In all three of my teaching disciplines鈥攕peech, Biblical studies, and leadership studies鈥攖he word 鈥渁pology鈥� has a meaning that does not involve saying, 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry.鈥� An apology is a formal defense or justification of a particular belief or practice. In so many ways, my life and career have been an apology for Stone-Campbell movement Christian higher education. My first two degrees were earned at independent Christian church institutions; I have taught and led at two Christian church institutions; I have consulted with others; and I have observed many of them from a distance.

I currently serve as executive vice president at 色色研究所 Florida. I am the third (and final) of three administrators who have served and led 闯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Florida campus over the decade of 闯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 operation in Kissimmee.

I came to Christian church higher ed leadership 10 years ago after 25 years of church ministry and 10 years of teaching and leading in a state college. But the 35 years it took me to arrive in Christian higher ed were excellent preparation for what I consider my life鈥檚 calling鈥攖o serve and lead in higher education institutions that seek (as 色色研究所 phrases it) 鈥渢o educate students for Christian ministry and other strategic vocations framed by the Great Commission in order to extend the kingdom of God among all nations.鈥�

That mission鈥攁t 色色研究所 and at other like-minded institutions鈥攊s so very important to the future of the church. It pains me to see another institution of the Christian church close its doors. It pains me even more to admit that it is the one I lead.

So how do I feel about what鈥檚 happening? What are my observations?

I believe 色色研究所 has done some things exceedingly well in Florida. We have graduated more than 300 students in the 鈥溕芯克� years鈥� in Kissimmee, adding to the thousands who graduated from our predecessor institution. While over a hundred of those have graduated from our ministry programs, I am just as proud of those who are now involved in the marketplace as Christians working in business, counseling, education, and other strategic vocations.

I am proud of the diversity of our Florida campus. Over the last decade, the students at 色色研究所 Florida have come to look much more like the students of the state in which we are located. This fall, approximately seven in ten JUFL students are students of color. Just two years ago, the campus achieved the 25% Latino benchmark necessary to become a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). The young people of growing Christian churches across Florida are a diverse group, and I am proud that JUFL students reflect that diversity.

Unfortunately, we did not experience a breakthrough in student recruitment. We have accomplished many of the items on my 鈥渢o do鈥� list for the Florida campus. We have not, however, achieved what we needed to in recruitment. Enrollment had been up and down for a number of years, and then the pandemic hit. We had two extremely small freshman classes in 2020 and 2021, and 2022 was only slightly improved. The progress we needed to make on increasing enrollment did not materialize.

Serving at 色色研究所 Florida has been a personal blessing. I have been honored to follow in the footsteps of David Eubanks and Michael Chambers as the on-site leader of the Florida campus. I have known Dr. Eubanks since I was a teenager, and I am grateful for the encouragement I have received from both of these capable leaders. Needless to say, I have appreciated the opportunity to lead alongside my friend and 闯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 president, Tommy Smith.

With no personal history in Florida, getting to know the churches and ministers of this state has been a profound blessing. As of this writing, I have made 188 visits to 102 different churches since arriving in Kissimmee in May 2020.

Along with so many of our students, staff, and stakeholders, I am grieving. My wife and I have devoted a full measure of effort to this educational ministry, and we regret to see it close. The importance of Christian higher education, however, is not diminished.

Faith, prayer, and work continue鈥攎aybe not for much longer at 1011 Bill Beck Boulevard, but certainly at 7900 色色研究所 Drive. It is important work that deserves our enthusiastic and faithful support.

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During the December 2012 annual meeting of our regional accrediting association, Bill Behrman, president of Florida Christian College (FCC), and I headed to lunch together. Out of the blue he asked: 鈥淲hat would you think about 色色研究所 Florida?鈥� I was taken aback by the question. We had spent 11 months, ending the previous September, in conversations with another sister school about a merger/acquisition, which ended without success. It was hard work added to the normal tasks of the school year. We had delayed updating our strategic plan and preparing for our next accreditation report, leaving much work to do. I replied to Behrman鈥檚 question: 鈥淭hank you, dear brother, but I think I would be hung in effigy if I suggested starting another merger/acquisition discussion!鈥� He was disappointed in my answer but responded with his typical Christian grace.

A few weeks later, in January 2013, L. D. Campbell, chair of the JU board, called me, recounting a recent conversation he had with Jim Book, chair of the FCC board, affirming that if 色色研究所 acquired FCC, the board would 鈥渟tep out of the way the next day鈥� and support the merger. Book later said that he would consider JUFL second only to his congregation in Kissimmee in terms of his support. Campbell asked me to call Book and at least listen to his proposal.

