Over the years we've had many good times and we have helped a lot of people. CES began as Faraston Theological Seminary. In those early days our mission statement was:
Faraston Theological Seminary intends to be a viable alternative for those who--for whatever reason--cannot attend a traditional, on-campus school. Faraston will offer the various degrees that are offered through the traditional on-campus schools, and it shall do so entirely off campus.
Then, in 1998, FTS changed its name to Columbia Evangelical Seminary. But, it did not change its missions statement. Here it is 2002, and we are still making available various majors at all degree levels for those who--for whatever reason--cannot attend the traditional on-campus schooling.
Over the years, I have been privileged to be the CES president and one of its faculty members. In that dual capacity, I have met some interesting people.
Many People, Many Walks of Life
We have had the privilege of training young people for their beginning ministries and helping retired persons put an academic capstone on their long and successful careers. Also, we have helped many people in mid-career ministries finally achieve that next degree that they have wanted for years and better equip them for the challenges that lie ahead.
The youngest person, Luke A., to enroll into our program and successfully complete his studies with us was a home-schooled boy of only 19, and the oldest was a retired pastor Bertel K., who had his Master's degree from a traditional theological seminary many years before. He was 72 when he enrolled with CES. Next, as an example of someone in the midst of his ministerial career, one man, James W., 33 years old at the time, had an M.A. from a traditional seminary and was engaged in apologetics ministries. He was a prolific debater and writer, and he enrolled into CES for his second master's degree and his doctoral degree. We were able to design a curriculum around his active public speaking and writing ministries, and he went on to earn both degrees from CES. Now he is 40 years old and he is completing a second doctoral degree with CES.
There are many other examples of people in various stages of their lives and ministries who are CES students and CES graduates. I simply cannot name them all or give all of their circumstances. Suffice it to say that over the years, we have had 248 students enroll and 97 graduate. And, it has been my tremendous privilege to be one of the faculty members who has taken some of these fine students through their programs of study.
The first person to enroll with CES was Gary H. He was pastoring at the time, and he had three years of college already, but he wanted to complete his Bachelor's degree. He was privy to the beginnings of CES, and he wanted to be the first CES student. So, he waited until the day that we were granted legal status, and he enrolled. With the student number of 1, Gary completed his Bachelor's degree with CES (called FTS back then). And, our most recent student enrollment was Patrick L., February 8, 2002, student number 248.
Of course, of our active students, some are only a class or two or a thesis or a dissertation away from completing their degrees while others are just beginning their studies with CES.
Student Complexion
We have had people enroll with our school with absolutely no college at all, and some have had multiple degrees--some have even had multiple doctoral degrees. Perhaps the most curious of all was a man, Rick P., who had his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D., all from accredited and well-recognized schools. He enrolled for one of our associate's degrees. I told him that with his illustrious educational background, he could enroll into any degree program that he wanted to. Well, he wanted to enroll for our Associate of Theological Studies degree and build a curriculum in a specific area of practical theology that was in relation to his present pastoral duties. So, we did just that. We created a program to meet his specific needs and desires.
Of course, men are not the only ones who have been CES students. Women have enrolled with and graduated from FTS/CES at all levels and with different majors. One woman, Patricia N., completed a Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate with CES in the area of counseling. Another woman, Barbara S., who enrolled with CES had completed her B.A. in Elementary Education in 1963. Wanting to know more about the Bible, she enrolled with us at the age of 64 and completed her Master's degree in biblical studies. Then, she re-enrolled and completed a Doctoral degree with us as well. She was 70 years old when she completed her Doctoral degree with CES.
Am I Too Old?
This leads me to discuss the often asked question by people who call or email me for information about CES. The question typically asked only by those in their late 40's or older is, "Should a person my age realistically be thinking about enrolling in college?"
Well, just ask Bertel or Barbara. Both of them have shared with me that their experience with CES was terrific and they are glad that they enrolled and earned their terminal degrees.
One of the best short discussion on this topic ever written comes from the columnist Dear Abby. Someone wrote to her and said:
"I'm 38 years old, and thinking about pursuing a Bachelor's degree, but I'm not sure I should, because if I do, I'll be 42 years old when I'm done."
Abby's response was cogent and powerful:
"And how old will you be in four years if you don't do it?"
CES receives a warm welcome.
The pastor's name is Rev. Ross Holtz. And here we are together. This picture was taken on March 29, 2002.
Ross is a very good preacher and a man with a thorough knowledge of the Word of God. It is a pleasure listening to him preach each Sunday.
Also at the Summit is Dave Rohland (far left), business manager--and my "go-to-guy" when I need something fixed, like the phone line! Dave is also a sailor par excellence.
Also, Roger Petersohn (far right), Associate Pastor of Worship. Roger has already given me a nickname: he calls me "The Sem Dude."
A Real-Life Coffee Talk
New Phase of Ministry
CES is moving into a new phase of ministry due to a location change. We recently set up my office at the Summit Church in Enumclaw, WA (a town next to Buckley where I live).
