Baptist Collegiate Ministries celebrates the end of the semester
Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM) is a Christian organization on campus that meets each Thursday night during the school year. Each meeting features a new speaker, providing refreshments, games and an opportunity to build friendships. BCM organizations may be found at colleges across the country; this year marks the 100th anniversary of its establishment.
On April 21st, USC Aiken’s BCM group will be holding an end-of-the-year banquet at Red Lobster to celebrate the end of the semester and the memories made this school year within the organization.
Gina Kelly, who was once a BCM member herself, is now the organization leader at USCA and enjoys getting involved with the college students and having fun.
“I don’t really want to tell you how long I’ve been doing this, because you’ll think I’m old! I love working with college students. It keeps me young and I learn so much from them,” she said. “The friendships I build with the student leaders of BCM are invaluable!”
Kelly’s relationships with these students and their relationships with each other often last far beyond graduation.
“It’s exciting when I get to go to a wedding of two people who met at BCM, or support a missionary who started out by doing mission trips with BCM, or just see what people become whether it be a nurse that is a hero during COVID or a homemaker who raises our next generation,” she said.
This year, Kelly and the student leaders at BCM set a goal to reach 81 student BCM members before the end of the semester – enough students to fill up the entire room. So far, this goal hasn’t been met, but the semester has still been successful.
“Even though I was hoping for more students to attend,” said Kelly, “we’ve built some great relationships, and we’ve had some really good speakers this year. We’ve shared the gospel and we’ve had fun, so yeah, it’s been good.”
Chloe Thomas, a USCA nursing student and BCM’s president, also feels strongly about the friendships that are built through this organization: “I started getting involved with BCM in fall 2019, which was my freshman year,” said Thomas. “BCM means a lot to me. I’ve made lots of friends and built a lot of great relationships through being involved.”
Thomas is hopeful for BCM’s future and the impact it will have on the community. They will continue to meet on Thursday nights at 7:00 p.m. until April 14th, the last meeting before the end of the year banquet. Meetings take place in the Penland building in room 106.
