The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is establishing the first extension campus of its Boyce College in northern Wisconsin effective Aug. 1, school officials announced recently.
“The central distinctive of Boyce College is its emphasis upon a comprehensive Christian worldview education,” said Southern Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. “That’s the sole purpose for Boyce College: to prepare a new generation of young people to face a world that’s increasingly pluralistic and increasingly secular, to be able to apply what Scripture teaches and to think critically about all things through a Christian worldview.”
Mohler added, “We believe Boyce College Northland Campus can be an outpost for training young people who desire to live on mission. If you had told the founders of Southern Seminary that one day we would have a campus for Boyce College in the northland, they might have thought Indiana or Ohio. I think that is entirely due to God’s purpose, God’s plan, and it’s to the glory of God — and I’m excited about it.”
One of the largest theological schools in the world today, Southern Seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, before moving to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1877. Under the leadership of E.Y. Mullins, the seminary moved in 1926 to its current location at “The Beeches,” an 84-acre campus east of downtown. Founded in 1974 as Boyce Bible School, the seminary’s undergraduate school began offering bachelor’s degrees as James P. Boyce College of the Bible in 1998 under Mohler’s leadership, named for the seminary’s founder. The name of the school was later changed to Boyce College.
In a recorded video message shown to Northland students on Feb. 2, Mohler said, “I’m excited to welcome you to become a part of the Southern Seminary, Boyce College family. We want to learn from you as you learn from us in terms of one big, institutional family, ready to see what God’s going to do, to his glory, with all of us together.”
On Feb. 9, Boyce Dean Dan DeWitt announced the academic degrees that would be offered at the new Northland Campus of Boyce College in Dunbar, Wisconsin.
The degrees, pending approval from The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, include bachelor’s and associate’s degrees in Biblical and Theological Studies; Bachelor of Arts in Christian Worldview and Apologetics; Bachelor of Science in Humanities; and certificates in English as a Second Language and Worldview Studies.
A gifted faculty will teach the academic programs, DeWitt said.
“The robust academic credentials of the Boyce College Northland Campus faculty is impressive, with graduate and terminal degrees from highly respected institutions, including Oxford, Penn State, Wheaton and Trinity, to name a few,” he said. “In addition to their accomplished array of academic publishing, these scholars are also committed churchmen who have varied ministry experiences in the pastorate, church planting, missions and beyond.”
Daniel Patz, currently president of Northland, is excited about Boyce College Northland Campus.
“I am thrilled how God is going to use Northland campus and the Louisville campus to make a richer Boyce College, to make a ministry that prepares students to go and not waste their lives,” Patz told a gathering of Boyce College students in a special dorm meeting, Feb. 2.
“God is expanding the ministry of Southern Seminary and Boyce College to the north and to the northland. I praise God for that,” added Patz, who will become vice president for Northland operations.“This is a historic moment for Northland, and it is a historic moment for Southern Seminary and Boyce College.”
Earlier Feb. 2, DeWitt addressed Northland students in a live video message to welcome them to Boyce College.
“We recognize that to make a significant impact in the northern Midwest, we need a training center that is unashamedly committed to the gospel, unashamedly committed to biblical inerrancy,” said DeWitt. “Merging the Northland legacy and tradition with the resources and convictional leadership of Dr. Mohler and Southern Seminary will allow us to be a part of a gospel movement in the northern Midwest.”
Two Northland students who attended the Feb. 2 chapel service said they were excited about the future spiritual and academic opportunities at Boyce that would further the Northland legacy of missions and discipleship.
“Northland has forever been a place where servant leaders are raised for Great Commission living,” said junior Hanna Cole, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “Enrolling in Boyce Northland Campus gives students the opportunity to be taught how to do just that. God has so graciously given Northland a firmer foundation because of Southern.”
Aaron Lichtenwalner, a junior from Goffstown, New Hampshire, said he came to Northland for the intimate family atmosphere and ministry opportunities. Lichtenwalner said he believes the stability of Southern Seminary will “steer” the future of Northland’s legacy toward “preparing the next generation of servant leaders.”
Admissions counselors from Boyce’s Louisville campus met with Northland students on Feb. 9 to provide assistance in making future academic plans.
Students at Boyce College Northland Campus will have the opportunity to compete in NCCAA men’s basketball, men’s soccer and women’s volleyball with the Boyce Pioneers. The Louisville campus will continue NCCAA men’s basketball competition as the Boyce Bulldogs.
The 660-acre extension campus features lakes and hiking trails and is situated in a region popular for its hunting, snowmobiling and skiing attractions. In addition to its academic expansion of the undergraduate school, Boyce College Northland Campus will provide an ideal location for youth camps, church planting training and faculty retreats, officials said.
More information about the Boyce College Northland Campus, is available at: BoyceCollege.com/Northland.