148 thoughts on “Clearwater Christian College to Close”

        1. Hmmm. It has no profanity, nudity, violence, sex or advertising in it, so I don’t know what your software is filtering out.

    1. I worked with Clearwater students at the Wilds of the Rockies 20 years ago, so plenty fundy, at least then. Of course, we BJU/Pensacola types looked down on them for being less than…

      1. Pretty far left, still on the spectrum. Hand-holding was allowed on campus, girls could wear pants, not part of the KJV cult.

      2. It’s precisely that attitude that was a big turn off for me, and it wasn’t just camps that did it. It just reminded me of the parable about the Pharisee and the publican praying in the temple. I now find that when I’m around people who have a line of thinking similar to that (whether it’s fundy related stuff or not) I have to walk away, or I may just get sucked back in.

      1. I thought BJU always allowed pants on women and were never KJVO? Just like they never had racist dating policies.

        🙂

        1. True. But BJU keeps a placard on the Amphitorium pulpit that states that only the KJV is allowed for preaching.

      3. Yes, but they are crazy strict; in some ways worse than PCC. Clearwater, on the other hand, is comparable to LU.

    2. It was one of those organizations that was a lot more fundy back in the day and recently had been trying to transition into something more “fundagelical” like Liberty U.

        1. Definition: Putting fun back into fundamental. Fundies with better haircuts.

        3. Dear Dr. KeepOn (PhD):

          How do you feel about ‘Christagelical Evanjihadist?’

          Christian Socialist

  7. Wow, that seems like a really sudden really late announcement. Closing in less than a month? Something feels unpleasant here. Of course, almost any part of fundamentalism feels unpleasant anymore…

    1. Struggling colleges, once on the ropes, may wait until they get their enrollment numbers before making a decision. One fundie college I know of in town would wait until August, every year. They’re doing a lot better now, though still not close in numbers to what they once were.

    2. By the time a school is so in the red it has no hope of staying open, it may not have any cash to keep the doors open for even a few months.

      1. I’m not sure how they don’t have enough money. They fined the students for missing chapel. Amongst other things including a per minute fine for missing curfew. From their student handbook:

        Call Slip Not Answered $ 10.00
        Chapel – 10 or more absences $400.00 per each
        Checkout – Incomplete for End of Year $200.00
        Convocation – Failure to Attend $ 50.00
        Curfew Violation:
        Campus $ .50 per minute
        Residence Hall $ .50 per minute
        Fine Arts Event – Failure to Attend $ 20.00 per event
        Littering $ 25.00
        Overnight – Improper Sign-Out $ 25.00
        Parking Violation $ 20.00
        Residence Hall Room Left Open $ 10.00
        Traffic Violation $ 25.00

        1. Weird way to fund a college– and ultimately an unsuccessful approach, it seems.

        2. Littering, parking violation and traffic violation fines are quite reasonable. I can see a fine for leaving a residence hall room open, as that could encourage theft.

          I don’t like dorm life (didn’t when I lived it), and would think that fines for curfews were obnoxious. On the other hand, fines are probably better than other options for dealing with such issues. Fines for administrative issues aren’t too pretty, either. But I can see the rationale for them.

          But if they are losing money, maybe the fine system is working too well and students are keeping their expenses down!

        3. Thankfully my brother just graduated from there last summer. He’s free!

          Was an interesting campus to wander around in. It felt very much like a Plantation, with the Master’s House surrounded by servant quarters…

        4. Only the best, brightest, and goodest students went to Clearwater. No chance of fining them. Kind of like the “Cup of Lard” Mo’s had on their menu. Nobody ever bought it.

        6. From CCC’s Web Site:

          Full-Time Resident Student

          Tuition – (based on 12-16 hours per semester) $18,050
          Room $5,100
          Board $3,280
          Yearly Total $26,430

  9. I looked at their web site, and put “clearwater christian college to close” in Google search, and there wasn’t anything. Someone is going to be really surprised!

