Pillsbury College: The Last Day

The last official day of Pillsbury Baptist Bible College has come and gone. On Friday, December 12, faculty, staff, and students ate breakfast together in the dining hall and then met in Kerux Auditorium for a final chapel service. Dr. Greg Huffman, the president of Pillsbury College these last several months, preached about how God providentially orchestrated the events of the "first" Christmas over 2000 years ago and how God is also orchestrating the events of our lives as well. We have come to appreciate Dr. Huffman's ability to share God's Word in a practical and meaningful way. Among the many things I will miss about Pillsbury, Dr. Huffman is at the top of the list. He has been greatly used by God during these last days of Pillsbury.

After chapel, a number of us said our last good-byes, took photos, and basically realized that this group of faculty, staff, and students will never again be assembled in one place this side of heaven. Next spring, Dr. Huffman plans to visit the Christian college campuses where our students will be attending second semester to check up on how our Pillsbury students are doing. He has also said that he is quite willing to be in charge of the "Pilly corner" in heaven. Undoubtedly, some of us will never cross paths again until that glorious day when we assemble together in heaven with all of the saints. That WILL be a glorious day.

On a personal note, I have every intention of continuing Pillsbury History Guy in the future. As an institution, Pillsbury will become "history," but the great memories of Pillsbury will live forever.

No Resources . . . No Returns . . . No Regrets

As many of you are aware, Pillsbury Baptist Bible College will be closing its doors on December 31 of this year. Dr. Greg Huffman, who was inaugurated as our new president in September, has been preaching some inspirational and timely messages in chapel. Earlier this week, Dr. Huffman shared with us the story of William Borden. His father founded the Borden Dairy Company, but William was called to be a missionary to Muslims in China. While enroute to China, William Borden died of spinal meningitis at the age of twenty-five. In the flyleaf of his Bible, he had recorded three brief slogans: "No resources . . . no returns . . . no regrets." He had voluntarily given away his fortune, he had decided that he would not return to the United States, and on the day he died, he professed that he had no regrets concerning the Lord's call to become a missionary in China.

Of course, the Pillsbury administration, faculty, staff, and student body are greatly saddened by the closing of Pillsbury. In a sense, the college has run out of financial "resources" to continue operating. We are also unable to "return" second semester to Pillsbury. But most importantly, we have "no regrets" about having been part of a ministry that has been training Christian leaders for over fifty years. Representatives of several sister schools have visited the campus to assist our students in the process of transferring to other schools for the spring semester. Most of our seniors will be able to graduate in the spring from other schools, but they will be able to have a Pillsbury diploma if they so desire.

On a personal note, Nancy and I have been a part of Pillsbury for twenty-five years. We have appreciated the college, our local church, and the Owatonna community. We don't know what the Lord has planned for us, but we are willing to wait on Him to show us the way. As I often tell my students, "Wherever you go, there you are." The problem is that we don't know where "there" is yet, but we will wait patiently for God's direction. Please pray for our students and colleagues as we seek God's will for our lives.

When Nancy and I were married in 1970, we took as our life verse Isaiah 40:31. It seems appropriate for this occasion: "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." May God allow all of us to be "eagles."

New Pastor at Grace Baptist Church (Owatonna, Minnesota)

Grace Baptist Church in Owatonna, Minnesota, has been without a senior pastor for the last eighteen months. On June 29, the congregation extended a call to Pastor Andrew Burggraff, who has been the pastor of Bible Baptist Church in Spring Hill, Florida, for the past four years. Those of us on the Pulpit Committee and the deacon board at Grace unanimously recommended Pastor Burggraff to the congregation. On the decision to extend the call to Pastor Burggraff, the congregation responded with a 98% vote of approval. Andrew, his wife Allyson, and their three children will probably be moving to Owatonna during the month of August. We look forward to Pastor Burggraff's ministry at Grace during the coming years.

Twenty years ago, Andrew's father (David Burggraff) pastored Grace Baptist for several years. Nancy and I count Dave and Lucy Burggraff as dear friends personally, as well as in the ministry. Dr. Dave Burggraff currently serves as a vice president at Clearwater Christian College in Florida. The president of Clearwater is Dr. Dick Stratton, whom we knew as a teenager at Hampton Park Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina, when we first got married. Dick's folks were faithful employees at Bob Jones University for many years.

Please pray for Grace Baptist Church here in Owatonna, as well as the good folks at Bible Baptist Church in Florida. We have gained a good man at their expense, so to speak. Obviously, those folks will need a new pastor in the near future. We are trusting that God will send just the right man to meet the needs of Bible Baptist Church.

