Report of the
Board of Higher Education
During the 2000 calendar year, the Board of Higher Education (BHE) has met three times, for a total of twenty-two times since its inception in the fall of 1994. It continues to oversee the work of the Pinebrook Educational Foundation (PEF), to develop working relationships with Biblical Theological Seminary, and to consider how else it might foster higher education in the BFC.
The Pinebrook Educational Foundation
The Board of Directors of the PEF for the past year was as follows:
Term expiring in 2003: Gary E. Karch, Robert C. Newman
Term expiring in 2002: Olivia M. Barnes, Stephen C. Cassel
Term expiring in 2001: Raymond R. Dotts, Jay H. Fasnacht
The report of the PEF is appended to the report of the BHE.
Working Relationships with Biblical Theological Seminary
The BHE has been working on three projects involving Biblical: (1) a BFC chaplain who would visit Biblical regularly to counsel students and encourage some of them to consider service with the BFC; (2) a course on the history, doctrine and polity of the BFC to be offered at regular intervals at Biblical; and (3) an internship program in which BF churches would take pastoral interns from Biblical.
1. Since the fall of 1999, retired BFC missionary Ed Moyer, has served under the auspices of the BHE as BFC chaplain to students at Biblical Seminary. He has typically visited the school weekly or twice monthly during the school year and has had interaction with students. Due to the changing demographic circumstances at Biblical – which now has nearly all of its students part-time and commuting, with a block-scheduling system having classes only three days per week and meeting from morning to late evening – it is impossible to be at school any one time (or even one day) and expect to be able to have access to a majority of the students. Ed has been doing a fine job under the circumstances, but we need to consider how we can give him more exposure to the students. We appreciate Ed’s enthusiasm and willing spirit.
2. Due to insufficient registration, the two times we have tried to offer this course (1997, 1998), we have shelved this project for the time being.
3. The pastoral internship machinery for BF churches at Biblical Seminary is up and running and can be used by interested churches at any time. Since the internship program was instituted at Biblical, several BF churches have availed themselves of this opportunity. Internship brochures were printed and handed out at Annual Conference in 1998, 1999 and again in 2000, as well as at the BFC Ministerial Convention in September 1999. It would be good to see more BF churches avail themselves of this opportunity.
Other Ways of Promoting Higher Education in the BFC
The BHE has taken some time at the end of each meeting for wide-ranging discussions on how we might promote higher education in the BFC. These discussions have included a number of topics: (1) how to get the BHE and PEF better known in the BFC; (2) how to encourage talented Christian young people in our churches to seek higher education in order to serve the Lord more effectively in whatever vocation He has called them to; (3) how to encourage BF pastors to get advanced education to strengthen their ministry; (4) how to reach out to students and faculty at colleges and universities that are in the vicinity of our BF churches; and especially (5) how to reach out to foreign students in these schools who will return to their own countries, so that they may be even more effective missionaries than those who must learn a foreign culture.
Some suggestions for implementing the above. (1)Use brochures and personal contacts with pastors and BF churches. (2) Encourage some sort of “college fair” that would be denomination wide, perhaps in conjunction with a youth activity; or encourage a “college trip” organized by one or more BF churches to take senior high students around to prospective schools. (3) We have asked the PEF to devote one of its endowment funds to helping pastors get advanced or continuing education. (4) One of our members, John Studenroth, has started Collegiate Outreach, a ministry to faculty and grad students at colleges and universities in Berks and Lehigh Counties. John Quigley, a member of Ebenezer BFC, has started Winsome Media, an outreach to seekers who may be attracted to a friendly, yet persuasive presentation of Christian evidences. We should try to promote these ministries, as well as the Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute associated with Biblical Seminary, among our BF churches, perhaps by having some sort of outreach meetings sponsored by one or more of our churches, such as a Skeptics Night that IBRI recently held at the invitation of a local PCA church.
We want to thank Dave Watkins for his faithful service on our Board since its inception as he is in the process of retiring from a number of his current activities.
Brothers, thank you for praying for us this past year. We are seeing the Lord begin to move among us. Please pray that we will desire His agenda above our own, and that He may use us powerfully to strengthen the BFC in understanding the times in which we live and becoming more effective in reaching the lost.
Resolved, that the Annual Conference ratify the election to the Pinebrook Educational Foundation of Raymond R. Dotts and Jay H. Fasnacht for terms to end in 2004
Board of Higher Education: Robert C. Newman, Chairman; Raymond R. Dotts, Vice-Chairman; John C. Studenroth, Secretary; Stephen C. Cassel, G. Wayne Clapier, Claude Gates, Alan Russell.