    1. Was it the pants? It was the pants… It had to be the pants.

      Damn pants.

  11. Clearwater, Florida is one of the two “bases” for the Church of Scientology, so I wonder if the Scientologists will be taking over the CCC campus.

    Plug: I know I’ve mentioned it before, but if you haven’t read it yet, get “Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief” by Lawrence Wright and read it.

    2. I just picked that up last week. I also just finished Beyond Belief by Jenna Miscagive Hill who grew up in the Sea Org. A must-read.

  12. Nothing on their website.

    Clearwater is accredited by SACS, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. SACS is a very good accreditation group, one of the nation’s regional leaders.

    Accreditation by SACS means that they couldn’t be full-bore fundy. Their science classes would actually have to teach science. From a scan of their catalogue, it appears that is the case even though a couple classes talk about comparing creationism with evolution. To keep that accreditation — and to have their students actually make it in the various biological industries and veterinary schools out there they would have to actually teach evolutionary theory correctly (even while professing disbelief in it!).

    I am going to hope that the news of their demise is wrong. I don’t support fundamentalism, but Clearwater is not in the PCC-league of fundy, and not even in the BJU-league. Their rules for dormitory students are considerably more lax than mine were at BJU.

    There are quite a few policies I would see as a pain. But overall, their policies don’t seem harsh.

    I could be wrong, of course. Anyone have experience with them and want to talk about it?

    1. My son just finished his sophomore year there. He is currently staying on campus during his summer as he works security for the school. He was told this morning by the president himself that the school will be closing. His emotions are all over the place. The school is not nearly as liberal as all of you are making it out to be…also not nearly as fundamental or backwoodsy as BJU/Pensacola. We are shocked & very sad about the closing…my son was proud to be part of the school.

      4. It was a good place, with a mix of fundy types but a lot of good kids. Certainly not neo-evangelical and did have the fundy rules and atmosphere.

    2. I attended CCC for several semesters in mid-to-late 2000’s. Dick Stratton (from BJU) was President at the time.

      I also attended BJU for a few semesters prior to my time at Clearwater, so I can compare them well.

      Clearwater was essentially BJU-light. BJU grads taught comprised the majority of the faculty and of course the leadership was very BJU- friendly.

      In my experience, Clearwater was a glorified high school. It’s academic standards were, overall, rather poor.

      The president before Stratton was George Youstra, also closely aligned with Bob Jones (a graduate of the school and Principal of the BJU Academy among other roles).

      Stratton tried to overhaul the image of CCC by getting out from under the BJU shadow, but he failed gloriously and was gone within a few years. Klem was made president and tried even harder to separate from the fundy image, but his north-eastern Calvinist heritage played poorly in the South and, coupled with his poor leadership skills, he ran the college into the ground sooner than it would have otherwise. It was, however, going to die anyway.

      1. Your comments have no basis pertaining to the high school statement. I graduated from CCC in 1985. I also finished two masters degrees, a doctorate and post doctoral work. I have served in Christian education for over 20 years. CCC was a very good school, and their Bible department gave me a best foundation for ministry work.

      2. Good analysis. John Steele was a fine man with fundy leanings but not pure fundy in the BJU sense. He certainly loved the Lord and focused on the heart, as well as the “will.”

      1. How’s this for bureaucratic-speak:
        “Unfortunately the related due diligence process did not yield a resourced solution to the operational stress points of the college which could ensure completion of another academic school year.”

        Translation: We’re broke.

        1. Curricula. The revenue off their curricula will keep them afloat much longer than the Northlands and the Clearwaters and the Tennessee Temples.
          It’s the more moderate fundies that are getting squeezed first. The “liberal” or “half-hearted” fundies aren’t accepted by the radicals, and are losing people to SBC or mainline denominations…or to no one in particular.

        3. Yeah, the problem with these small schools (CCC, Northland, etc) that try to become more moderate is that they don’t have the resources to compete with schools that have been in the non-fundy Christian university realm for years.