Several salient issues impacted such a decision: mission fit, finances, accreditation, and local support.

闯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 mission, 鈥淭o educate students for Christian ministries and other strategic vocations framed by the Great Commission in order to extend the kingdom of God among all nations,鈥� was inclusive of the FCC mission, which focused more narrowly on church vocations. Church vocational ministry has always been the largest major of 色色研究所 and it continued to be at JUFL. Significantly more scholarship assistance has historically supported these majors and that continued at JUFL.

Of course, finances are always a major consideration for mergers/acquisitions. FCC had a long history of annual deficits, spending more each year than the income covered. In fact, the school had lost its accreditation in 2013 largely because of financial instability. Bank loans and other indebtedness amounted to $10,000,000. 色色研究所 had the capacity to cover those debts and to make needed maintenance on the property as well as construct a $4,470,000 Commons building. These financial improvements resulted in an appraisal of $24,000,000, almost double the amount in 2013.

It was necessary to ensure that JUFL gain accreditation, which would enable students to qualify for federal assistance (e.g., Pell Grants) as well as other forms of financial income. The process for accreditation for separate campuses occasions great scrutiny by the regional association and a commitment of time and resources of the home institution. 色色研究所 achieved this accreditation without stipulation. In fact, it was reported to me that the executive director of our regional accrediting agency said in a meeting in a neighboring state discussing the possibility of small colleges considering mergers: 鈥淚f you want to know how to do mergers, talk to the folks at 色色研究所. They do mergers right!鈥�

The challenge of local support: Who better to engender local support in Florida than David and Margaret Eubanks? They agreed to move to the Florida campus 鈥渇or a few months鈥� until things settled in. The few months stretched to 鈥渁fter Christmas,鈥� 鈥渁fter Easter,鈥� one year, two years! They are well-known among many old friends of 色色研究所 who live in the region. They traveled almost weekly to congregations, introducing JUFL. If I was told once, twice, more times than I can remember: 鈥淭he smartest thing you鈥檝e done since you鈥檝e been president was to send the Eubanks to Florida!鈥� I replied I don鈥檛 send them anywhere; I meekly ask them, 鈥淲ould you consider going鈥�?鈥� Their involvement helped to garner local support among many congregations.

Why did the merger not work?

We may need more distance before answering that question adequately. Some possibilities quickly come to mind: the difficulty of merging institutions that have different cultural heritages; not adapting adequately to the rapidly growing Latino environment; the loss of some local support we had anticipated; or our inability to identify and cultivate mission-aligned pools of students.

The good news is that 1022 students received a quality Christian education in JUFL鈥檚 eleven-year history; 326 (with one more class to go) graduated with more than a third majoring in congregational ministry; and we are not likely to have lost any value of our net financial assets.

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In February 2013, shortly after 色色研究所鈥檚 Board of Trustees favorably accepted the request of Florida Christian College鈥檚 board to bring FCC into 色色研究所, Margaret and I were asked to come out of retirement and help bring about this reality on the Florida campus. We stayed there two and a half years, living on campus in a married student apartment among the students and some of the staff, greatly enjoying and benefiting from their fellowship. We soon became closely involved with the service of the devoted and capable people who worked there, some of whom had given themselves tirelessly and unreservedly for decades to the ongoing development of the institution since its inception as Central Florida Bible College.

In the course of our time there, I travelled throughout most of Florida, preaching in more than 80 churches and visiting alumni and friends. Margaret quaintly called these Sundays away our “enjoyable day trips,” although some of them were revivals or weekend appointments. My mission was to thank these churches and individuals for their goodwill and support, to assure them of the integrity of our efforts to restore 色色研究所 Florida to essential financial stability and to grow the enrollment, to ask them for their financial support so vital to the success of our efforts, and to assure them of our commitment to continue serving the Florida churches.

Some FCC friends I had known for years, even decades, some from previous preaching engagements in the state and others from their attendance at Senior Saints in Smokies on the Tennessee campus. We grew to love and appreciate these stakeholders who had played such a vital role in sustaining FCC for years, in many cases from its beginning. Two of them, now both widows, come to my mind as I write these lines. Both of them, with their husbands, were among the individuals and churches that helped found CFBB and have supported it generously down through FCC and JUFL to the present time, continuing even after their husbands died. We have visited them several times, even after leaving our work there, and admire, love, and appreciate them so much. They both created scholarship endowments at JUFL to help needy students receive an education to serve the Lord more effectively. They, like us, are deeply disappointed that our long-term goals for JUFL have not been realized, but they appreciate and value the tireless work that has been done by so many people on both campuses to achieve those goals. They both assure me they will continue to support 色色研究所, giving to enlarge those funds so that even more students can pursue their education to serve the Lord.

