Throughout this past summer, New Orleans Seminary's Crescent City Worship served in ministry at a variety of camps and events across the country.  

Crescent City Worship (CCW), a collection of students, staff and friends of NOBTS, has been leading worship at a variety of different events at the seminary and beyond since their official formation in 2024.  

Some of the camps where CCW led worship this summer include Falls Creek Camp in Oklahoma as well as youth camps in Mississippi and Florida.  

Falls Creek, put on by Oklahoma Baptists, is one of the largest camps in the country with thousands of annual attendees. Other camps ranged from just over 1,000 attendees to less than 100 students.  

But despite the numerical difference between events, the group's mission remained the same.   

"CCW loves to do ministry in any setting," said Nate Jernigan, associate professor of music and worship for NOBTS and Leavell College.  

"A camp with thousands of students attending isn't more important to us than a camp with less than 100 students. We love all of these opportunities for ministry, and we want that to be a hallmark of who we are as a group." 

Jernigan helps lead Crescent City Worship and said the main priorities of CCW go far beyond playing music.  

For every event CCW participates in, Jernigan wants to make sure it accomplishes these goals: 

1. It serves NOBTS and Leavell College students leading with CCW by allowing them opportunities to grow and be equipped for future ministry.
2. It serves the Church by being connected with a meaningful ministry NOBTS aligns with.
3. It serves NOBTS as an institution by supporting its mission of preparing people for ministry. 

Jernigan noted this was the first summer in which student members of CCW led at these various events on their own without his direct involvement. 

"Our students have been trained and equipped to do this over the last few years and this summer they had the opportunity to be sent out on their own to represent our seminary," Jernigan said. 

"We wanted to continue building deep and lasting relationships with meaningful ministry partners through these events, and I believe our students did an incredible job with that this summer." 

The following is a list of camps CCW served at this summer and highlights of each: 

Camp Living Waters in Loranger, Louisiana (June 22-25) 

• About 75 total students attended  

• The camp provided a unique opportunity for an upcoming Leavell College student to lead worship. 

Falls Creek Week 1 (June 29-July 3) 

• Nearly 6,000 students attended  

• More than 200 professions of faith  

• 22 calls to ministry  

Super Summer at Mississippi College (July 7-10) 

• More than 1,300 students attended 

• Put on by Mississippi Baptists 

• Super Summer is designed for students who feel called to ministry or have ministry potential. 

Fruit Cove Baptist Church Youth Camp in Tampa Bay, Florida (July 13-17) 

• 170 students 

• CCW members got to lead worship inside Busch Gardens theme park.  

Falls Creek Week 2 (July 13-17) 

• More than 5,500 people attended 

• 261 professions of faith 

• More than 40 calls to ministry 

NOBTS MissionLab 

• Several CWW members led worship during New Orleans Seminary’s MissionLab experience.  

In total, nearly 30 different CCW members were involved with leading camps and events this summer. Even more, other members of CCW were involved with a variety of different ministries beyond leading worship.  

Jernigan said he is proud of the ministry CCW did this summer and emphasized they will continue to seek involvement with summer camps as a way to minister to students and support the mission of NOBTS. 

"These camps are some of the most important events in the lives of teenagers," Jernigan said. "They're setting aside time to leave the distractions of life and focus on God for a week.  

"If these important events are going to exist, then we want to participate in them and prioritize theologically rich worship leadership and the Word of God while doing so.  

"God is still calling people to ministry and we want to be there building relationships with students in these impressionable moments in their lives and point them to an institution that can help prepare them if they do feel called to ministry."