          Hardcore fundy schools like PCC and BJU will have students from their core market for quite awhile yet, unfortunately.

    5. By the way, SACS is THE real accreditation organization for the southern region of the U.S. If other colleges say they’re accredited by some other outfit that they or their friends made up, but not by SACS, alarm bells should go off.

  13. Per Wikipedia, the school seems to have been founded on fairly fundamental lines.

    Nevertheless, the Hyles’ type people would never support it because it is listed as non-denominational and is not under the control of a church.

    Not sure how much they’ve changed over the years, but their degrees in teaching at least are accepted in the secular world.

    Wikipedia has the info about their closure (maybe from someone here?), and says it was due to “ongoing struggles with maintaining enrollment, rising costs, and challenging development efforts”.

    I was a little surprised that they didn’t update their web site before making the announcement.

    I suspect that the students have been told.

    1. “ongoing struggles with maintaining enrollment, rising costs, and challenging development efforts” = “we’re broke.”

  14. Darrell, how sure are you of this? What are the details on how the announcement was made?

  16. See my above comment as a mom of a child who attends there & is working there this summer…it unfortunately is true…

  17. I worked at CCC for five years. Been gone for a while…. Greener pastures.

    Yes, they are closing. No official announcement has been made, but current students and recent grads were notified by email this morning.

    They are a whole lot more liberal then they have been in the past and pride themselves on not being fundy. Several staff and faculty have actually left because of “liberal tendencies”… Fines and demerits have not been given for at least two years, I believe.

    Not surprising at all. It’s been a long time coming. They kind of deserve it based on the last fifteen years of incredibly irresponsible leadership.

    1. I studied at CCC for a year and a half beginning in January of 1988. From the Caribbean I dated one of the faculty’s son whom upon learning of our relationship told me I was no longer allowed to go to church with them or communicate with my beau. They went as far as making an appointment with the pastor of the Hillsdale Baptist in Tampa so that he could explain to me why it was Biblically wrong to date interracially.
      They were so funny. I was actually expelled after I dating another young man outside of my skin color.
      I am still saddened to see its doors close however, I will always be grateful for the exceptional voice training I received in my short stay there.

      1. I’m sort of astonished to see you say you’re sorry about the closing of an institution that treated you so deplorably.

      2. Yikes, glad you received good training but those are barbaric “Christian” (or fundy) views. Double yikes!

  18. Hey All–I was once a strong FUNdy as is written here. May I kindly say that I feel I am much more balanced and am consumed with God’s grace. Thus, may I graciously appeal to you that there are some great people and students at this institution and please carefully consider your comments to be ones that would reflect God’s grace and spirit. May we truly be salt and light to all involved. Thanks

    1. We mourn those who lose their jobs, as well as support the alumni who do have good educations and memories from the place.

      That said, it’s still a bastion of fundamentalism. And they all need to either reevaluate themselves or close. We try to differentiate between the two.

  19. When an institution compromises on the KJV and allows pants on women, their end is very near…

    *speaking to self* “Get back in your cage Fundy self!”

  20. As a CCC alumnus the news makes me sad. The school was in the middle of the spectrum: 2nd semester we would get scores of transfers from PCC. CCC students would transfer to Liberty.

    1. College is where you are prepared for the real world. Where you make decisions on your own not with a book of rules. What rule book do you go by after leaving an institution like CCC? I am actually Brethren but after I left CCC, I went to a Catholic University in South Florida. Best college years ever! And I still love the Lord and I’m still Brethren!

  22. After looking up their 2013 financials on Guidestar.org it appears they have about $9 million in debt. They have some assets so the loss will be big, not gigantic.

    Two of the directors are members of my former church in Atlanta. Both of them were BJU graduates.

