Campus Life

A Christian Community of Faith and Learning

Campus Life is filled with exciting events, challenging academics, and opportunities for spiritual growth. At Welch College, you will cultivate meaningful, lifelong friendships.

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Campus Life | Community

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On Campus Activities

Block Party
Block Party is a college family picnic which takes place the Friday of the second full week of each fall semester. The picnic is followed by a campus club parade, games, and entertainment.

Rush Night
Rush Night happens the Friday of the third full week of each fall semester. Four men’s clubs (Apha Chi Omega Society, John Bunyan Society, Pi Gamma Chi Society, and the William Jennings Bryan Society), four women’s clubs (Christina Rossetti Society, Elizabeth Barrett Browning Society, Louisa Mae Alcott Society, and the Charlotte Bronte Society), and the Commuter Council have competed since the beginning of the semester for members. The night is filled with video comedies created by the clubs who are making one last attempt to convince new students to join their organization. The event ends in the gym when new students are placed at mid-court and given two minutes to “rush” to their chosen club. Every student is expected to join one of the clubs to which they will be a member while they attend Welch College. These clubs help give each person a sense of social place, purpose and connectedness to our campus.

Welch Film Festival
Welch Film Festival is an annual event that was started in 2008 as a means of encouraging the development and appreciation of videography as an art form and ministry tool. The festival is open to entries from church youth groups, alumni, and members of the Welch College family. Awards are given for Best Picture, Best Performance, Best in Technical Merit, and other categories at the judges’ discretion. Click on the festival name above for more details.

Junior/Senior Banquet
Each year the junior class organizes a formal banquet and entertainment to honor the Senior class. There is a charge to attend.

Community Service Opportunities

Blood Drives
Two or three times each year our faculty, staff, and student body participate in on-campus blood drives. The Red Cross sends a mobile team on-site for these events. Welch College has the reputation in Nashville as one of the top per capita giving college campuses.

Super Bowl of Caring
Each year, prior to the Super Bowl, our campus clubs compete to see who can collect the most cans of food. In cooperation with the Super Bowl of Caring organization, they are then donated to Second Harvest to be distributed to needy families in our community.

Project Pumpkin
Project Pumpkin takes place October 31 each year, unless the day is a Sunday. As an outreach to the community, the student body hosts a mini-carnival as a festival alternative for any children who may want to attend. Campus clubs operate the booths. Hundreds of local church youth and neighborhood children and adults typically attend.

Spiritual Formation

Days of Prayer
One unique characteristic of Welch College is an administration, faculty, staff, and student body that sets aside other activities one day each semester to pray. While we turn our hearts toward God more than once a semester, we do enjoy the Day of Prayer as a time to concentrate on the Lord’s blessings and ask for His intervention in our lives.

See You at the Pole
See You at the Pole (SYATP) is an annual gathering of Christian students of all ages at a flagpole in front of their local school for prayer, scripture-reading, and hymn-singing during the early morning before school starts. This event occurs every fourth Wednesday of September.

Student Revivals
Typically, the Student Council will plan events such as student-led revival services, periods of prayer and fasting, or concerts of prayer to urge each other toward greater commitment to God’s leading and obedience to His Word.

Leadership Development

Leadership Training
Resident assistants, Student Council members, student mentors, and SpirituaLife leaders come a week early to fall semester for a time of intensive training. They also have a chance for hands-on application of these servant-leader skills as they assist new students during Freshman Orientation, the week before college starts. Brush-up training sessions then continue throughout the year.

Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature (TISL)
Welch College supports the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature (TISL) by sending delegates from the Student Council to their annual deliberative sessions on the legislative floor of the state capital. Our representative won the “Best Senator” award in the fall of 2011.

Campus Life | Christian Service

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Personal Devotions

Every Christian needs a consistent, personal devotional life. For any who have not already done so, college days are ideal for establishing this habit by setting aside a regular, daily time to read the Bible and pray. Welch College deliberately urges and instructs students about the importance of an intentional, meaningful, personal relationship to God the Father through prayer and the study of His Word.

Chapel

Life at Welch College includes daily chapel and special meetings Monday-Friday, at 10:05 in the morning. The two primary purposes of chapel are worship and strong preaching from the Bible, with emphasis on participation. In addition to the participation of various members of the Welch College family, these services also feature pastors, and well-known Bible expositors, apologists, and leaders in the Christian community. Students are required to attend these services.

SpirituaLife Groups

Dorm students are assigned to SirituaLife Groups, which meet Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Just as two words, joined into one, name these groups, the purpose of these groups is to minister to the spiritual needs of the whole person in a small group setting through prayer, devotions, testimonies, singing, praise, accountability, confronting, comforting, grieving, and support.

