Anniversaries are designed to help us remember. Some anniversaries are celebrations and others are lessons that are learned. When anniversaries are ignored or forgotten, those lessons will be lost. This August, Louisville Bible College is celebrating a great lesson taught to us by the Lord. Ten years ago, the Lord resurrected a dead college. It is now breathing, growing, and serving the Lord. This upcoming semester was one many did not think we would see because it was only a moment away from disappearing forever. The story of how this happened has never fully been written as a lesson. This is the story of the resurrection of Louisville Bible College.
Louisville Bible College began in 1948. The goal was to establish an institution that trained workers for God’s kingdoms. Historically, LBC did this by keeping the tuition affordable, using men engaged in ministry as it’s professors, and being focused on only offering degrees that pertained to ministry. The school began in a beautiful building on Third Street in downtown Louisville. It later moved to its current location just off the Gene Snyder Freeway on the outside of town.
I first became aware of Louisville Bible College through a chance meeting with Larry Oetzel at ICOM in November of 1996. I was heartbroken when looking at the high cost of Bible colleges thinking that training for the ministry may be out of my financial reach. Also, at least one Bible college actually discouraged me from seeking a preaching degree (something my father was furious over). My first experience with Louisville Bible College taught me that they wanted to train preachers, including in small and medium sized churches. They intentionally developed their institutional structure in a way to keep tuition affordable (around $30.00 a credit hour in 1997, $50 a credit hour today for undergraduate credit). The classes were smaller where the professors not only knew your name, but also your ministerial context. They felt more like mentors training you than a professor who lectured about theories. The small nature of the college gave a family style setting that was naturally welcoming and not a show that tried to lure you into a sell. The age diversity meant that you could train with people your own age while studying with men and women who had real life experience they shared in the class. It was different than anything I had experienced before or since. The first moment I stepped into the college, I knew I found a second home.
Eventually, every institution is rocked with troubled times. Those trouble times define who and what you are. LBC had been defined by its financial discipline to keep ministers from graduating with a high, financial debt upon graduation. This enabled them to stay in the ministry without an additional burden on their family. That was forgotten. The debt began to rise as did the tuition. The student body did not grow to sustain the debt. Soon, the school faced an uncertain future and a massive debt for a small college.
In 2014, I received a call to follow my dream of teaching at LBC. It was a chance to do for others what was done for me. This joy soon turned into panic. After about two months of teaching at LBC, it was revealed to the both the faculty and student body the severity of the debt. At its current financial setting, the school would not survive. That news was later downplayed but turned out to be accurate. Even with cuts and other steps, LBC stopped offering classes for the first time at the end of the 2015 Spring semester. Members of the administration stepped down. Then worse of all, silence. No one knew for sure what was happening. However, though the business office remained open (and never closed), LBC would not offer any classes for the 2016-2017 school year.
Rumors circulated of another institution taking over the college. The truth was most people began writing the obituary of LBC. Mourners lamented the fall. Alumni and supporters pointed fingers of who was to blame. Students began to move on and finish their degrees somewhere else. The faculty who once poured their life into the school also were gone. It looked like, felt like, and seemed like the end had come. It is in the darkest moments and when all hopelessness is felt that God often intervenes with the faithful who trust in him.
In November of 2016, I ran across a Facebook alumni group that announced there was one more chance. Alumni such as Mike Gillespie and Ron Frazier were helping to rally the troops. For me, this was almost exactly 20 years to the date that I first heard of a place called LBC at a chance meeting at ICOM in Lexington, KY. Some alumni stated that the rumors of a takeover had fallen through, and that the future of LBC would be decided at a regents meeting led by Anthony Sweeney. Anthony, now the chairmen of the Board of Regents, was one of the people who had not given up and continued to try to help the school survive. If the alumni showed up and demonstrated that there a desire to keep LBC alive, it could survive in some fashion. If alumni did not come, LBC would cease to exist. The choice was ours: do we help save the school or do we move on.
I came to the meeting not knowing what to expect. The first time I entered LBC, I saw smiling faces laughing and encouraging me. I even saw a group of students joking about a football team and “recruiting” the, new skinny kid to be a quarterback. I saw faculty eager to teach and students starving to learn. The staff was professional, approachable, and down to earth. Like many before and after me, I found a home. Now, I saw a place empty of that joy. I saw a place without the excitement of the teachings of the Lord. There was no staff, faculty, administration, or student body that made that place special. The mood was like family members coming together to keep the family farm from being sold off never to be put together again. Familiar faces came through the halls. Instead of preparing for class, they reminisced about the past. Those individuals used to talk about the future of what they could do for the Lord. Now those same people are questioning what happened in the past and what would the future look like.
The Regents, good men who found themselves in a bad situation, were stunned to see about 20 alumni and former employees fill LBC’s largest classroom one more time. The shock was not anger but a surprise that there was still support for this school on life support. The meeting discussed a failed plan but also included a “what if” look into the future. The alumni expressed their support for an attempt to save the school before it was completely closed. So, with little to no financial support coming in, no students who remained, no faculty to teach, and no administration to try to turn the institution around, the decision was made to take a leap of faith and try. Faith rarely comes when things look good but when the impossible is starring you in the face. In those moments, you can either believe the impossible or see the God who does impossible things. So, with a prayer of the future given, all left wondering how this could turn around.