  23. In the fundy high school where I used to teach, we had the traveling student groups from BJ, PCC, and CCC in the same year. The BJ and PCC singing groups were condescending and arrogant. The CCC kids seemed genuine, and they interacted extremely well with the high school students. They looked like they actually enjoyed being at our school; BJ and PCC looked as if they couldn’t wait to leave and immerse themselves in hand sanitizer.

    Sad because the closing impacts individual lives and families, but it’s a normal course of life. Everything dies eventually. Would definitely advise current and former students to get hard copies of transcripts TODAY.

    1. As a former member of CCC’s traveling music teams that visited schools like yours, let me be the first to say that we truly did LOVE it! I consider myself a “recovering fundy”, and the years I spent at CCC were the catalyst to my finally understanding what it meant to be a Christ follower. I would stand side-by-side in a strangers kitchen with our’s schools president, Dr. Richard Stratton as we washed and dried dishes, and chatted with our host families after singing in their church/school. It was never for “show” the Christ-like humility he demonstrated daily, along with the rest of the faculty and staff at CCC is FOREVER emblazoned in my mind. He was the first to patiently show me the difference between performing in the mire of legalism versus serving and ministering to others with genuine spirit-gifted love and affection.

      Sure, we had plenty of rules (though I hear the majority of the rules in place during my years there have long been forgotten), and I hated a lot of them. They rarely ever smacked of legalism. They were mostly “crowd-control”, lol.

      The prevailing gifts I graduated from CCC with were an accredited college degree, and a blessed understanding of Grace, daily modeled by humble faculty and staff whom we genuinely cherish to this day.

      1. Additionally, please do not judge my education based on a few of my gross grammatical errors, here. I’m a sloppy typer.

        1. Thank you Rachel for throwing a little balance into the bashing. Sometimes a few of the regular barflies here at Cheer….I mean SFL get a little carried away and throw out the baby with the bathwater. Clearly you got a decent education at CCC and grew into a true Christ follower there. We appreciate your input.

          the Admiral

    2. I think that this might be a very good description of CCC – genuine, real kids who love the Lord, are down to earth and a bit trapped in the fundy elements. At least that was my experience with them. Still, sorry to see the school close.

  24. I do find something very interesting about both Clearwater and Northland. Both have since closed and both had presidents from my era of BJU. Both Stratton and Olsen were BMOC at BJU in the 78′ to 82 range. Both went on to be presidents of colleges. Both colleges have now failed. I suppose you could add the woes of Chuck Phelps and Maranatha to the list as well. Maybe BJU didn’t train their graduates as well as they say they did. There certainly is some correlation between these failures.

    1. Olsen was a pastor, not a businessman. So if he was leading Northlan, that’s a poor choice by the board, and if he was a figurehead, then he shouldn’t get the blame.

      After graduating, Stratton then went on to UGA for grad work and then rose through the ranks at Delloite for several years before returning to teach at BJ where he became Accounting Chair, then Dean of the School of Business where he gave the teachers the choice of either getting Doctorates in their field or working at BJU Press.
      He also gave me a C when I had earned a D in Intermediate Accounting, so I may be biased.
      There is a BJU correlation but it is spurious. UGA and Deloitte would be on the hook for Stratton’s admin capabilities.

  26. A more likely explanation for the close of this school could be the immense expansion during the roaring 90’s. Given 3 economic busts since then it is no surprise that declining attendance and no outside revenue streams like ABeka or BJU Press would put it on untenable ground.

  27. Kristensdaddy, are you saying something is now wrong with Maranatha as well? Do we have to be further concerned with another college biting the dust as it were? My daughter has 3 years to go…….

    1. Maybe more board turmoil than financial difficulties. I just find the three contemporaries from BJU all making/allowing issues at their respective schools somewhat interesting.

  28. Any bets on who’s next?
    I count many of the small schools as already closed. If you have below 50 in enrollment you are closed.

    I’m guessing Hyles-Anderson…I know a long list crazies support that place but West Coast seems to be gathering there loyalty.