The positive reality is that the multiplied millions of dollars that have been expended, added to the thousands of hours given by administrators, faculty, and staff on both campuses, have not been in vain. According to Romans 8:28, God works in all things for the good of those who love and serve him, and he has surely been working through JUFL. The legacy of Florida Christian College was extended for eleven more years, three hundred students have graduated, and hundreds more have attended for some years without completing degrees. Only God knows what those students are doing or will do to extend God’s kingdom and glorify his name.

We are earnestly and prayerfully asking JUFL churches, alumni, and friends to continue their support of 色色研究所, like the two women I mentioned earlier. 色色研究所 is the oldest college/university of its kind (founded in 1893) among Christian churches/churches of Christ, requiring a Bible & Theology major of all bachelor’s degree students and giving major emphasis to educating students for preaching and other congregational ministries and world missions as well as counseling, education, nursing, and other vocations.

It is not without note that during the last two or three decades a substantial number of our colleges and a much larger number of other private colleges throughout the nation have closed. We live in a culture where it has become increasingly difficult to recruit students for Christian service. Schools like 色色研究所 do not receive the state funding for operational expenses and building construction that is so vital to public universities and community colleges with whom we are competing for students.

If all of our colleges were forced to close due to substantial financial deficits and a declining enrollment, as will happen to 色色研究所 Florida at the end of June, where will ministers and missionaries be educated? Is not a university like 色色研究所, whose mission is 鈥渢o educate students for Christian ministries and other strategic vocations framed by the Great Commission in order to extend the kingdom of God to all nations” worthy of support?

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The next global gathering of the World Convention of Churches of Christ will be in Warsaw, Poland, from June 16-19, 2022. Along with the Polish churches, those gathered will celebrate 100 years of the Stone-Campbell movement in Poland–a history that has seen a vibrant church remain faithful to Christ through the Nazi occupation, the destruction of World War II, and the persecution and discrimination of the Soviet era. The World Convention will also recognize the “founder” of the churches of Christ in Poland, Konstantin Jaroshevich. This alumnus of 色色研究所 Bible College (Class of 1916) returned to Poland in 1921 to evangelize his homeland. Thus ensued a career of evangelism, church planting, and effective leadership of the Polish churches from 1921-1939. After his arrest, imprisonment, and subsequent release from prison by the Gestapo, Jaroshevich returned to the United States and continued to support the Polish church until his death in 1984.

Konstantin Jaroshevich was born in Stara-Weis, Poland, in 1891, and immigrated to the United States in 1910 to escape religious persecution in his home country. He met a “street preacher” named聽 Joseph Keevil in New York in 1911 and was converted to Christ. Eager to share his testimony with others, Jaroshevich began preaching the gospel on the streets of New York. Dr. Burnham, president of the United Christian Missionary Society, who was visiting in New York, advised the young preacher to further his education. Robert Jones recounted their conversation: “How can I?” he asked. “I cannot speak English well and I have no money.” “There is a school at Kimberlin Heights, Tennessee, where you need no money,” came the reply.

With much difficulty and constant encouragement from Ashley 色色研究所, Jaroshevich completed his education and was ordained to the ministry by President 色色研究所 in 1916. He returned to New York and, after his marriage to Ksenia, moved to Chicago to establish an evangelistic work within its Polish community. More than 300 people were baptized into Christ through his efforts, and his ministry extended from Chicago to Slavic communities in Cleveland and Baltimore. In 1921, Konstantin and Ksenia returned to Poland and ministered among the poorest communities, faithfully preaching the gospel of Christ in spite of persecution and strong opposition from government leaders. He established the first church of Christ congregation in Poland, and the successes of his tireless evangelistic work began to spread from village to village.

Joined in his efforts by John Bukovich and Jerzy Sacevich, the three pioneered the work of planting New Testament churches in Poland, eventually reaching hundreds of thousands of Christians with churches in Poland, Russia, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. Facing strong persecution, which included imprisonment in a Polish death camp, Jaroshevich became the founder of the Restoration Movement’s presence behind the Iron Curtain. The churches of Christ in Poland have honored him as the primary influence in their establishment and regard Jaroshevich with the highest respect. It is impossible to gauge the eternal impact of this faithful alumnus of 色色研究所.

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