ALEXANDRIA – Baptist Collegiate Ministry in Louisiana will change forever May 15.
By Brian Blackwell
Staff Writer
ALEXANDRIA – Baptist Collegiate Ministry in Louisiana will change forever May 15.
That’s when long-time state collegiate director John
Moore will leave Louisiana to work with LifeWay Christian Resources’
network partnership program in Nashville, Tenn.
“I’m so grateful to Louisiana Baptists,” Moore said. “They invested in me as a young person.
“Their giving to the Cooperative Program helped pay
my expenses to go to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary,”
continued Moore, who was recently named as one of the school’s 2006
distinguished alumni. “And they’ve provided a place of service for 29
1/2 years.
“Even in difficult days financially, Louisiana
Baptists saw the value of investing in college students through the
BCM,” Moore added. “They have invested their time, money and energy so
we could serve college students.”
A former BCM campus president and summer missionary,
Moore felt called to work in collegiate ministry while attending
Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, La.
“I had a real sense that God was calling me to do
that sort of ministry,” Moore said. “When I went to seminary, I hoped
that one day I’d be fortunate enough to get a job as a BCM director in
Louisiana, though I knew those types of jobs were hard to come by.”
However, Moore’s God-given desire and dream came
true in 1977 when he landed the BCM director job at LSU-Alexandria and
LSU-Eunice. He later served as campus minister at Louisiana College in
Pineville and LSU in Baton Rouge until he accepted the position as
state director in October 1990.
Reminiscing on his years of involvement with Baptist
collegiate work, Moore says he has enjoyed working with today’s college
students who are more spiritually open to the gospel.
“The type of student today compared to 29 years ago
is the biggest change I’ve seen in campus ministry,” Moore said.
“Today’s students are more hungry to hear Christ and want to serve
others. I’ve learned that we have to stay plugged into the latest
trends because these students have different values and speak a
different language.”
Another personal highlight is seeing students grow in their faith and become career missionaries.
“I’ve seen students who occasionally attended a BCM
function at their campus and then God touched their lives to the point
that some of them even became foreign missionaries or leaders in their
community,” Moore said. “To know that BCM played a part in their
spiritual maturity blows my mind.”
But the greatest highlight of all has been working with campus ministers throughout the state.
“This is the most creative and capable group of
campus ministers I’ve ever had the privilege to work with anywhere in
America,” Moore explained. “Very few people understand the hard work,
dedication, long hours and holidays missed due to mission trips. [These
campus ministers] know that a college campus is the greatest mission
field.
“For me to work with and support these dedicated men and women is the greatest part of my job.”
Bruce Venable echoes the thought.
“Some of my greatest memories have been working with
John (Moore), Julia (Broulette) and other campus ministers,” said
Venable, who resigned as LBC collegiate special ministries coordinator
in March to become college minister at First Baptist Church of Lubbock,
Texas. “They were family and that will be what I miss the most.”
For Louisiana State University BCM campus minister
Steve Masters, losing both Moore and Venable will be a loss to the
state convention but a gain in their new places of ministry.
“In all situations he has been and is a person of
class, excellence and visionary leadership,” Masters said of Venable.
“Bruce has the rare ability to be a people person and very organized at
the same time.
“Bruce led our summer missions program to a new
level as we saw a steady increase of our Louisiana summer missionaries
and he did a fantastic job with that aspect of the ministry,” added
Linda Osborne, Louisiana Tech University BCM campus director.
“And John is a picture of a good leader,” Osborne said. “He led us with passion and a servant’s heart.”
“John has done an excellent job of leading our local
directors to be committed to reaching students for Christ, connecting
students to a local church or keeping them involved in a church and
strengthening the spiritual lives of college students,” Masters said.
“Our loss of John will be LifeWay’s gain. We have been blessed to have
him as a leader.”