    1. Gotta be Hyles. They teach nothing of value, their cult leaders are dead or deposed, the FBC is dwindling. What’s left other than the fickle passions of the separation-happy extreme fringe?

    2. I heard that Anderson of Hyles-Anderson had removed his financial backing from the school shortly after Schaap had some sort of KJV moment. Not sure if he’s back to funding it again now that Schaap is gone though.

    3. After the fall of the House of Hyles, HAC doesn’t have any very clear reason for still existing. So there’s that.

      Liberty U and Bob Jones U seem to be on fairly secure footing (on their own terms, I mean– far be it from me to suggest that either of them is academically respectable). I don’t expect most of the other Fundy Us to last too many more years.

    4. Who’s next? My guess would be OK Baptist College — per Darrell’s report, they only graduated two this year, and have been scandal-ridden over the last several months.

  29. Another school to watch with a BJU alumnus as president: Bryan College, Dayton, TN.

    1. Aren’t they having difficulty also? I heard that a lot of the teachers were leaving.

      1. Some are leaving voluntarily, and some have been fired. I am an alumnus, and I would say that Bryan has actually become more fundamentalist within the last 5 years.

    2. An alumni friend said it’s on the department of ed’s financial watchlist.

    1. Cost to Attend (2015-2016) – Clearwater Christian College
      https://www.clearwater.edu/…/cost_to_attend…
      Clearwater Christian College
      Tuition – (based on 12-16 hours per semester), $18,050.
      Room, $5,100.
      Board, $3,280.
      Yearly Total, $26,430.

  31. We may be witnessing the beginning of the end of an era.

    Fundamentalism grew powerful under Post-WWII economic expansions. Coming out of the Depression, land and resources and labor was cheap. They could build. And build. And build.

    Have a disagreement with another MoG? No problem! Go start your own church and school! Build your own empire!

    But economic realities of the modern day are settling in. Since Fundamentalism has often supported business interests over workers’ welfare, the economy created by exporting jobs overseas has produced a much poorer donor class. People just *can’t* give like they used to! Inflation continues while wages are stuck at rates of years gone by.

    Had the minimum wage kept up with inflation and productivity, it would be at about $22.00 by now. Think about what that does to the average worker. Purchasing power is down. Debt is up. Debt decreases purchasing power for the future. It is a vicious cycle.

    A lot of families can’t afford to send their children to Christian schools. Conservative politics are making college less accessible to the poor anyway, whether state schools or community colleges! Pell grants have dropped dramatically under Republican penury.

    Building costs have skyrocketed. Even keeping older plants repaired is economically prohibitive. A lot of community colleges are moving into old, abandoned retail space because they cannot design and build their own dedicated plants.

    So the era of the Dormitory-housing Christian College may be coming to a close. A few of the bigger colleges may survive for a while, but as the middle class continues to collapse I don’t think they will survive very long. Their demise will come far more quickly than they expect.

    Some people have been predicting the demise of the brick and mortar colleges. I hadn’t given their arguments much credence before, but I am at the place where I can see it happening.

    Pillsbury Baptist Bible College, Owatonna, Minnesota, 1957–2008.
    Piedmont Baptist College merged with Piedmont International University.
    Cascade College in Portland, Ore closed in 2009
    Vennard College, a Christian school in Iowa closed in 2009
    Dana College (Lutheran), closed in 2010
    Bethany University (Assemblies of God), closed in 2011.
    Northland Baptist College, restyled as Northland International University, closed in 2015.
    Tennessee Temple University, closed in 2015, merged with Piedmont International University.
    Clearwater Christian College. 2015

    It is like watching the collapse of a building. It starts out slowly. Only one pillar moves, gives way and collapses. But momentum increases. I think we may be seeing that with Christian Colleges, regardless of denomination.

    2. but but but but that’s not my pastors and conservative thought leaders told me!!!

    3. I love what you said about the minimum wage problem. When you compare apples to apples, the buying power of min wage today is sorely lacking compared to years ago. And the old conservative arguments against raising it fall flat.