The Summit is the church that my wife and I have chosen to be members. After being in this area for a year and attending more than a dozen churches locally, we selected The Summit as our home church.
The church is an E-Free, which is shorthand for the Evangelical Free Church of America (for those of you who need an academic connection, this is the denomination that owns and operates the Trinity International University/Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL.) Some of the pictures that you see with this CT are taken at The Summit Church. So, if you come to visit me, you will be coming to Enumclaw generally and to The Summit Church specifically.
And, what's really great, at least for me, is that my office at the The Summit Church is beautifully situated directly across the street from a StarBucks.
So, when you come for a visit, expect to have a latté with me at StarBucks as we have a real-life Coffee Talk.
Academic Affiliation and Tuition-Free Scholarships
Over the years, we have also done our part in helping those who cannot afford (even our low) tuition costs. Besides having granted both full and partial scholarships to U.S. students, CES has become affiliated with Biblical Seminary in the Ukraine.
Dr. Jack W. Hunka is one of our doctoral graduates. He also holds the B.A. from Central Bible College (Springfield, MO) and the M.Div. from Western Evangelical Seminary (Portland, OR). Dr. Hunka has been an equipping missionary to the Ukraine for many years. In that capacity, he has helped plant numerous churches, and he is the founder of several seminaries, called collectively Biblical Seminaries of the Ukraine.
CES has affiliated with Dr. Hunka and Biblical Seminaries of the Ukraine to help Ukrainian students reach their educational goals in their Christian faith. Even though some of these students are in professional fields such as education and medicine and law, some of them have an annual income of less than $1,000 U.S. dollars. To date, we have granted more than a dozen Master's degrees to these qualified students, and we did so without charging them any tuition whatsoever. This scholarship endeavor can only continue as our friends and colleagues continue to support CES with their financial giving.
A Brief CES History
Recently I was asked how CES began. And, while I have written about this elsewhere, I will share some of the CES history with you here:
It was April of 1989. It was sunny and comfortably hot on this clear and beautiful day. I was lounging on an outside deck in Moss Beach, CA., that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. Moss Beach is a small community about 25 miles south of San Francisco. To my delight, the local airport was putting on an aerial show. Various planes filled the sky from time to time with their acrobatics. I marveled at the planes of various colors and some with multiple wings as they filled the sky, and through it all I had the constant view of the Pacific Ocean as the background.
It was there, on that deck, more than a dozen years ago that I sat in the warm sun, basking in the ambiance of my surroundings that I took pen and paper and began to sketch-out the basic idea of a distance learning seminary that would be a viable, academically sound alternative to the on-campus programs.
For the next two years, I worked on the development and design of CES. I had felt "called" by God to start a school about a decade before, and with the development of each concept of CES, I felt God's gracious hand in the work. Not only did I "bathe" the concepts and development of CES in prayer, but I also sought the wisdom of others whom I respected.
Among those that I consulted in those early days for information, comments, and viewpoints were, in no particular order, Dr. John Bear, Mike Buchanan, Rev. Gary Holde, Dr. Dick Craghead, and my wife, Sue. (There were others, but these were my primary "resources.")
Dr. John Bear was then and is still today the leading expert in distance learning education. Not only would I receive valuable input from Dr. Bear, but later he and I would become co-authors of a book on Christian distance learning that would help thousands of people in their pursuits of Christian higher education.
Mike Buchanan is a longtime friend whom I met at college in 1981. He served with me in my first pastorate. He was both my associate pastor and the music minister.
Rev. Gary Holde was an associate and youth pastor, having served many years before that as a senior pastor, and he later served with me as my associate pastor.
Dr. Dick Craghead was one of my professors in both my undergraduate and graduate programs at Warner Pacific College. He also served that college as their Dean of Faculty. He is an extremely knowledgeable man with deep convictions and a love for solid, Christian education.
Sue, my wife , is without a doubt the most stabilizing influence in my life. She is a woman of firm convictions, and she has an analytical and brilliant mind. She holds a BA with a double major in Bible and Business and an M.S. in Training and Development.
Having been a Christian for as long as she can remember, she was willing then, as now, to allow me to pursue whatever aspect of ministry that God was leading me into. And, not only did she allow me to follow God's leading, but she backed me in every way possible. She has also allowed me to invest much of our personal money into the CES ministry; this says nothing of my lost wages for the early years of the school's existence. Truly, we are not "in this for the money."
I might add, if God is calling you to a ministry, it is important that your spouse feel that call as well and be led of the Lord with you as you pursue what it is that God has for you.
Sue served as a Board Member for only the first few years, and then resigned that position.
Tyler S. Ramey came on as a Board member about the same time Sue resigned. Tyler is a man with a unique ability to communicate in the written medium. He holds an M.A. in Christian philosophy, a D.T.S. with CES, and he is presently serving double-duty as a B.A. student with Thomas Edison State College and as a Ph.D. student with Potchefstroom University. He has been faithful to CES over the years and has given 100's of hours to various tasks that have helped CES as an institution. And, after having served as a Board Member for many years, accepted the position as Vice President & Chairman of the Board of Regents.
