The Building
In 1972 Roy and Laura Buckingham and their family moved to Terre Haute for Dr. Buckingham to teach at Indiana State University. When they discovered there was no Baptist Student Union, they started one. The little group met in their living room for three years while property was secured and renovated. The house at 800 North 6th Street, one block north of the campus, underwent several renovations and additions, made possible with the help of a number of groups including BSU groups from Texas, Ouachita Baptist University, Oklahoma Baptist University, Purdue University, Indiana University, Oklahoma Baptist University, and Georgia Tech University. Money was borrowed from Laura’s aunt to buy the lot across the street for parking.
When we came in 1984 the association had eight churches. We enlisted help from my home church in Grenada, MS, to put siding on the building. Walls were knocked out twice, the basement was finished, the roof was replaced twice , and an addition was added to the north side of the building. A house to the south was purchased and demolished to increase parking space, and later the business to the north was purchased and demolished as well. There is no debt on the property. It is rare for a BCM outside the Bible Belt to have a building, but God has provided in amazing ways. Over the years the neighborhood has improved dramatically. The campus is growing toward the BCM, a fraternity has built across the street, and privately owned student apartments are proliferating nearby.
The Directors
In the beginning Roy and Laura served as volunteer directors. Kathy Stevens, a semester missionary, was next, and then Jimmy Daniels served as a Mission Service Corps (MSC) volunteer. A student served as volunteer director for a year until we arrived in May of 1984. We were bi-vocational, then contract workers for the state convention, then employees of the state convention, and then NAMB missionaries. (See the “Our Story” tab for more details.)
The Name
In 1972 the university would not allow the group to be called Baptist Student Union because another group already had those initials, so it was called Union of Baptist Students. By the mid-80s that policy changed, so we changed our name to Baptist Student Union. Later the name was changed to Baptist Collegiate Ministry to follow the national change. This was done because in the denomination the term ”student” was starting to be used as a synonym for “youth” and could include even those in middle school.
The Ministry
When we came there were about a dozen students…but what a well-trained group they were! We came away from the first council meeting knowing that these students were well grounded and knew how to do ministry on the campus. We were so grateful for those who had gone before us. Over the years attendance has fluctuated, with the highest being weekly meetings that averaged in the 80s. The current attendance on Tuesday nights is lower than that, but we still touch over a hundred different students a month, which includes students from all four of our schools: ISU, Rose-Hulman, Ivy Tech, and St. Mary's. There are Bible studies on the campuses of St. Mary’s and Ivy Tech. At one time we had an active African-American fellowship within the BCM. We currently have strong ministries to international students and football players. Just this month plans are beginning for undergirding a ministry at DePauw in Greencastle.
During our years in Terre Haute God has produced seven missionary journeymen, two US/C-2 missionaries, and more than 100 summer missionaries through the BCM. More than 30 former BCM students are currently serving in vocational ministry positions – career missionaries to China, Haiti, and Germany, many pastors, youth pastors, campus ministers, a church plant worship leader, etc .Five are currently enrolled in seminary. Too many to count are serving as Sunday School teachers, deacons, AWANA leaders, and youth leaders. This is from a state university in a small association in a state where Southern Baptists are not strong. But God is not hindered by those limitations!
