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History

The birth and growth of the Christian school movement among conservative Mennonites has been accompanied by a growing need for qualified teachers. During the early 1980’s, a few concerned brethren met to discuss the possibility of starting a Christian college for conservative Mennonites. The result of that discussion was a meeting in Hartville, Ohio, on February 13, 1982, which was attended by about 15 persons. From those present an ad-hoc committee composed of John D. Martin, Joseph Hostetler, Roman J. Miller, and Dale Heisey was formed and given the responsibility to develop a proposal for a Christian college. During 1983, this ad hoc committee completed a document called “Proposal for a Christian College,” which proposed a four-year college with the following emphases: a work-study program that provides a tuition-free education, a teaching program that equips people to live in the community of faith after finishing school, a discipleship program that encourages people to follow Christ in life and to use one’s gifts to build the Kingdom of God, and an educational program that equips people to serve the church and spread the gospel. Although a year-round, on-site educational program was not developed until after facilities were purchased in 1992, many of these emphases were incorporated into the developing program.

Between 1984 and 1992, the Board of Faith Builders Educational Programs (hereafter FBEP or FB) struggled to develop plans for a Christian college that a wide range of conservative Mennonites could support. Board members during this time included Dale Heisey, James Landis, Milo Zehr, Enos Heatwole, Orval Zehr, Lyle Kropf, David Weaver, Paul Miller, Vernon Mullet, Joe Schmucker, and Melvin Lehman. As a step toward achieving the goal of developing a year-round post-high school program of study, the board decided to offer classes during the summers for two types of students: content classes for teachers and issues classes for students attending other schools. As a result of that decision, summer terms were held from 1987 until 1992 at rented facilities in Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. During these years FBEP received many calls for teachers. In 1991 the board decided that FBEP could not meet the great need for teachers by offering classes only during the summer. The decision was made to purchase a property and to develop a year-round teacher apprenticeship program. The nineteen acres and 85,000 sq. ft. complex at Guys Mills, PA, was purchased in July, 1992, and renovation began soon afterward.

In an attempt to develop work projects that would allow FBEP to offer a work-study educational program, a bakery was started in 1992 and plans were developed to open a personal care home. One year after renovation began, the year-round Teacher Apprenticeship Program (hereafter known as TAP) became a reality in the fall of 1993 when a Christian school for grades 1-12 was established on site as a platform for the apprenticing process. Despite having limited financial and personnel resources, we were able to make progress in developing a program of instruction for teachers as the Lord favored us with His blessing. During 1994 and 1995 a basic curriculum of core courses was developed, and we began to accept year-round students. In January, 1999, we initiated an intensive self-evaluation of FBEP in an attempt to strengthen our educational programs and discipling methods. As a result of this self-evaluation, we have made some changes in the teacher-training curriculum, added a two-year program for students interested in areas of Christian service other than teaching (Ministry Apprenticing Program, hereafter known as MAP), strengthened our mentoring methods, and changed from quarter hours to semester hours.

Since 2001, the American Council on Education's College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT) has evaluated and recommended college credit for forty of Faith Builders Educational Programs' courses. The American Council on Education, the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions, seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and to influence public policy through advocacy, research, and program initiatives. ACE CREDIT connects workplace learning with colleges and universities by helping adults gain access to academic credit at colleges and universities for formal courses and examinations taken in the workplace or other settings outside traditional higher education. For more information, visit the ACE CREDIT website at http://www.acenet.edu/acecredit.

To strengthen FB’s apprenticing programs, a three-week apprenticing term was added during the 2003-2004 Academic Year. During the same year, terms were changed to twelve weeks of study and one of focused mentoring.

Faith Builders added a five week Winter Short Term in 2005 to offer courses in biblical, theological, and practical studies for church leaders, college students, business people, older learners, and others. Enrollment rose during 2004-2006 to mid twenties for the TAP/MAP and 50-70 for the Summer and Winter Short Terms.

In 2006, FB initiated the FB Resource Group to pursue the development of print, recorded and on-site resources. At the same time, Christian Learning Resource was purchased by FB as the campus bookstore and as the public face of the FB Resource Group.

Updated 4/2/2008 MJM