The First Name: Faraston Theological Seminary (FTS)
How to pronounce Far-as-ton: The "Far" is pronounced as fair (or fare); the "a" is pronounced as the "a" in the word about; and the "ston" is pronounced stun as in stun ning: fair - a - stun. Why the name "Faraston"?
The name Faraston has no dictionary definition, but Psalm 89:lb says "With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations" (NKJV). And, in the late 1970s God planted a seed in my heart to establish a school that would effectively train people for various aspects of ministry.
In the late 1980s, after years of God's faithful watering and cultivating the seed and preparing me, He sent someone to encourage me to take the necessary legal steps to begin the school. The name Faraston was a combination of the name of that individual and my last name.
Thus, the name Faraston was not meant to glorify a man, but it was a hybrid which was a memorial to God's continued faithfulness. Therefore, "With the name Faraston, we make known God's faithfulness." So, to us, Faraston = God's Faithfulness.
The Second Name: Columbia Evangelical Seminary (CES)
But, due to constant mispronunciations (even by some of the FTS students and faculty!) of the name Faraston and a daily repetition of the origin and meaning of the name to interested parties, the name became a burden of constant explanation . So, in late 1997, we did a name search and presented some options to our students and faculty. We received positive feed back on several options, but the one name that "won" the vote by an overwhelmingly large percentage was Columbia Evangelical Seminary. So, in January 1998, the Board agreed to and ratified the new name.
Rationale for the name Columbia Evangelical Seminary
"Where we are": Columbia identifies us geographically. Longview is on the mighty Columbia River; it separates Longview, WA., from the state of Oregon. (And, though I--as of late 2000--personally live in Buckley, WA., the school is still a Longview non-profit corporation).
"Who we are": Evangelical theology "affirms the traditional doctrines of orthodox Christianity, with an emphasis upon the need for individual personal regeneration" (Millard J. Erickson, Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology , published by Baker Book House, 1986, p. 52.).
"What we are": Seminary is a theological school for the training of ministers.
Rick Luiten, M.Div.
Served as the Northwest Director of Action Evangelism in mobilizing churches to care for the homeless, and associate pastor of Rivers of Life Church, Portland, OR., and he is presently studying comparative literature.
Rev. John Thornton, D.Min.
Director of Christian Assemblies Ministries, and host and producer of Radio Good News, in Sioux Falls, SD.
Dr. Randy Weiss, Ph.D.
Adjunct professor for the ICI University in Texas and the host of CROSSTALK, a weekly television broadcast ministry (www.crosstalk.org)
Rev. Stuart D. Young, D.D.
presently serving Youth with a Mission and the University of the Nations conducting church leadership service for leaders and workers around the world. He previously served as the YWAM director of Training in Honolulu, he was responsible for the supervision and instruction of staff for the training schools.
Faculty Members
It would take more space than I have to list all of our faculty over the years and all of their achievements. Suffice it to say that over the last ten years, we have had more than 100 people serve as faculty members for this seminary at one time or another. Some of these scholars are employed full-time at other seminaries and universities, some have published books, some have been on radio and television, some have traveled the globe in missions and evangelism, some have debated in open public forums at major universities and through the Internet, but all of them have, by-and-large, promoted the cause of Christ around the world. And, of course, they have trained CES students to be better ministers of the Gospel of Christ.
On April 1st? No Fooling
There have been more than a few jokes about the day on which we began. April Fool's day would not have been my first choice. But, over the years we have been one of the answers to the fools who have said in their hearts, "There is no God" Psalm 14:1. The mere fact of the existence of CES is an indication of God's existence. Believe me, this is no man's work. God's divine guidance has been in this ministry from the beginning.
Summation
I wish to thank in general ways all who have dedicated their time and expertise to CES in helping found, secure, and operate it for these last eleven years. I thank all of you who have ever given an offering of finances to this educational ministry--listing everyone would take far too much space. And, I know that many people have prayed for the school and for its leadership. Thank you.
Dear Friends of solid Christian education: Please continue to pray with us for the continued success of CES, and for the positive welfare of all who are a part of this wonderful, God-ordained ministry. Also, CES is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and as such, all of your financial donations to this school are tax deductible. We have often considered ourselves a missions outreach. If we could gain 10 churches as affiliate ministries that would financially support this ministry on a regular monthly basis, we could reach out to many more people with partial and full tuition scholarships. Thus, we could help train more believers to be ministers of the Word, and ministers of reconciliation. Please consider supporting CES on a regular basis.
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:18-20).
Send comments about this, or any, Coffee Talk to Rick Walston at: CES @ ColumbiaSeminary.edu
(Please note that you will need to take the spaces out before and after the @ sign . . . this is placed this way to avoid spam emails.)
