern Baptist school in southern Georgia, are Christians when they enroll, but, says President Steven Echols, the hope is that they will be by the time they graduate.
Some 350 students have made professions of faith on campus in the past seven years, Echols told the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s Education Committee on Tuesday.
10% of student body
“That’s about 50 students per year, which amounts to about 10% of our student body making professions of faith,” he said.
Brewton-Parker, the only accredited four-year Christian college between Macon, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida, has a long history of educating the children of Southern Baptists. The large number of professions of faith is testament to the fact that even unchurched families choose to send their children to the 118-year-old institution because of its Christian values and because of the individualized attention students receive.
Intentional with the gospel
Echols said the school has seen 12 straight enrollment increases. In the briefing to members of the Education Committee on Tuesday, Echols said faculty and staff are intentional in their efforts to make sure that every student hears the gospel and is given an opportunity to respond.
That happens not only in chapel services and Bible studies but in special events, as well.
Last fall, Brewton-Parker held a tent revival on campus with “a couple dozen professions of faith,” Echols said.
“We just want to be faithful,” he said.
EDITOR’S — Roger Alford wrote this story that was first published by The Christian Index, news service of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.