    4. Higher education in general is an “industry” in deep trouble. The market is going to collapse, much like the housing market did. We’re going to see a huge number of smaller schools – Christian or not – closing in the next decade.

    5. NAFTA was voted on by both Democrats and Republicans, so it’s ludicrous to blame America’s changing to becoming a service economy instead of a manufacturing economy solely on Republicans.

      Let’s just vote that the Federal minimum wage has to be $38 an hour, that will fix everything! Raising the minimum wage usually does nothing but hurt the working class and is nothing but a political tool to garner votes from the uneducated.

      All inflation is is printing too much money in order to get get something for nothing . Again, it’s ludicrous to blame this on the right, since central bankers are loyal to neither Democrats nor Republicans in particular and are only loyal to international Socialism.

      1. No offense, but you might want to read something on the minimum wage and its history by someone with at least a minimal grasp of economics.

      2. Chandler, we will simply have to disagree on some things.

        Oh, I can agree that Democrats have played the villain, too. Clinton brought us NAFTA, which has been an unqualified disaster, and Obama is lying about the benefits of the TPP. No wonder he is so annoyed at Elizabeth Warren for exposing those things!

        But the biggest supporters of these policies have been Republicans. Democratic leaders have supported them often in hopes of getting some concessions from Republicans, and it has never worked. But they never learn, either.

        As for the minimum wage, you can make ridiculous arguments all you like, but the straw man doesn’t deal with reality. The poor are being robbed. They are being hurt. Read the book of James. Read the words of Jesus. Do you really think they approve of the way the poor are being treated? Do you think they would side with the rich?

        You haven’t poked any holes in my analysis at all. Businesses began to invest heavily in fundamentalist religion after the Great Depression to help quench dissent and to prop their image up. Fundamentalism has gone right along with it, treating businesses and the rich as if they were God’s favorites.

  32. When I went to PCC in the early 90’s, I would often look with envy upon the Clearwater students when they visited campus. They could come in mixed groups, wearing jeans and t shirts. AND they could hold hands!!!!! I often wish I had gone there. Now that I live in a state where my teaching degree is worthless because PCC was not regionally accredited, I REALLY wish I had gone there. Honestly, I think the reason they and other schools are closing is complex. Christian organizations suffer when they ride the middle. They are not progressive enough for some, but in moving away from legalism, they are too progressive for many in the IFB camp. When you add to the additional financial requirements that accreditation puts on you (requiring professors with certain qualifications and certain programs, etc), it does add up. They are just not big enough to maintain that financial burden, and they don’t have the textbooks to carry them over while they wait for the IFB to catch up with their new standard.

  33. They should have tried selling techniques for ridding the body of Satan Thetans.

    1. As I mentioned above, that seems to be working for their Clearwater neighbors.

  34. I have great memories of that place. I went there beginning in fall of 1984 and graduated in June of 1987. It was small which I liked. My wife and I met in high school, but we both ended up at CCC and our relationship grew into 28 years of marriage and counting.
    The gym was connected to the men’s dorm, which was awesome. I played more basketball in those three years than I had before and since I graduated.
    It was the perfect place for me and my wife. It was a happy medium between BJU/PCC and public colleges.
    I have awesome friends to this day that I met and got to know there.
    This is a sad day.

  35. What is this? Why would any professing Christian rejoice in the closing of a Biblically-based Christian college? Why would any person wanting Christians to be educated be happy about a place like Clearwater Christian closing? People like me who graduated from this school and would never label themselves as a fundamentalist are sickened by this blog. You’re Googling information about the school and you’re literally clueless as to what the school actually is.

    And what is this site? Is this just a knock-off TMZ for people claiming to be Christians who really just hate people who are different than them? Why would you devote a blog to the subject of degrading Christians who are more conservative than you are (and perhaps are simply confused)? That’s borderline psychosis.

