‘The Ripp’ podcast aims to create ripples in collegiate ministry

By Megan Young
Editor

After conducting a survey at the 2026 BSU Spring Conference, Sam Ivy, director of Collegiate Ministries at the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, was overwhelmed by one surprising finding: half the respondents indicated that they would be spiritually stagnate or unhealthy within half a year.

When presented with the statement, “If nothing changes, my spiritual life six months from now will be healthier than it is today,” 49.7% of the 815 surveyed students answered “false.”

Why was this response so disheartening? These college students were not a random sample — they were students attending a Christian conference, most of whom are active in their campus Baptist Student Unions (BSU).

What Ivy noticed about the “unhealthy” group after cross-referencing their survey results was that these young adults felt unconfident and unconnected, going through the motions and hesitant to open up for fear of others knowing the real them.

Ivy created “The Ripp” podcast — short for “ripple”—in order to investigate that disconnect through openness and transparency. By starting the dialogue, he hopes the podcast will help college students make faithful decisions today that cause a ripple effect for a spiritually healthy future.

“Overall, the goal of ‘The Ripp’ is for college students to hear from their peers, hear from their friends even, about the important things of life,” said Ivy. “So, we want spirituality to be the prevailing conversation. I feel like, sometimes the best kept secret in a college student’s life is the best part about them, which is their faith in Jesus.”

Ivy wants their faith to become the worst-kept secret among college students.

“This is what I tell them. I say, ‘Your goal is to be dropping breadcrumbs, because we’re just one beggar pointing other beggars to where they can find the bread of life.’ We’re trying to lead people who are spiritually hungry to the only one who can satisfy that.”

In the first season of the podcast, each of the five episodes features two collegiate ministry guests discussing one of the questions from the survey and breaking down the implications of the results. The guests were not provided the questions prior to the podcast recording in order to get their gut responses.

“The reason we did that is because usually in college ministry and young adult ministry, that is exactly how we’re approaching things,” said Ivy. “We’re not given a lot of time, things change so rapidly, so we’re saying, ‘Hey, given this immediate situation, let’s talk through it.’”

The first episode of “The Ripp” debuts today, August 25, just as students are settling onto campus for the fall semester. The remaining episodes will drop every Tuesday for the following four weeks.

The episode list is as follows:

Episode #1: “When you read the Bible, what is the primary purpose?” 
Featuring Knox Leggett and Nathan Poole, Co-Lin Community College BSU students

Episode #2: “When life feels unstable or overwhelming, what do you turn to?”
Featuring Collin Breedlove, Mississippi Christian University 2026 graduate, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary student, and former statewide BSU President; and Bradon Epting, Mississippi State University 2026 graduate, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary student, Student Pastor at First Baptist Church, Kosciusko, and former statewide BSU Vice President

Episode #3: “What is the church to you right now?”
Featuring Payton Boyd, Co-Lin Community College BSU Director; and Nate Ball, College/Missions Pastor at First Baptist Church, Clinton

Episode #4: “What makes having deep spiritual relationships difficult?”
Featuring Garrett Martin, Co-Lin Community College BSU student; and Emily Buchanan, Mississippi Christian University student

Episode #5: “How does the Great Commission impact college students’ lifestyle on campus and abroad?”
Featuring Landon Smith and Jeremiah Layton, Mississippi State University BSU students

Plans are already in the works for a second season of “The Ripp.” Ivy intends to conduct another survey at the upcoming College Student Conference that will be held Sept. 25-26 at First Baptist Church, Madison.

For more information about the survey results or to get connected to a local BSU, contact Ivy at sivy@mbcb.org or (601) 292-3302.