|
Search the ECC Alumni Database |
 |
Eastern Christian College Partners with Roanoke Bible College
Eastern Christian Institute was founded in 1946 in East Orange, New Jersey, as a ministry dedicated to serving the Christian Church in the East. Its primary objective was to recruit and train men and women to labor for Christ in one of the most strategic and neglected missions fields in the world. When the institute moved to Bel Air, Maryland, in 1959, the name was changed to Eastern Christian College, but the commitment to the East remained the same. With the completion of the 2004-05 school year, ECC will have served our churches well for many years. Many of our alumni now serve the kingdom in a wide range of ministries throughout the East as well as in other areas of our country and the world. Missionary trips have ventured around the globe to share the Gospel of Christ. Anyone attending the Eastern Christian Convention becomes quickly aware of the presence of our faculty, students and alumni and the impact they have in the East.
The move from New Jersey to Maryland and transition from Eastern Christian Institute to Eastern Christian College resulted in an expansion of ministry and outreach. Hundreds of students have been prepared and are serving effectively in ministries, and we are proud of them. However, the ever increasing cost absorbed in campus utilities, salaries, repairs, etc., simply cannot be justified by the number of students enrolled on our campus.
As a result, Eastern Christian College is refocusing its ministry for Christ in the East. The Trustees have announced that, with commencement, 2005, classes will no longer be held on the campus of ECC. Recruitment and training of Christian workers to serve the East is being transferred to Roanoke Bible College. We believe this transition will be a much wiser investment of the funds committed to our care. It is our heartfelt prayer that this move will also result in greater benefit to our students, to the East and to our churches.
Eastword, Spring, 2005
The trustees’ and administration’s decision to close the college was quite difficult, and although it still proves to have been a wise decision of stewardship, it has been very sad for many of us who have enjoyed the work and success of this campus.
. . . Eastern Christian College’s trustees and administration have been engaged with Roanoke Bible College’s trustees and administration . . . in the creation of a fund and vision for the continued work of preparing Church leaders for the Northeast. ECC chose RBC for this partnership for two reasons. RBC is geographically the closest Christian Church college to our present location. It is, like LCC-EC, an accredited school committed to the development of church leadership in the tradition of the Restoration Movement. The second reason is the providential timing of RBC’s visionary campaign to expand their program and their facilities to be more effective in reaching their goals of developing Christian leaders. They are poised for advancement and growth. . . . Here are the current plans:
- In 2006 all ECC endowed scholarships will be transferred to RBC. They will carry their original names and serve the purposes and region for which they were given.
- A permanent fund will be established to provide resources for recruitment and leadership development in the Mid-Atlantic region.
- ECC has committed $500,000 to RBC toward the building of a new classroom building.
Letter from Robin Underhill, Dean of LCC-EC and President of ECC, Inc
In addition to the above mentioned transitions, Dr. Kevin Larsen joined the RBC faculty and has recently been named Vice President for Academic Affairs; approximately a dozen students from LCC-EC transferred to RBC; the ECC library was transferred to RBC, as well as furniture from the library and other areas of the Eastern campus. Mark Beard serves as an admissions counselor assigned to the Mid-Atlantic area, stationed in Pennsylvania.
Scholarship Funds transferred to RBC – still with same names and purposes:
Harley T. Wood Scholarship
J. T. and Addie Maye Segroves Scholarship
Jack A. Borland Scholarship
Lloyd E. Robbins Memorial Scholarship
Mt. Holley Scholarship
R. Ainsworth Chapman Biblical Studies Scholarship
Timothy Lease Scholarship (combined with RBC Timothy Lease Scholarship)
Vernon Hall Scholarship