    How could you possibly claim to be a Christian and write for or participate in a blog like this? You’re no better than fundamentalists when you people write some of the things you’ve written. Predicting the next colleges to close, so they can go to state schools? That makes me want to puke. It’s completely tone deaf to the issues of education in this country.

    2. You make me want to puke, too. Wanna have a puking contest?

      “Biblically based” is in the minds of the adherents, I suppose. You say “Biblical” while you bash everyone else. But you think you are exempt from criticism?

      What are you, some Christian version of an Islamic mullah?

      Look, kiddo. I haven’t rejoiced in its demise. But the fact is that it, like lots of other so-called Christian Colleges are dying. Maybe, to apply their own preaching and standards to themselves, God has stopped blessing? The Glory has departed?

      The Scriptures tell us that we Christians should judge ourselves, should identify sin and root it out. Yet you think you are exempt? Who made you God?

      Get over yourself. I am sorry Clearwater had to close. I’d have rather seen some far worse shut their doors. But Closed it is. Others are closing. Time to do some evaluation.

      Now, if you want to talk, we can talk. Be civilized.

      1. Fella, you’ll have a hard time convincing most competent readers that this post’s comments isn’t full of degradation of a closing Christian college. We can run around in circles all day about my use of the words “Biblically-based”, but the bottom line is that there are people verbally urinating on the ashes of a college that, despite being too conservative for our culture’s standards, is a far cry from the “comparable” schools mentioned in this thread. That most of the readers of this blog would mention the schools in the same vein shows the lack of understanding.

        You’re completely right; many schools should self-evaluate. Many schools more conservative than Clearwater will continue to close. The natural economic consequences of creating a product that people don’t want is evident in the decline of fundamentalist education circles. But where is the grace, mercy, and the respect for fellow Christians who are currently searching for a new school or new employment ? How could you possibly find any satisfaction in that? My point again is your response to the demise of fundamentalist schools makes you no better than fundamentalists. Challenge that point, please.

        And keep the “kiddo” comments to yourself. Age is no guarantee of wisdom. Far from it.

        1. I have a bone to pick with Christians who talk about grace, mercy and respect for fellow Christians. Have all of that for all fellow human beings and I will respect you. Religious education is a dangerous practice, IMO. It is a way to grow Fundy in your approach, even if the teaching is not especially Fundy. It encourages narrow minded, reactionary people who are full of love and compassion but only to their own kind. I am against all segregation be it based on religion, gender or colour. We need to train people to see the world from many different perspectives, not bolster their own opinions.

        2. Uh, maybe you haven’t read the many comments from Clearwater graduates here in which they have nothing but kind things to say about the college and are truly saddened.

    3. … And I have a Bingo.

      If you had actually read all the comments here, you would see that many of the commenters did go to Clearwater CC or have children or siblings who do or did attend there.

      You might also notice that what people are saying about CCC is downright complimetary compared to what they say about “colleges” like Hyles-Anderson or West Coast.

      So take a chill pill.

  36. This thread is kind of disappointing.

    I have some good friends who go to this college and would be graduating seniors. They enjoyed it there. Just because their belief system isn’t a carbon copy of yours doesn’t mean there can’t be good done there. It’s disappointing to me to see so much division within the body of Christ over “fundie” colleges like PCC/BJU/CCC. I know some really grounded people who go to these places and they’re trying to further God’s Kingdom as much as they can as I’m sure some of you are as well. I am by no means a fundamental baptist Christian but I can still respect individuals and institutions no matter what they believe. Especially when they affirm the pillars of Christianity like I’m sure many of you do. The doctrines and opinions are just that… Opinions. So let’s speak the truth in love instead of bashing. Just like Christ taught by example.

    1. Oh, you mean when he called the Pharisees “whitewashed tombs?” Or when He blasted them for teaching their man-made doctrines as if they were the commandments of God? Or when He exposed their lies, jealousies, and hatreds?

      What Bible do you use, anyway? Do you read it?