New President at Pillsbury

We have had a quiet transition here at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College this summer. Dr. Greg Huffman became the new president of Pillsbury earlier this month. He has served as senior pastor of several Baptist churches, most recently in Roanoke, Virginia, and Macon, Georgia. Dr. Huffman has also taught modular courses at several leading fundamentalist colleges and universities. His educational background includes degrees from Tennessee Temple and Bob Jones University. He married his wife Ruth in 1968, and they have three sons.

Dr. Robert Crane, who was president of Pillsbury from 1996 until this year, has become President Emeritus. Those of us who minister here at Pillsbury appreciate the twelve years of outstanding leadership that Dr. Crane gave to Pillsbury. And we are very excited about what God is going to do here at Pillsbury in the coming years. Please pray for us as we seek to train up the next generation of Christian leaders.

A Godly Example

Thirty-five years ago, I began my teaching career at Bob Jones University.  As many of you know from reading some of my previous posts, in addition to teaching history courses at BJU, I also had the opportunity to play oboe in the University Orchestra and other ensembles at BJU.  Aside from my teaching responsibilities, playing my oboe has been one of the great joys of my life.  When you play in a group over a period of time, you really get to know the folks who are also a part of the group.  Not only do you learn how to do the "technical" things like playing in tune and playing the right notes, but you come to appreciate the people who sit beside you in rehearsals and performances.  I would like to spotlight one of those individuals from thirty-five years ago.

Karen Kuehmann enrolled as a freshman at BJU in the fall of 1972.  It did not take long to appreciate the fact the she was an excellent flute player.  But more than that, Karen was and is a person of outstanding character.  But what I most appreciate about Karen is that she loves the Lord supremely.  She has been an outstanding role model and good friend over the years that Nancy and I have had the great privilege to know her.

After Karen finished her undergraduate and graduate work at BJU, she taught flute and worked in the music division at Bob Jones University Press.  She is an accomplished composer and arranger of pieces for instrumental soloists and other ensembles.  She also received an Ed.D. degree in the 1980s.

Karen has had her share of difficult times as well.  A few years ago, she had a significant medical issue that resulted in her receiving a liver transplant at a Pittsburgh hospital.  As far as I know, she has made a complete recovery from that medical procedure and enjoys good health.

Having worked at BJU for about thirty years, Karen has recently decided to move back to her home state of Arizona and teach music in an elementary school there.  One of the reasons she returned to Arizona was for the purpose of being closer to her family.  That really doesn't surprise me at all, because Karen is the kind of person who understands the importance of family.  In this day and age, family relationships have been given short shrift by many people who just get too busy or disinterested in maintaining close family ties.

As it relates to Christian ministry, I have come to understand a significant principle:  "What I do, and where I do what I do, is not nearly as important as WHY I do what I do."  Karen Kuehmann is an ongoing example of that mindset.  I commend her highly and wish her well in her new responsibilities as an elementary school music teacher.

Pillsbury Baptist Bible College: Clearwaters Bible Conference

Here at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College, it is our custom to begin the second semester with the Richard Clearwaters Bible Conference.  This event honors the memory of the man who essentially founded Pillsbury College in 1957.  Our special speaker this year is one of my personal friends, Dr. John Hutcheson.  John is Field Representative for Frontline International Missions in Taylors, SC.  John and I worked together at Bob Jones University in the 1970s.  John was also in the pastorate for 25 years or so before joining Frontline Missions International a few years ago.  John challenged us to make 2008 a more spiritually profitable year than 2007.  He also shared the some of the stories and testimonies of persecuted Christians from all over the world.  Those of us who enjoy religious freedom here in the United States have no real idea of how difficult it is for our Christian brothers and sisters in many countries around the world.  All in all, John helped us to get off to a great start for second semester.

Pillsbury Begins Its 51st Year

Pillsbury Baptist Bible College started classes on Monday, August 27. This is Pillsbury's 51st year of operation as a Baptist Bible college. Although Pillsbury had been a military academy for a number of decades before 1957, it was Dr. Richard V. Clearwaters (longtime pastor of Fourth Baptist Church in Minneapolis) who was perhaps the "guiding light" in the transition of Pillsbury from a military academy to a Baptist Bible college. After serving as president of the college its first year, Dr. Clearwaters and the Pillsbury Board hired Dr. Monroe Parker as president in 1958. He had been on the evangelistic circuit for some years.

Although I did not meet Dr. Parker until the last few years of his life, I have a "secondary" connection to him. He was an administrator at Bob Jones College during the 1930s and 1940s when the school was located in Cleveland, Tennessee. Both of my parents were there at the time, and they knew Dr. Parker well. Monroe Parker stayed on at Pillsbury until 1965, when he returned to an evangelistic ministry across the United States.

