"The cost of sending a young person to a state university will, in many cases, be a life marked by ambivalence toward spiritual things"

I never went to college, public or private, Christian or secular. I wasn’t raised in a Christian home. I didn’t go to church until I was saved at 19.

35 years in a technical field. Married 32 years. Recently appointed elder in my church. On the board of a bible camp.

Three grown, married daughters all of whom are faithful Christians and active in their churches.

How did this all come about? God.

INACIAS

What if a young adult attends a secular college or university and joins a local church in the area that takes care of them and watches over their spiritual well-being?

"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan

[Ron Bean]

What if a young adult attends a secular college or university and joins a local church in the area that takes care of them and watches over their spiritual well-being?

I personally think that is a great option. My oldest daughter (now at BJ) spent a year in a secular college in Germany. She lived with her grandmother, and went to church with her aunt. With the family and church support, she had the spiritual encouragement she needed, and was able to be a light to those around her. Her influence was limited in some ways, because those around her were always going to clubs, smoking, going out for drinking, etc., so she didn’t really get very close personal friendships. But for that, she had her family and the people at her church.Now at BJ, where the rules are much stricter, which doesn’t bother her at all, she can really appreciate the Christian environment, because she lived first hand what it was like without being sheltered by the school. When I was at BJ, it was mostly the students who had been saved late in life that really appreciated the Christian college, whereas most of those who had grown up in Christian homes really chafed under the environment at a Christian college. I think some of them would also have benefited from (with support) spending time at a secular college. And I tend to agree with M.S. — those who depart from the faith in college never really had it to start with.

Dave Barnhart