Half a millennium condensed into one Bible class at TBC

Students in new Minister in the 21st Century course at Tennessee Bible College borrow from older preachers, with more than 500 years of combined experience

by AMY DAVIS
TENNESSEE BIBLE COLLEGE

COOKEVILLE — The knowledge it took one group of preachers more than half a millennium to acquire took just under three months for students at Tennessee Bible College to gain.

That's because the students enrolled in a new course this past quarter, Minister in the 21st Century, which featured the combined experiences of several area preachers, who all took a turn in the classroom to share their wisdom.

"Altogether, we had over 504 years -- more than half a millennium -- of combined preaching experience," said Kerry Duke, dean of TBC, who organized the class. "They say when an older person dies, a library burns down. For this course, we feel like we had several libraries of experience for the students to pull from. Of course, there was no way these preachers could impart all their wisdom in one short quarter, but they were available, like a well, for the students to draw out of them whatever they could."

Practical preacher training—Tennessee Bible College students Joshua Brown, left, and David Millican, right, receive some preaching advice from longtime minister and TBC President Malcolm Hill. Both were part of a new course offered this past quarter at TBC, Minister in the 21st Century, which featured several area ministers, with more than half a millennium of combined preaching experience to share with the students.

Duke said the course was created to offer students a more practical approach to learning.

"It's primarily for young men who are training to become preachers or who have just begun preaching because it offers a lot of advice for real life situations," he said. "I thought they needed more practical counsel rather than just reading it out of a book."

And, for this particular course, Duke felt that a multiplicity of teachers could do the job better than one.

"Rather than having just one teacher, I decided to have several preachers come in and teach the course," he said. "The goal was to invite preachers who have preached at least 50 years."

Duke, who preaches at West End Church of Christ in Livingston, in addition to his work at TBC, shared his own bits of wisdom with the students, as did others of the TBC staff: Malcolm Hill, TBC president and a minister and elder at Northeast Church of Christ in Cookeville; Paul Wilmoth, assistant to the TBC president and associate minister at Northeast Church of Christ; and Glenn B. Ramsey, TBC vice president and minister at Brush Creek Church of Christ in Alexandria.

Visiting preachers who contributed to the class were Herb Alsup of Woodbury Church of Christ; Jim McGill of Nashville; Clarence DeLoach of Willow Avenue Church of Christ in Cookeville; Robert Boles of Swallows Chapel Church of Christ in Livingston; Bill Threet of Celina Church of Christ; and Roy McConnell of Robertson County Church of Christ in Greenbrier.

In addition to Minister in the 21st Century, Tennessee Bible College offers a variety of courses, which may be used toward a bachelor's degree in religious education, master's and doctorate degrees in theology, and a two-year preacher's diploma.

Beginning this fall, free tuition will be offered at TBC. The college is authorized by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, and certain courses are transferable to other colleges and universities, including Tennessee Tech University.

For more information about TBC, call 931.526.2616.