By sifilings on
Fundamentalism & Evangelicalism
Calvary Baptist Seminary

Calvary Baptist Seminary holds its final graduation

When Calvary Baptist first opened in 1976, it was one of the only seminaries of its kind in the Northeast, said Timothy Jordan, chancellor of the seminary and senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church. Now, “the number of schools is five, six times the number that there once were,” he said. More choices for students combined with the rising student debt crisis have led to a decline in enrollment, Harbin said. The popularity of distance education has also contributed to the seminary’s closing. “We do distance ed, but when there are other places who have done it longer and do it on a much grander scale – that’s far more appealing to the average student, who does almost everything online,” Jordan said.

Discussion

Sat, 05/17/14

This continues to herald the wakeup call, that Christian Universities need to seek ways to have a sustainable financial model. We all too often look for leaders who are charismatic, who are evangelical, who are good Christians, at the expense of what is really needed.

Sat, 05/17/14

Calvary was started at a time when if you went to a fundamentalist school, and went to seminary, you would go to a fundamentalist seminary, you would very likely not consider a seminary that was called, back in the day, “neo-evangelical.” But now, a student who would consider Calvary would also consider Southern, Gordon-Conwell, Dallas, Trinity, etc. Calvary just got squeezed out.

Sat, 05/17/14

It’s always nice to hear of growing Christian day schools:

“The seminary is just one of the church’s ministries, Jordan explained. The church is also responsible for a K-12 day school and a summer camp. Although there aren’t any building renovations planned just yet, the ever-growing day school could certainly use the room, Jordan said. “The reality is we’ll have no problem using the space.”

ADDED: Here’s the Christian day school: http://www.cbschools.org/

The website indicates it’s about 420 students. It boasts a strong Advanced Placement program in the senior high curriculum, something I am convinced is nearly essential to the future growth of Christian day schools.

Sat, 05/17/14

It’s OK for ministries to “run their course” and be done. Better for a school to run its course and close than get “hijacked” from its purpose to stay open.

Mon, 05/19/14

[Jonathan Charles]

Calvary was started at a time when if you went to a fundamentalist school, and went to seminary, you would go to a fundamentalist seminary, you would very likely not consider a seminary that was called, back in the day, “neo-evangelical.” But now, a student who would consider Calvary would also consider Southern, Gordon-Conwell, Dallas, Trinity, etc. Calvary just got squeezed out.

^^^^This. And, not to be the pessimistic prophet, I suspect that this will happen to most of the fundamentalist seminaries..

Ecclesia semper reformanda est