Over the next few months, things were done to save the school. Unessential parts of the school would be sold off including the original house the school used to conduct business when it moved to its current location. This was personally sad as it was the first house my wife and I lived in as a married couple. All that was left was the administration building with classrooms and apartments, the library, and the undeveloped field next to the school buildings. A decision was made to willingly give up the ABHE accreditation the school was awarded just a couple of years ago. Finally, a search was made for a new president. Except, this president was not new but one familiar to the alumni and supporting congregations.
Dr. Tom Mobley was the president of LBC in the 90’s and early 2000’s. He was with the school when it changed locations. During his presidency, the school saw a rise in enrollment. His return to the school did a few things. First, it showed that the school was serious in returning. This was not a feeble attempt but an all-out effort to keep the doors open. Second, it was a return to the concept of financial accountability. The debt the school owed, even after selling off parts, was gigantic for the school under our best days. It would take financial discipline to work our way out of it. Many believed that it would take over a decade to pay it off, if we could. Finally, the school was showing it was attempting a “reboot” by returning to our roots. We would drastically lower tuition. Dr. Mobley was returning to his former position, but the school was far from its former status.
One man cannot be everything in a Bible College. It requires faculty. I was one of those that Dr. Mobley called. Around May/June, Dr. Mobley gave me the call. I was made aware of the situation. We did not have money to pay faculty for teaching, it would be 100% voluntary. He could not guarantee any students would come. We would be like Field of Dreams, if we offer classes, students will come! Finally, there was no guarantee that we would have classes after that fall semester. I mean, who wouldn’t jump at this chance. I agreed to teach both the Life of Christ and Old Testament Survey on Mondays. I also promised to help clean the school on the days I was there (a position I held 12 years prior).
Soon, a schedule of six classes weekly classes held on three days with five professors was constructed. Joining me was John Merritt, Joe Hatchett, David Cordrey and Larry Oetzel. Brother Oetzel was a key person of LBC’s past. Not only did he recruit students like me and taught us, but he was an alumnus who spent years in the business administration of the Bible College. We were ready, or at least we thought. Challenges appear when the faithful step out to serve the Lord.
When that first Monday arrived, I pulled into the driveway to find two surprises. The first surprise is that no students were signed up for the first class and none had arrived. The second surprise is that our classroom was in disarray. One of the regents helped provide for new carpet to be laid down. The problem was that the classroom was not cleaned up after the work nor was it put together. The floor needed to be swept, the tables, desk and chairs had to be lined up, and the room needed to thoroughly cleaned. Luckly, I came with a change of clothes. The lack of students was an actual opportunity to get the school presentable before anyone came in. What looked like a problem helped solve a problem. If students had come, they would have seen a discouraging mess that no one had time to fix.
But I would not be lonely for long. My evening class doubled, and I had ONE student who showed up. The next week, my morning class doubled again, and I had TWO students (though one would drop). The first semester started that way. Six classes were filled with one or two students in a room that once held nearly 30 students in its former glory.
The school was not done though. We also began offering our module classes. The module class, still used today, is a one weekend class that gives students eight weeks to turn in work. Many of our alumni showed support by attending these classes and bringing members of their church with them. Also, we offered a three outreach courses in local churches. These courses are six-week college courses meant to educate the local congregation. This strategy helped us to recruit and retain students who could not come to Louisville during the work week. Since we did not have a recruiter or additional fund raisers (outside of Dr. Mobley) on staff, having classes in the church allowed us to recruit and demonstrate to future supporting churches the need to give. This continues to be a major part of the school.
The faculty was not the only ones who took a leap of faith. Students put their faith in God and took a chance of LBC. They knew our previous reputation and wanted to learn from men in the field. Though they had no reason to believe the school would make it, they continued to come. Not only did they come, but they came with enthusiasm regardless of the size of the class. If they were the only ones there, they took it as an opportunity instead of a problem.
At first, it was a challenge to raise donations at the school. As Christians, we are called to be good stewards of God’s money. Most alumni, donors, and churches were sympathetic to the work of LBC and desired to see it succeed. However, is it the best use of God’s limited resources to send that money to a college that could fail and, in this situation, previously mismanaged their finances? Yet, God moved the hearts of some to take that chance. Their early gifts enabled the school to take a little and make the most out of it. Too many Christians forget that Christ fed over 5,000 with a little boy’s supper. In this instance, God took the little that was given and made it count in the right places.
Soon, Dr. Mobley asked me to join the staff at the school as the registrar. He needed some assistance in the academic department. In truth, because of how things happened the year before, the school needed to be put back together. I walked into my new office to see a huge stack of scattered folders and paperwork piled on desk. I saw three rows over a foot tall each of transcripts and grade reports that had to be put up. We had rooms that were locked that we could not get in. In the rooms that we could get in, the offices were left without putting files up. Therefore, each office had to be searched through, and things returned to their proper place. The library was without a card catalog and books that needed processing.