Mission Conference

In alternating years Welch College hosts its fall Missions Conference. In these conferences Christ’s Great Commission is reposited and explored, current trends and strategies for evangelism and church planting are explained, multicultural perspectives are explored, and the imperative of every attendee to examine their place in God’s global plan is expounded. Presenters in these meetings include Missions and Bible faculty, missionaries, and notable missiologists.

FORUM Bible Conference

Every spring Welch College presents focused and impactful plenary assemblies, breakout sessions, hands-on workshops, and worship services that highlight relevant and vital topics enabling and empowering students and church leaders to minister more effectively in this postmodern and culturally diverse nation.

Sundays at Local Churches

Students attend local Sunday School and church services each Sunday as a Christian Service requirement. They are encouraged to plug into those churches as teachers, musicians, and caregivers.

Campus Church

Our campus pastor partners with a team of student delegates to plan and lead services on campus for dorm students. Meeting every Wednesday night in the Memorial Auditorium, these services emphasize student involvement. Through singing, testimonies, scripture reading, prayer, and preaching the goal is to build a stronger sense of Christian community.

Global Missions Fellowship

The Global Missions Fellowship is a student organization at Welch College that is committed to helping students find their role in global evangelization. It is composed of members who are seeking to serve God either in a cross-cultural capacity or by praying and sending others to cross-cultural fields. GMF sponsors Prayer Band daily to develop a praying interest and knowledge of worldwide missions.

Student-Led Chapels

Once a month the Student Body Executive Committee is asked by the President’s Office to host a Friday Chapel service. The service is led by the Student Body’s worship leader and chaplain. Focusing on the Student Body theme for that year, these leaders use peer-to-peer challenges to compel each other to walk in complete obedience to Christ and intentionally pursue higher levels of commitment to the cause and call of Christ by taking His good news to neighbors next door and to the ends of the earth.

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Campus Life | Arts and Culture

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Local Culture

Welch College is located in Gallatin, Tennessee, a short drive north of Nashville, the home of at least 38 colleges, universities, and technical schools. This concentration of educational institutions gives the city the well-earned title, “Athens of the South.” The city is also undergoing an unprecedented renaissance in several areas. The fine arts culture of Nashville will enable students to expand their knowledge in ways that complement the education they receive.

The Tennessee Performing Arts Center the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, and The Frist Center for the Visual Arts bring to the city a wide variety of refined music, drama, and art exhibitions. The music and recording industry are, of course, renowned worldwide. 

Sarah Lacey Nicholas Artist Series

Sarah Lacey Nicholas taught piano and organ at Welch College from 1967 to 1986 before retiring. The purpose of this series is to continue her legacy in our community by promoting a broad appreciation of classical music and art in the western tradition among our student body. Each year the series sponsors “A Welch College Christmas,” a spring musical, visiting artists, and Faculty Chapel Recitals.

Choral Union

The Choral Union is a massed choir required of all music majors, minors, combination majors, all members of all ensembles of the college, and is open to any student, faculty member, or member of the community-at-large. They practice Monday evenings and perform twice yearly: “A Welch College Christmas” in December and the Spring Musical in April.

A Welch College Christmas
Every year, as part of the Sarah Lacey Nicholas Concert Series, the Welch Music Department, the college family, and the community unite in “A Welch College Christmas” to warm hearts and celebrate the beginning of the Christmas season. Accompanied by an orchestra, piano, and often by organ, a major classical work or sacred piece will be performed. Admission is free and all are invited.

Spring Musical
Every spring as part of the Sarah Lacey Nicholas Concert Series, the Welch Music Department and the Evangels Drama Team join forces to perform a classic broadway musical, accompanied by piano and orchestra. Admission is free and all are invited.

Theater Department

At Welch College, theater is more than just entertainment. We believe in telling powerful stories that highlight the human experience informed by a Christian worldview. These stories teach important lessons designed to share beauty with our community. Theater students at Welch College learn what it means to use their talents in a way that honors God through commitment, excellence, and integrity. Click to learn more.

Spring Musical
Every spring as part of the Sarah Lacey Nicholas Concert Series, the Welch Music Department and the Evangels Drama Team join forces to perform a classic broadway musical, accompanied by piano and orchestra. Admission is free and all are invited.

Fall Play
Every fall the drama department at Welch College presents a play for the college and outside communities. In the last several years, the theater department has performed Sense and Sensibility, Our Town, and Emma. During intermission, patrons are treated to dessert and coffee, making the evening a perfect mix of laughter and sweets! Auditions are held at the beginning of fall semester.

