Farewell to My Alma Mater

My Farewell to Central Bible College,

It is a sad day for all of those who graduated from Central Bible College (CBC/CBI). Today is their last regular chapel before the end of the school year...their last school year. I am a graduate, my father attended too. It was always my hope to send my children to CBC. There they could experience the rich tradition of Pentecostal study and practice.

CBC stood as a beacon of conservatism in the AG for almost 100 years. What great leaders of our faith taught in its halls: Dr. Stanley Horton (the great AG theologian), Charles Harris (who taught us so much of the practical side of ministry), Opal Reddin, H. Maurice Lednicky and hundreds of others.

CBC was a unique place within the AG, because of its closeness to headquarters, missionaries and powerful speakers were often on campus. I remember meeting Charles Crabtree one day while going to check the mail (a favorite of all college students). I met him several years before. He stopped, shook my hand, and asked my name. He said, "Yes, your father pastors in Kentucky." I was blown away that he remembered meeting me. He offered a much needed word of encouragement that blesses me to this day.

Am I opposed to consolidation? As a whole I am not. I understand that something needed to be done. I do take issue with the way it was done. No one will ever be able to prove to me that CBC’c closer was not the original intent. If it was not, the merger announcement would have looked more like this:

“Today we are announcing the consolidation of our three Springfield Schools. To do this we will name the new school Assemblies of God University. This name illustrates the joining and unity of these three schools. Each school will become a part of the greater University. Much like a state school will be called the University of Louisville, but within it there are the Brandies School of Law, the Speed Scientific School of Engineering, the Medical School, and the School of Dentistry. So too, Assemblies of God University will have the Evangel School of Liberal Arts, the Central Bible Ministry School, and the School of Theology. Though we will be merging onto Evangel University’s campus, no one school will have precedence over another. One third of each staff, faculty, and administration will be retained by the new University.”

Instead we heard the new school will be named Evangel University. Now I have no issues with Evangel. I would much rather see my kids attend Evangel than a state school. But, it was not a consolidation; it was a closer of CBC and AGTS to the benefit of Evangel.

In the end, what’s done is done. The AG body voted to consolidate and so we have a new Evangel. My fear is that in the future the quality of our ministers will be lower. When you focus on one area you do it well. So this CBC and SAGU graduate will throw my loyalty behind SAGU (Southwestern Assemblies of God University). I do so with a heartfelt prayer of blessing for Evangel and a hope that my prediction is wrong.

Sincerely,

Darren Lewis

A mourning, but proud CBC alumni.