Report of the
Board of Higher Education
During the 2000 calendar year, the Board of Higher Education (BHE) has met three times, for a total of twenty-two times since its inception in the fall of 1994. It continues to oversee the work of the Pinebrook Educational Foundation (PEF), to develop working relationships with Biblical Theological Seminary, and to consider how else it might foster higher education in the BFC.
The Pinebrook Educational Foundation
The Board of Directors of the PEF for the past year was as follows:
Term expiring in 2003: Gary E. Karch, Robert C. Newman
Term expiring in 2002: Olivia M. Barnes, Stephen C. Cassel
Term expiring in 2001: Raymond R. Dotts, Jay H. Fasnacht
The report of the PEF is appended to the report of the BHE.
Working Relationships with Biblical Theological Seminary
The BHE has been working on three projects involving Biblical: (1) a BFC chaplain who would visit Biblical regularly to counsel students and encourage some of them to consider service with the BFC; (2) a course on the history, doctrine and polity of the BFC to be offered at regular intervals at Biblical; and (3) an internship program in which BF churches would take pastoral interns from Biblical.
1. Since the fall of 1999, retired BFC missionary Ed Moyer, has served under the auspices of the BHE as BFC chaplain to students at Biblical Seminary. He has typically visited the school weekly or twice monthly during the school year and has had interaction with students. Due to the changing demographic circumstances at Biblical – which now has nearly all of its students part-time and commuting, with a block-scheduling system having classes only three days per week and meeting from morning to late evening – it is impossible to be at school any one time (or even one day) and expect to be able to have access to a majority of the students. Ed has been doing a fine job under the circumstances, but we need to consider how we can give him more exposure to the students. We appreciate Ed’s enthusiasm and willing spirit.
2. Due to insufficient registration, the two times we have tried to offer this course (1997, 1998), we have shelved this project for the time being.
3. The pastoral internship machinery for BF churches at Biblical Seminary is up and running and can be used by interested churches at any time. Since the internship program was instituted at Biblical, several BF churches have availed themselves of this opportunity. Internship brochures were printed and handed out at Annual Conference in 1998, 1999 and again in 2000, as well as at the BFC Ministerial Convention in September 1999. It would be good to see more BF churches avail themselves of this opportunity.
Other Ways of Promoting Higher Education in the BFC
The BHE has taken some time at the end of each meeting for wide-ranging discussions on how we might promote higher education in the BFC. These discussions have included a number of topics: (1) how to get the BHE and PEF better known in the BFC; (2) how to encourage talented Christian young people in our churches to seek higher education in order to serve the Lord more effectively in whatever vocation He has called them to; (3) how to encourage BF pastors to get advanced education to strengthen their ministry; (4) how to reach out to students and faculty at colleges and universities that are in the vicinity of our BF churches; and especially (5) how to reach out to foreign students in these schools who will return to their own countries, so that they may be even more effective missionaries than those who must learn a foreign culture.
Some suggestions for implementing the above. (1)Use brochures and personal contacts with pastors and BF churches. (2) Encourage some sort of “college fair” that would be denomination wide, perhaps in conjunction with a youth activity; or encourage a “college trip” organized by one or more BF churches to take senior high students around to prospective schools. (3) We have asked the PEF to devote one of its endowment funds to helping pastors get advanced or continuing education. (4) One of our members, John Studenroth, has started Collegiate Outreach, a ministry to faculty and grad students at colleges and universities in Berks and Lehigh Counties. John Quigley, a member of Ebenezer BFC, has started Winsome Media, an outreach to seekers who may be attracted to a friendly, yet persuasive presentation of Christian evidences. We should try to promote these ministries, as well as the Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute associated with Biblical Seminary, among our BF churches, perhaps by having some sort of outreach meetings sponsored by one or more of our churches, such as a Skeptics Night that IBRI recently held at the invitation of a local PCA church.
We want to thank Dave Watkins for his faithful service on our Board since its inception as he is in the process of retiring from a number of his current activities.
Brothers, thank you for praying for us this past year. We are seeing the Lord begin to move among us. Please pray that we will desire His agenda above our own, and that He may use us powerfully to strengthen the BFC in understanding the times in which we live and becoming more effective in reaching the lost.
Resolved, that the Annual Conference ratify the election to the Pinebrook Educational Foundation of Raymond R. Dotts and Jay H. Fasnacht for terms to end in 2004
Board of Higher Education: Robert C. Newman, Chairman; Raymond R. Dotts, Vice-Chairman; John C. Studenroth, Secretary; Stephen C. Cassel, G. Wayne Clapier, Claude Gates, Alan Russell.