by jowens | Apr 4, 2014
NASHVILLE, TN—This fall will bring a change to the ministry program at Welch College, according to Dr. Greg Ketteman, provost. After 23 years on the faculty, Terry Forrest will retire as program coordinator for Pastoral Ministry, being replaced by Dr. Barry Raper. Raper will shift from his Youth and Family role at the college while still teaching some courses in that area.
Prior to his service as program coordinator for Pastoral Ministry, Forrest served eight years as Dean of Students and, prior to that time, as a successful Free Will Baptist pastor and church planter. For the past several years, Forrest has served as associate pastor to Dr. Raper, who, in addition to his duties at the college, serves as pastor of Bethel Free Will Baptist Church, a large, growing congregation in the greater Nashville area.
President Matt Pinson said, “I can’t say enough good about the ministry of Terry Forrest at this college. He has been a rock-solid leader and mentor to scores of young pastors going out from Welch College. He will be greatly missed on this campus, but we’re hoping he will still teach some courses for us on a part-time basis.”
Prior to coming to teach at Welch College in 2006, Dr. Raper served as associate pastor and then pastor of Red Bay Free Will Baptist Church in Red Bay, Alabama. He is a graduate of Welch College and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and recently received his Doctor of Ministry degree from Southern Seminary. He continues to serve as senior pastor of Bethel Free Will Baptist Church.
Dr. Ketteman said, “Dr. Barry Raper is a man of great integrity and deep, passionate commitment to living out God’s Word. He is uniquely gifted as a teacher who thoughtfully prepares then skillfully teaches each class and preaches each sermon for maximum impact. He is a powerful and challenging example for every pastor and youth minister both in the classroom, and in his broader Christian ministry.”
President Pinson added, “Dr. Raper is a godly man with a remarkable commitment to personal holiness who has a reputation among Welch students for modeling the spiritual disciplines. Yet he combines with these personal qualities a vibrant, gospel-centered pastoral ministry at Bethel. We are so excited to have him step into this role. He’s tailor-made for it.”
Under the leadership of Mr. Forrest and Dr. Raper, ministry education at Welch College has become more academically integrated, with all students in the Pastoral program and the newly formed Youth and Family Ministry program taking the same “Christian Ministry” core, consisting of pastoral ministry, preaching, pastoral counseling, biblical languages, and other courses. In addition, students study a concentration of either Pastoral Ministry or Youth and Family Ministry.
by jowens | Mar 6, 2014
Dallas Christian College 75
Welch College 71
March 6, 2014. The long layoff for the Lady Flames made them a little rusty and it showed in the first half as they dropped a heart-breaker to Dallas Christian College in the first round of the ACCA National Tournament, 75-71.
Though they got behind in the first half, Welch College was able to narrow the gap, trailing by only six at the intermission. But, the Crusaders continued to pressure the Flames and were able to build a double-digit lead midway through the second stanza.
But, the determined Flames would not go away and were able to whittle the lead down to just three points with three minutes left in the game. Both teams traded baskets down the stretch and the Crusaders were able to capitalize on a couple of Flame mistakes to seal the win.
“This is probably our toughest loss this season,” said Flames’ coach Larry Bryan. “It is hard to swallow. Once again our girls did everything needed to come back and win, but fell short by one or two plays.”
Leading the way for the Flames was Aston Johnson with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Jessie Melvin added 17 points and Amy Pickett chipped in 11. Leslie Nichols pulled down 11 rebounds for the Flames.
Today, the Flames have a consolation round game at 2:15pm.
You can stream the game live here: occ.edu/ACCAtournament, then click on OCC
by jowens | Feb 28, 2014
Dear Friend of Welch College,
Last week I emailed and posted on our website a prayer letter informing Welch College supporters of opposition from the Richland-West End Neighborhood Association to the zoning of our property as a college campus if sold to Aquinas College, who signed a letter of intent with us in October to purchase our West End campus. I write again to inform you that Aquinas has withdrawn its offer to purchase our campus and to request prayer for our ongoing relocation effort at Welch.
The leadership and board at Aquinas believe that the timing of the zoning process with the Metro Board of Zoning Appeals, which could take several months because of neighborhood opposition, makes it impossible for Aquinas to move forward with the purchase and still have facilities ready for the 2015-16 academic year. Aquinas has gone back to its original plan to build residential facilities on its current campus for its new residential student population.
You may remember that something similar occurred more than twelve years ago, when Watkins College of Art attempted to purchase our campus and backed out under pressure from the neighborhood. Our plans at this point are to continue with the Metro Board of Zoning Appeals hearing scheduled for next month and see this zoning question through, getting a final ruling on our ability to sell the campus to another educational institution. This will keep this issue from arising in the future should another school show interest in the property.
Meanwhile, we will aggressively market the campus to a few residential developers who can develop the three different types of properties we have: (1) condominium-zoned property on West End, (2) educational building lots which will be marketed as new home lots, and (3) older homes that will be sold for renovation. These developers will simultaneously close on the property and lease the campus back to us for 16-18 months while we construct the new campus in Gallatin.