Pillsbury has honored the memory of Dr. Parker by designating our opening evangelistic services as the "Monroe Parker Evangelistic Meetings." We bring in a prominent speaker to encourage our students and faculty. This year's speaker was Dr. Jerry Sivnksty, whose home is in Starr, South Carolina. Jerry has preached here in past years, and he is one of our favorites on campus. He grew up in the coal mining area of West Virginia—come to think of it, there isn't much of West Virginia that isn't a coal mining area.

In addition to his southern accent, Jerry's family spoke Lithuanian at home, so he had a few "speech problems" when he enrolled in Bob Jones University during the 1960s. Bob Pratt and Joyce Parks, longtime members of the speech faculty at BJU, at first discouraged Jerry from going into evangelism. But when he said that he felt God's call to do so, they did everything they could to help him. Jerry is a perfect example of someone who overcomes a few obstacles to do what God called him to do.

That's what Pillsbury is all about, by the way. The faculty and staff want to do everything we can to help students find God's will for their lives and to help prepare them to do it. Please pray for our students, faculty, and staff duirng this new school year.

New President at Maranatha Baptist Bible College

This afternoon, officials at Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wisconsin, named Dr. Chuck Phelps as the new president of Maranatha. This is great news for Maranatha specifically, as well as for those of us involved in Christian higher education. Chuck has been a youth pastor, a church planter, and a senior pastor. He serves on the boards of several Christian organizations. He and his wife Linda have five children.

I knew Chuck when he was a student at BJU back in the 1970s. As it happened, when our family moved to Owatonna (so that I could teach at Pillsbury), Chuck was the youth pastor at Grace Baptist Church. For over fifteen years, Chuck has been the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Concord, New Hampshire. I am very excited about Chuck becoming the president of Maranatha. He brings a strong vision for educating the next generation of young people for the Lord's service. Also, Maranatha is one of Pillsbury's "sister" schools, so we have more than a passing interest in anything that strengthens our fundamental Christian schools.

Be sure to pray for Chuck and his family as they make the transition to Maranatha over the summer.

New Administrative Position at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College

Dr. Robert Crane, president of Pillsbury Baptist Bible College, made an important announcement in chapel this morning. Dr. Werner Lumm, who presently serves as Pillsbury's Academic Dean, will take on an added administrative responsibility. He will become Executive Vice President of Pillsbury. This will allow Dr. Crane to be away from the campus on a regular basis to promote the College and to interact with prospective students. Dr. Lumm has an extensive background in education, having served in a variety of academic settings previous to his arrival at Pillsbury three years ago.

It just so happened that our chapel speaker this morning was Dr. Carl Herbster, who is the pastor of Tri-City Baptist Church in Independence, Missouri. Before coming to Pillsbury, Dr. Lumm worked with Dr. Herbster as the Administrative Director of the American Association of Christian Schools. Dr. Herbster is also a good friend of the McGuire family. Several of his children went to school with our older children at Bob Jones Elementary School back in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Please pray for Pillsbury as we continue educating young people for Christian service. Our desire is to see our graduates serve the Lord in whatever way He leads. Some will be involved in full-time Christian vocational ministry, while others will find vocational opportunities in the secular world. All of our graduates will also be prepared to minister in good local churches as well. If you know of any high school students seeking a Christian college education, please encourage them to check out Pillsbury Baptist Bible College.

Dr. Walter Fremont (1924-2007)

Dr. Walter Fremont had a remarkable influence on the development of Christian education in America during the last third of the twentieth century. And he served as a wonderful influence in my life. When I came to Bob Jones University as a freshman in 1967, he was the Dean of the School of Education. Four years later, I graduated from BJU and was preparing to teach history on the college level. I worked on a master's degree at Clemson University, and then Nancy and I returned to BJU in the fall of 1972. I taught history at BJU for eleven years under the leadership of Dr. Edward Panosian (who taught History of Civ at BJU for 42 years).

Yet, it was Dr. Fremont who was always a role model and a Christian gentleman. He was famous for his enthusiasm and zeal, both in and out of the classroom. He would sometimes take off a shoe and a sock and comment on "how beautiful are the feet" of a Christian. About twenty years or so ago, he was stricken with Lou Gehrig's Disease. The disease may have slowed him down a bit, but it was wonderful and heartwarming to visit him in Barge Memorial Hospital on the BJU Campus. You came away realizing that you had been in the presence of a remarkable individual.

I am honored to have known him, and I am greatly honored that he was a friend. We will miss you Dr. Fremont.