The Salt Network’s impact in college towns speaks of The Church’s attractive authenticity and the influence of Christian students today. Photo by RDNE Stock Project for Pexels

College students around the United States are searching for truth and they are desperate for displays of authenticity. Today’s secular culture presents a message of relativism and individual ethics, but many students are starting to realize their need for spiritual fulfillment instead.

“[College students are] searching for what’s going to anchor their life and give meaning to their life,” explained The Salt Network’s Executive Director Ryan Hill. A recognition of the need for gospel advancement on college campuses prompted the foundation and development of The Salt Network, according to their website.

The Salt Network is a community of individual church plants that specifically aim to reach lost college students with the Gospel. In a time when students are becoming increasingly influenced and influential, The Salt Network recognizes the value of young adults in the body of Christ, according to Hill.

“Right now, the general perspective on college students is that, you know, college is where you go to lose your faith and college students aren’t very helpful and very effective, and we’re just seeing the opposite of that,” said Hill.

The Network was founded by Troy Nesbitt, who was once involved in his local Baptist Student Union during college. What was once a small ministry quickly grew too large for the local church building, according to their website.

Nesbitt and his team established their first church plant in 1994, which produced much growth and subsequent need for additional pastor training, according to their website. The Salt Network was officially established in 2016, with a specific mission of planting churches in major university centers, according to their website.

The organization started as a group of eight churches, but it has grown to include 30 church plants. These churches now cover 15 states and involvement from over 8,000 students, according to their website.

Leaders of The Salt Network attribute this growth to God. “We’re really convinced that we’re not godlier than other people or more strategic than other people. We just feel like, for some reason for this moment, God has given a lot of grace to our Network and we’re trying to just faithfully preach the Bible the way it’s written, and obviously in our culture there’s a lot of variants from that right now,” said Hill.

“We haven’t been to a new campus lately that has more than 5% of those students engaged in anything Christian,” said Hill. Spiritual isolation on college campuses is unmistakable today. Less than 50% of students consider religion to be significant in their personal lives, according to Lifeway.

Spiritual lostness on campuses has motivated gospel advancement for the Network’s team. “Over the last few years especially, the cry of lostness, of college students especially, has really gotten loud in our ears and has really pushed us to be willing to expand a little bit quicker and push out a little further for the sake of reaching those lost students,” said Hill.

Photo by Ben White for Unsplash

Each church within The Salt Network is staffed with a team that actively recruits, equips, and sends out upcoming leaders for church planting and Gospel outreach, according to their website. They partner with the North American Mission Board (NAMB) Send Network to combine resources and establish church plants, according to Hill.

It is the individual churches that plant new churches. “Our primary job as a network is to resource and equip all of our churches so they can recruit and train and send church planters and church planting teams out to new locations,” said Hill.

A congregation begins by recruiting an experienced church leader to head the planting process, according to Hill. This leader undergoes two years of training before being launched with four other full-time team members to establish a new plant.

What binds the Network together is its individual college ministries. Each is known as The Salt Company, titled in reference to Matthew 5:13, according to their website. “[The Salt Company] is the missional outreach to the lost campus of the local church,” explained Hill.

The Salt Company is actively engaged in its community to reach unbelievers on local college campuses. Each church within the Network recognizes the positive impact that students can have on their peers. Staff members are hired to guide students within the ministry but students are very involved in leading outreach projects, according to Hill.

Photo by Ivan Samkov for Pexels

The Salt Company of each church within The Salt Network is similar in structure. College ministries across the Network meet weekly for worship and Bible study, and they encourage international missions by leading global summer trips, according to their website.

The truth of God’s Word is plainly communicated in the Network’s church gatherings. “[College students are] looking for what’s true, and they’re really less interested, now than ever, about the mode or the medium,” said Hill.

In response, churches have not grown complacent. Instead, the number of church plants within the network is growing, and they acknowledge the still-existing need for evangelism in college communities, according to Hill. “We believe there is a pathway forward,” said Hill.

Churches anticipate exponential growth in the upcoming years. They recognize the important task before them. “We’ve got on our sights the 400 largest university centers in the U.S.[...] We got to work really hard to do that, but we believe God would want to,” said Hill.

Photo by Shelagh Murphy for Pexels

“Attempt great things for God. Expect great things from God.” These are the words of William Carey. It is evident that members of The Salt Network hold the same mindset. Today’s generation is searching for truth, and the Network recognizes the opportunity to spread the Good News in a desperate age.

Readers who desire to impact their local campus for the Gospel should consider the words of Ryan Hill, who said that reaching college students effectively involves “seeing college students the way that Jesus sees them.”

Those looking to support and partner with The Salt Network can visit their website for more information.

Savannah Scoggins is an intern with The Gospel Coalition and is pursuing a full-time career in the publishing industry. She enjoys reading and writing stories that encourage the church and witness to the lost.