Please note that this post contains affiliate links and any sales made through such links will reward MageeNews.com a small commission – at no extra cost to you.
Enjoying worship services, building leadership skills and meeting new people are among the benefits of Super Summer at Mississippi College.
Nearly 1,350 Baptist teens participated in this July busy week on the Clinton campus.
“We are all believers, but this helps us grow in our faith,” says Julianna Barron, 14, of Belden in North Mississippi.
A Mooreville High student and Belden Baptist Church member, Julianna joined hundreds of teens from churches visiting MC from July 13-17. There’s Bible study, worship at the A.E. Wood Coliseum, fellowship time amid noisy meals at the cafeteria, sports activities and much more.
This year’s group comes from scores of Baptist churches across Mississippi. They also traveled to the Clinton campus from as far away as First Baptist Church in Paducah, Kentucky and First Baptist Church Ponchatoula in Louisiana. It’s a short trip to MC for students from First Baptist Church Clinton and Morrison Heights Baptist Church.
Ken Gilliam, the MC Office of Continuing Education director who oversees the camps each summer, was excited to see so many teens on the Clinton campus draw nearer to God.
“This is a record and we have a few commuters, too. We have close to 1,350 campers,” Gilliam says. The previous record was about 1,200 teens a year ago.
Asked to explain the surging enrollment numbers, Gilliam didn’t hesitate. “This is a great place to be.”
Hannah Grace Harwood, a senior at Saltillo High, would agree.
In her 4th year at Super Summer as a member of the Green School, Hannah says, “The worship has been really good. We are having conversations about how we can share Christ.”
Hannah is joined by her friend, Catherine Barkley, a Mooreville High senior. Both are members of West Jackson Baptist Church in Tupelo. “It’s been awesome – we came here to learn about God. I like the small group sessions,” Catherine said. The two girls stopped for a minute outside Nelson Hall before heading to another activity.
Kenny Stanteen, a student minister at First Baptist Church Clinton, is always amazed by the many things the teens accomplish at Super Summer. It’s a leadership camp at Mississippi College that helps the students live out their faith, he said Thursday.
Even though steamy Mississippi weather pushed temperatures to climb to the mid-90s, “it’s been a good week,” Stanteen said.
It’s a special week at the Baptist-affiliated university that’s taught the students some important and long-lasting lessons.
“We learn to trust God in everything we do,” says Petal High senior Lauren Brown, 17.
Devan Russell, 15, a Petal High student and member of Macedonia Baptist Church, finds the Super Summer experience to be personally rewarding. “I learned to set aside all the distractions and learn why we are here.”
Some of the Super Summer “graduates” end up enrolling as Mississippi College students. And that will be the case again this summer.
Leaders of the Mississippi Baptist Convention and Baptist churches statewide are the biggest supporters of Super Summer camps each year at Mississippi College.
Photo: North Mississippi teens pictured here are among hundreds of youngsters from Baptist churches statewide enjoying the 2015 Super Summer at Mississippi College. Standing: Andrew Rodgers, 14, of Pontotoc. Sitting on the Quad on the Clinton campus and getting a little shade are: Julianna Barron, 14, of Belden, and Tillie Sumner, 14, Blake Harrell, 16, and Cara Lowry, 16, all of Tupelo.
Mississippi College News Release
