When I graduated high school my then girlfriend and now wife, Sarah and I visited several churches in town. One Sunday, in the summer of 2003, we landed at Blue Ridge Community Church and we have been here ever since.
My experience here has been one that has shaped the person I am today. The people of Blue Ridge have invested time, energy and love in my life that I am very grateful for.
We see lots of college students come through the doors of Blue Ridge during the school year. But for the most part, their experience and involvement looks different than mine.
As a church, we want students to get involved and experience what God has designed the church to be. We have things to learn from students and students have things to learn from us. We are the body of Christ!
I sat down with a mentor and friend who has walked with me during the past 11 years and asked him why he thinks my experience as a college student was different, and how students can get the most out of their time here. Here’s what we came up with:
Be Consistent
I was not at my best in the mornings and sometimes I would sleep in and miss the services (at the time we did not have the Saturday evening service or else I would have been there!). But overall we were consistent. We didn’t just go to church each weekend, we went to the same church each weekend.
This gave us the opportunity to get to know and trust the leadership. When we had questions or didn’t agree with something, we didn’t stop coming, we asked questions, we were open to learning and were OK with disagreeing on nonessential things.
Even if you do not land at Blue Ridge, find a church and stick with it! Whatever church it is, it will not be perfect. But if they really love Jesus, there is something you can learn from them.
Get Involved
In addition to coming to a service each weekend, we also started serving in Kids Community. This gave us time to get to know people better. The more time we spent with people, the more we learned from them.
As we did this, we were no longer going to church, we were a part of the church. We had ownership, we were contributing, we became a part of the community. We gave, and as we gave, we received so much in return.
A photo of me from 2004 with my Kids Community team.
Build Relationships
I’m not naturally good at relationships, but as I got involved and spent time with people, they began to open up their lives to me. They shared their struggles and what it looked like to follow Jesus.
Sometimes I would just nod my head and listen or share something that was biblical and true but without being open about myself. But soon I began to be honest.
A significant relationship for me was with a pastor here, Jeremy Wilkinson. I started being honest with him about sin in my life and I became open to input and instruction. I’ve since developed many meaningful relationships and get to help lead others in the same way.
This one’s from a trip in 2006 with Jeremy Wilkinson and his wife Janna.
If you are a student, we don’t want you to just show up to a service, we want you to become a part. Come to Connect events, get involved in a group, start to serve. We are the body of Christ — without you, we are both missing something!