What I found out is that getting classes started back was the easy part. The hard part is to run an administration with one full-time president, one part-time financial secretary, and one part-time inexperienced registrar. So, work began on getting files up to date, getting the library functional, rearranging the building, and finding money for what repairs had to be made. Soon, we had to replace the financial secretary and still find a way to accomplish all our tasks. Dana Edlin would come along at the right time and was a valuable part of the team. She helped to relieve some of the work that was piled on us and was a great source of encouragement.
It was also at this point I began to see the school’s spirit return. We had a handful of alumni that wanted to finish their degrees return. This enabled us to somehow have a graduation that first year with three graduates. When we began, we did not think we would see that happen. However, we had a husband and wife complete their associates degree and a preacher return to complete his bachelor’s degree. We also used this opportunity to recognize former administration and faculty who were vital to LBC’s past. The alumni banquet at Mike Linnigs provided for a causal, family reunion with an alumni of the year award winner. The event was full of excitement and enthusiasm for the future of the school. As the academic year closed with two full semesters, returning students, and two events, it began to occur to us: God might just rebuild this after all.
As registrar, I was privileged to see the growth happen. There are stories to go with the growth. Each of these students should be commended for giving a chance to the school. After all, we had to ethically and legally tell the students that we have few classes, we do not know if we will make it to the next school year, and we have a small student body. Then, they came. Almost like watching Noah load the ark, they came two by two at times. I watched as the young grandson of a professor gave us a chance. Eventually he invited his friend to come. Both are serving the Lord as preachers today. Two young siblings came with a heart to serve the Lord on the mission field. Then, a married couple who lived in the next county from me came eager to learn. Two students returned as they only needed a few credits for the Master’s degree (both were able to graduate). A son of a one of my former professors came and as well as a son-in-law of an alumnus. A couple of students returned to finish their associates degree.
Over the years, we went out to recruit. At each event we went to, we heard the same thing, “I thought LBC was dead.” No, we are alive and we are recruiting for the Lord’s church. We continued to add students, have graduations, and add faculty to our school. Little by little, God put us back together. We completed a reboot, went through a rebuild and now we are restored.
Suddenly, it just happened. One day, the students were in the hallway laughing waiting for class to begin. There were not many, maybe four or five. Dr. Mobley and I were in the hallway by our offices. He turned to me and said, “It reminds me of when you were a student here.” It was the same thing I thought. Through all the years, the struggles, and limited resources, the spirit of the school returned. It was like taking a step back in time. God had put things back together. Was it exactly the same of the former glory? No, but it was a moment in time we understood. The faith, trust, and work were blessed. The dead school was given a fresh breath of air. The God of resurrections took what everyone thought was dead and made it alive to do His will.
Dr. Mobley did not live long enough to see the full results of his work. Kerry Allen would take over as president in January 2020 (right before Covid). Under his leadership, the school received more visibility, more interest, enlarged our faculty, and recruited more students. He helped guide the school out of debt in just a few short years. An accomplishment that most did not think would happen. He would add more staff including Dr. Terry Peer. Dr. Peer will take over as president next year. Dr. Peer will provide excellent leadership in the future as he is a godly man that has loved and served the school for years. God has provided the school with three different men at the right time to do what was needed to make the school alive again.
Today, the school is going strong with a solid enrollment. It has impacted the church in many ways. LBC continues to fulfill its role by putting preachers in pulpits, missionaries on the field, teachers in the local congregation and training leaders in the local congregation. Many of these individuals are in congregations that are relatively unheard of except in its local areas. Yet, these congregations are a vital part of the Lord’s church. Several of these students have gone on to other, respectable institutions to earn their graduate degrees. Over the past few years, LBC’s faculty, alumni, and students have spoken at many of our brotherhood events, written for our publications, and began podcasts to strengthen the church. God took a dead institution and multiplied its ministry in ways no one saw possible. This anniversary serves as a celebration of God’s victory.
I have been in ministry for just under 30 years. I have seen many great things the Lord has accomplished. I am eternally grateful to see this ministry. Throughout the Scriptures, we read of how God does mighty acts. Too often we foolishly view that as things God has done without understanding He can do again. The same God of the Bible is the same God of today’s church. The church gives up too easily. We throw our hands up and say it cannot work. We mourn for the past instead of working for the future. We sit in the boat when the faithful are called to walk on water. Sadly, Christians see the size of the problem without seeing the size of our God. Therefore, we limit Him and His work. Yet, when we take just one step forward, when we go where we cannot see, and do what cannot yet be known, God does big things.
Satan wants you to quit. Yet, your ministry and your work are still needed in the kingdom. Nothing is dead until God declares it dead. He can resurrect what man has destroyed and make useful the things the world sees no value in. Are you willing to take one step of faith forward and allow God to do great things for you?