      Or do you use it to bash Christians more liberal than yourself, as Fundies ALWAYS do claiming God’s Word as their basis of Authority, while simultaneously deflecting all criticism because that isn’t being kind and loving?

      Bah! The hypocrisy makes me sick.

      1. Who is bashing Christians more liberal than themselves? Why does everything go back to a fundy/liberal dichotomy? It’s like you’re perpetuating your own problem.

  38. “Why would you devote a blog to the subject of degrading Christians who are more conservative than you are (and perhaps are simply confused)? That’s borderline psychosis. ”

    Mr. Copenhaver, do you have at least a masters degree in psychology, and are licensed as a psychologist in your state?

    Another poster laments that his teaching degree from a “Christian” college is worthless because his school was not accredited.

    By the way, Jesus was accused of being “crazy.” even by his family. That’s going to be the topic of my sermon tomorrow.

  39. Is this the one in Tampa area? Any relation of their closing to the delay in my butt cushion being delivered?

    1. I hear butt cushion production has been interrupted by cash flow problems.

      You can still get an A-Beka Butt Cushion, but it’s awfully thin.

    2. I would bet they are next. A few years back Trieber lost his house and actually moved into a dorm. It’s widely know that place is quite deep in debt.

  42. The official announcement of the college’s closing has this sentence: “Unfortunately the related due diligence process did not yield a resourced solution to the operational stress points of the college which could ensure completion of another academic school year.”

    I teach writing. I am bothered by the fact that I understand that sentence.

    1. It was an attempt to sound intelligent while conveying as little information as possible.

      “Operational stress points” — which are _____? Where was the stress coming from? Why couldn’t they find the money to cover them?

      That explanation irritated me in the same way that people who use the word “paradigm” irritate me.

    2. It’s what you get when a bureaucrat whose brain is seizing up from stress attempts to say “We’ve run out of dough.”

  43. Within the Catholic Church, one can tell the health of the parish by the health of the parochial school. When the school closes, we have an indication of the failing health of the parish. Often, the parish then closes its doors. I wonder if all of the school closings are an indication of the same trend on a much larger scale?

  44. RH, yes it is an indication of the dwindling of a movement.
    1. The bible colleges are the mills where young men get indoctrinated to manage and expand the movement.
    2. The churches are where the young men are recruited.
    3. The churches are dying, so the students are no longer there to keep all these schools going.

    No one in there right mind wants there college experience to be fundy. They have to be desperate or indoctrinated by a local group of crazies so they are flat out of luck. This is why you see more and more fundies getting along now. Before they fought each other for share of the market place. Now the market place is smaller so they act like friends a little more.

  45. I would say in addition many of the young guys who graduated from IFB schools are leaving the movement or being kicked out. This is causing a big gap in church leadership. Now some of the churches are comprising with young guys who have “rock bands in church” and don’t wear ties on Sunday. Why? If they don’t they will loose even more churches and influence and the schools will close.
    By the way PCC is up in attendance compared to the last five year dive they took. However, BJU is down pretty badly from the 90’s early 2000’s.

  46. BJU should be taking a hit with all the extracurricular problems their, ahem, stellar P.R. group is managing. I’m still upset with BJU in particular…waiting to see if their stance on interracial dating comes back to haunt not only them but all of us who take a moral position against homosexual marriage.

    (How BJU could lose us all our 501C3 status:)
    http://www.albertmohler.com/2015/04/29/it-is-going-to-be-an-issue-supreme-court-argument-on-same-sex-marriage-puts-religious-liberty-in-the-crosshairs/

    With that said, I agree with a couple of commenters above who said they expect an initial bump in attendance for BJU and PCC specifically, as the fundys circle the wagons around the curriculum generators…and as options continue to fade elsewhere (Here’s looking at you, Golden Gate).

    After that initial bump, though, expect the trend to eventually do in the 2 biggies as well. They will outlast the others for a while because of the curricula revenue…but PCC better enjoy that pool while they can.

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