Each year, most Christian high school seniors graduate and move on to college without a vision of who they are or a plan for how to continue growing and maturing in their faith in Christ. This will undoubtably affect their decisions, relationships, direction, and overall health in life and faith during one of the most formative seasons of their journey. The LAUNCH Mission is a ministry that is dedicated to helping guide students in their faith for this great new season of their life.
The LAUNCH Mission Story
Tommy McGregor, the founder of The LAUNCH Mission, grew up in a strong Christian home and was involved in a great church as a teenager. He was seen as a leader among his friends at school and church.
By all outward appearances, he was seasoned for a thriving life in college as he continued to grow and pursue a calling into full-time ministry. That is not what happened.
Not long into his freshman year in college, Tommy began to struggle to connect to a Christian community and avoid the obstacles in his way. He spent the first three years of college wandering, seeking to find himself and his way back to the level of faith maturity he once had in high school. The summer before his senior year in college, Tommy began to reconnect to this calling of ministry and growth in his walk with Christ. After graduation in 1994, he enrolled in seminary and became a youth pastor at a small church in Birmingham, Alabama. As he led his first group of teenagers, he began to be concerned that his senior class would make the same mistakes he made. He decided to meet with those seniors and share some of the lessons he learned, the hard way, in college.
Tommy McGregor, the founder of The LAUNCH Mission, grew up in a strong Christian home and was involved in a great church as a teenager. He was seen as a leader among his friends at school and church. By all outward appearances, he was seasoned for a thriving life in college as he continued to grow and pursue a calling into full-time ministry. That is not what happened.
Not long into his freshman year in college, Tommy began to struggle to connect to a Christian community and avoid the obstacles in his way. He spent the first three years of college wandering, seeking to find himself and his way back to the level of faith maturity he once had in high school. The summer before his senior year in college, Tommy began to reconnect to this calling of ministry and growth in his walk with Christ. After graduation in 1994, he enrolled in seminary and became a youth pastor at a small church in Birmingham, Alabama. As he led his first group of teenagers, he began to be concerned that his senior class would make the same mistakes he made. He decided to meet with those seniors and share some of the lessons he learned, the hard way, in college.
Each year in ministry, Tommy continued to spend extra time with his senior class. In 2006, he wrote his first book, Lost in Transition: Becoming Spiritually Prepared for College, which was later revised in a second and third edition. Since its first publish date, the book has helped thousands of high school seniors and college freshmen understand what college will be like, how to take ownership over one’s faith and how to grow in that new setting.
After sixteen years of youth ministry, Tommy started TheTransMission in 2010 to focus full-time attention on the transition kids made after high school graduation. As the mission statement proclaims, TheTransMission trains leaders, equips parents, and prepares students for the challenges of life after high school. Since that time, Tommy has written a total of 10 books and has spoken to countless students and parents about what it takes to make a healthy transition after high school.
On October 1, 2022, on the ministry’s 12th anniversary, TheTransMission was rebranded as The LAUNCH Mission and continues to provide leadership, content, and resources for those walking through this very important life transition.
When it comes to helping high school seniors make a successful transition into college, Tommy McGregor has hit the mark…
I hope every high school senior will take the opportunity to learn from the foundational truths and biblical advice shared through The Launch Mission ministry.
