Memories of Cincinnati Christian University

Cincinnati Christian University has had a huge impact on my life.  I was a poor kid from the trailer park with Bible Bowl scholarships and a Pell Grant, I was able to obtain a higher education that gave me knowledge beyond the books. The friends that I made in college became my family. My professors were my first mentors for ministry and life. As I look back on my time in college, I do remember the knowledge that I attained from the classes, but my school was more than that. It is why I want my current students to attend college, but I know now that my time at CCU was special because of the Christian friends and professors that impacted my life. 

It was at my college that my love for college basketball began, as the experience in the stands was one to only experience with the “Bleacher Creatures” cheering our team on to three back to back to back championships within my four years there. “Sneak Day” is a day designed to give students a break from classes one day in the fall. It was full of fun, food, and craziness at a park. Late night talks with friends in the dorms, gathering of friends in the cafeteria (or the weekly run to Skyline when the café did not satisfy), the various activities we discovered on the weekends, ensembles, camp teams, Family worship on Wednesday nights, chapel services, the Science class field trip to caves that involved camping (which I hate camping, but loved that trip.), and all the other events will always hold a special place in my memories and heart, even if the buildings are gone.

This last week, Cincinnati Christian University announced it will close its doors at the end of the semester. Many are mourning, not because the buildings will be gone, but because the experiences we had will no longer be passed down to future generations of students who go to school. It as a reminder for all of us that we needed to be a light for the city on top of a hill. It reminds us that we need to teach future generations that we encounter in our lives.

The school will close, but there are somethings that no one can close. Nothing can close my friendships. Nothing can close my memories. Nothing can close my knowledge and wisdom that the professors dispensed upon my life. Nothing can close the fact that one of the most conservative colleges supported me as a youth pastor and helped me get every internship that I had. They can close and tear down a building, but they cannot close and tear down the church. The church, which is the body of Christ, is not a building. It’s living and breathing.

My hope and prayers are that Central College of the Bible can purchase the property, but if they cannot, the light from Cincinnati Christian University will burn bright in the hearts of its alumni who will continue to teach the values of the school to future generations in all of our places of ministry all around the world. We don’t need a building in one place to do that. We need our hearts aligned with Jesus.

Many years have passed since I was a student at that school. I have spent time in youth ministry and in the classroom as a teacher of both a Christian school and a public school. When the hard times in life have hit, I have had to rely on the love, grace, and comfort of Jesus. It is in those times that it has been the people of God who have shown me the love of Jesus. The church needs to rise up and begin to show the world the love of Jesus, and then they will listen to our knowledge about Him. My memories of CCU are built around the love and grace that both the students and professors showed me during my time there. I made so many mistakes, but when friendships are deep, they don’t close and shun you because you make a mistake or commit a sin, but they embrace you and encourage you to keep in the faith. 

This incident has caused many of the alumni to reflect on the good times at school, and at the dire situation that became the demise of the school. It reminds us that we need to be faithful stewards of our time and money. It reminds us that we need to take risks and attempt new endeavors, but to also recognize that we may need to go in a new direction when those new endeavors are failing. (If any of the board members had been youth pastors, they would have made better decisions in the department of failing!)

May all our Christian schools have love, grace, and wisdom with how they conduct their business. May all our churches have love, grace, and wisdom with how they conduct their business. May we all have love, grace, and wisdom with how they conduct their business. May we all gather again in heaven with a new campus and many more who went there before and after us. 

Are you an alumnus of Cincinnati Bible College, Cincinnati Bible Seminary, or Cincinnati Christian University? Post a memory in the comments on this blog!  I would love to read all the other beautiful memories!!