Short Circuit Vol 2 Num 4

Binghamton University is one of four university centers in the State University of New York system. Its reputation as an “ivy league school at state college cost” draws students from New York City, throughout the state, and from around the world.

The flavor of the campus is definitely multi-cultural, with approximately half of the students coming from New York City, including a Jewish population of 25-30 percent, and 830 international students from 93 nations.

Campus Bible Fellowship has been ministering at BU since the mid-1960s. The work was begun by local Baptist churches and was carried on by pastors and lay people until 1994. At that time CBF staff workers Dave and Elizabeth Mayner joined Rev. Glenn Siegrist in overseeing the ministry. Binghamton area churches continue to be vitally involved in the work, and BU students attend some of these churches.

CBF usually kicks off the fall semester at BU with an Ice Cream Giveaway. We have scooped as many as 300 ice cream cones within two hours on a hot afternoon! Along with the ice cream, we make available information about the group, its meeting time and place, and various upcoming activities. These generally include a Hayride, Thanksgiving Dinner, gym nights, retreats, Christmas and SuperBowl parties, and picnics, along with occasional debates and lectures.

Students gather for the main CBF meeting on Thursday evenings in the University Union. An opening worship time of singing, prayer, and praise is followed by a Bible study, concluding with fellowship and refreshments. Small group and individual Bible studies meet throughout the week, scheduled according to students’ interests and availability.

The CBF literature table, set up in the Union on Mondays and Thursdays, provides a focal point for the group between weekly meetings. A quiz board draws curious students to test their Bible knowledge and present questions or engage in conversations about the Bible and Christianity. Through the lit table, staff workers are able to make new contacts, acquaint students with the group and its activities, provide advice and counsel, and disciple believers in their faith.

In 1995 CBF expanded to Broome Community College, a two- year commuter school also located in Binghamton. The ministry there continues to grow as the Mayners, assisted by Ken and Lynda Burbank, hold weekly Bible studies each Tuesday morning and literature tables on Wednesdays.

The Mayners depend upon independent Baptist churches in the Binghamton area to assist with the ministry of Campus Bible Fellowship on both campuses. With the help of these churches, CBF is putting together “survival kits” to distribute to students during the opening weeks on each campus. Our prayer is that these kits, which include New Testaments, Christian booklets, and brochures about the ministry, will be used to touch many lives with the love of Christ.

God has blessed CBF in Binghamton through the past thirty years. Numerous students have been reached for Christ, Christians have been encouraged and built up in their faith, and many of them are now serving the Lord as pastors, missionaries, deacons, and leaders in local churches.