Recitals

Repertoire Recitals
Repertoire recitals occur the second Monday of each month in the auditorium during the Chapel hour, beginning in October of the fall semester, and February of the spring semester. Students taking private lessons are given the opportunity to refine their talents and gain experience performing in front of an audience.

Junior and Senior Capstone Recitals
Every year the college is pleased to present junior and senior music majors, minors, and combination majors performing recitals of well known classical works. Times and places of these are announced is the Campus News.

Faculty Chapel Recitals
Each year the Sarah Lacey Nicholas Artist Series sponsors a Faculty Chapel Recital featuring faculty and adjunct instructors.

Ministry Teams

Evangels Drama Team
Each spring the Evangel Players embark on a tour to Free Will Baptist churches spreading the Gospel through drama ministries. The touring program is a 30-minute religious drama which can be adapted to fit any venue. This touring drama team is comprised of 4-8 Welch College students who are not only passionate and gifted artists, but also dedicated to ministering to God’s people. Tryouts are held at the beginning of spring semester.

College Choir
The College Choir is a performance group that focuses on developing an understanding of ministry through choral music, hymns, and spiritual songs. Established in 1945, this group built a great choral tradition for the college by performing a variety of choral repertoire including Classical literature, traditional hymnody, gospel songs, and many other traditions based on the popular idioms of the day. The College Choir serves as the foundation for continued growth and building of the choral program at Welch College. This group takes an annual spring tour, serves as the official representative of the college at special denominational events, and more. Auditions for this group occur at the beginning of each fall and spring semester.

Rejoice Ministry Team
This campus ministry group also serves as a traveling ensembles and works in conjunction with the Office of Institutional Advancement. This ensemble is formed from members of the College Choir and serve a vital role by presenting a variety of music, as well as serving as an evangelistic team for Christ. These groups travel up to 7-weeks  each semester and a significant time during the summer.

Chapel Choir
The Chapel Choir sings periodically during Chapel services, also serving as a lab choir for student conductors. This is a non-auditioned, non-traveling group.

Other Opportunities

Instrumental Ensembles
This is an ensemble comprised of instruments for band and orchestra that performs sacred music periodically during Chapel. The ensemble also joins professional instrumentalists to accompany the Choral Union in their “A Welch College Christmas” and Spring Musical concerts. This a non-auditioned, non-traveling group.

Campus Life | Residence Life

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SpirituaLife Groups

Dorm students are assigned to SpirituaLife Groups, which meet Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Just as two words, joined into one, name these groups, the purpose of these groups is to minister to the spiritual needs of the whole person in a small group setting through prayer, devotions, testimonies, singing, praise, accountability, confronting, comforting, grieving, and support.

Peer Mentoring

The peer-mentoring program assigns a spiritually mature upperclassman to each freshman. The mentor makes contact with the new student the day that person moves on campus. Together, they meet each week during the first semester to give guided emotional support and instruction ranging from college academics, study hints, student resources, student wellness, time management, conflict resolution, and appropriate referrals.

On-Campus Dining

Welch College contracts its meals in the cafeteria to Pioneer College Caterers. Consult the college catalog for meal plan information for dorm and commuter students. Click on their name above to visit their website.

Contact Pioneer

Food Service Director
Email: diningservices@welch.edu

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Faculty/Staff

The Office of Student Services

Jon Forlines - Welch College is a Christian Bible College in Gallatin, Tennessee

Dr. Jon Forlines

Vice President for Student Services | Dean of Students | Associate Professor of Psychology

jforlines@welch.edu
615-675-5299
Susan Forlines - Welch College is a Christian Bible College in Gallatin, Tennessee

Mrs. Susan Forlines

Dean of Women

susan@welch.edu
615-675-5259
Whitney Lute - Welch College is a Christian Bible College in Gallatin, Tennessee

Mrs. Whitney Lute

Women’s Resident Director

wlute@welch.edu
615-675-5279
Mr. Brandon Presley

Mr. Brandon Presley

Men's Resident Director

brandon.presley@welch.edu
865-816-4177

Campus Life Support Team

Chris Talbot, Welch College, Gallatin, TN, Youth and Family Ministry

Mr. Chris Talbot

Instructor of Ministry | Program Coordinator, Youth and Family Ministry | Campus Pastor

ctalbot@welch.edu
615-675-5289
Dr. Sarah Bracey

Dr. Sarah Bracey

Assistant Professor of Psychology | Program Coordinator, Psychology

sbracey@welch.edu
615-675-5296
Tina Tolbert - Welch College is a Christian Bible College in Gallatin, Tennessee

Ms. Tina Tolbert

Assistant Professor of Speech | Freshman Coordinator

ttolbert@welch.edu
615-675-5347