Recently at a rally for Welch College hosted by a group of churches in our area, we sang the old hymn, “God Leads Us Along.” The basic message of that song is that God’s leadership in our lives, while sometimes difficult, is always active, and is carrying us toward the realization of His purpose.
Despite this setback, we remain confident of God’s strong leadership. While we may see this as being led through the fire, as the hymn says, we trust in God’s leadership. So often in Scripture we find the Lord delaying the plans of His people, only to give them something better than they had originally requested. That is how we view this event.
So, as we have before, we seek your prayers for God’s leadership and wisdom, and your continued gifts for the dream of relocation. Thank you for your heartfelt support for the work of the Kingdom through Welch College.
Sincerely,
Matt Pinson
President
by jowens | Feb 24, 2014
Johnson University 82
Welch College 57
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Crown College 74
Welch College 53
February 24, 2014. The Flames lost a pair of Mid-East Region games over the weekend to close out their regular season. Friday, they lost to Johnson University 82-57 and on Saturday, they lost to The Crown College, 74-53.
On Friday, rebounding was the problem for the Flames as the Royals out-rebounded the hosts, 41-21. Saturday, it was poor shooting that did Welch College in, shooting just 34% from the field.
But, the games were not without some Flame highlights. Friday night Carson Outlaw went on a scoring rampage, going six for nine from the floor in the second half to tally 31 points for the game. Lim Chol chipped in 17 points. It was also the season debut for senior Jake Manning who was just cleared to play earlier in the week.
Saturday’s game provided some additional incentive for the Flames, as all middle Tennessee alums were invited to come, watch WC’s final home game, and reminisce with fellow alums.
It was Chol’s day to shine as the 6’5” center shot 65% from the floor and 75% from the line to score a career-high 32 points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds. Tim Hutchinson pulled down 12 rebounds for the Flames to go along with his nine points.
“This has been a tough season with injuries and academic issues,” said Coach Nathan Willhite. “But, I am really proud of the way these guys continued to fight. They never gave up.”
Welch travels to Kentucky Christian University for the Mid-East Region tournament this Thursday through Saturday, February 27-March 1.
by jowens | Feb 21, 2014
Dear Friend of Welch College,
I am writing this letter to ask you to pray earnestly about the relocation of Welch College. As you know, in October Welch and Nashville-based Aquinas College signed a formal letter of intent for the sale of Welch’s West End campus. We remain in formal negotiations regarding the campus purchase and sale. We have now reached a pivotal moment in the relocation process, and we are calling on our constituents to stand with us in prayer during this most critical phase.
The main reason for the delay in signing a contract is a request Aquinas made to the Metro Board of Zoning Appeals regarding a definitive answer on whether or not the campus is zoned for future use as a higher education institution after we sell it. This request resulted in a letter from that Board indicating that they believe the Welch campus can be used as a college by a future owner.
However, the Board of Zoning Appeals stated that the college needed to file an amended parking plan because of some of the properties that had been sold since the last parking plan was accepted in 1977. We have done this, having appealed for as many parking places as we think we can accommodate.
Recently an article in Nashville’s daily newspaper, the Tennessean, stated that the college “wouldn’t be able to continue to operate” if the parking issue was not resolved. This unfortunate wording is misleading and inaccurate. In a conversation with a member of the Welch Administration, the Zoning Board Director stated that the college can continue to operate a campus at its current location even in the unlikely event that the Zoning Board Hearing is not successful. The outcome of the pending zoning appeal will in no way jeopardize the continued operation of the college on the West End campus. The Zoning Board Director is very optimistic about the likely acceptance of the parking plan.
Please pray for Welch College as we move forward with this process. Many of you remember the difficulties the college faced more than 12 years ago during contract negotiations with Watkins College of Art and Design. That institution decided not to pursue the purchase of the campus because of zoning issues raised by the neighborhood association. Similar issues have arisen in this case, and we are asking our friends to pray that Aquinas will not become discouraged during this phase of the process.
Please pray also for our Welch College Board and Administration. They have a long history of wise, careful decision-making. They are fully aware of all of the developments in the pending sale of the property and are exercising all due diligence in the entire relocation process.
The Tennessean article is evidence that Welch College continues to pursue relocation to our 66-acre site in Gallatin. The Relocation Task Force anticipated delays in finalizing the sale of the campus, so this is no surprise to college administration or Board members.
This brings me to my last prayer request: Please pray for patience! Sometimes we’re tempted to grow impatient because things are not moving according to our own timetable. Please pray that we will be patient, dependent on the Lord, and willing to wait on Him and His timetable in relocation.
There is a wonderful spirit on the campus of Welch College. With a nearly 24% increase in dorm enrollment over last year, there is an excitement that is palpable. Despite a downturn in giving in December and January, we are still appealing to God’s people for a wonderful Ketteman Student Scholarship offering on or after February 23 so that we can finish our fiscal year, ending May 31, in the black.
I deeply appreciate your continued support and prayers for Welch College as we pursue every avenue for the marketing and sale of the West End Avenue campus, and as we remain faithful to our 72-year mission to educate leaders to serve Christ, His Church, and His world through biblical thought and life.
In Christ,
Matt Pinson
President
