FLBCS Takes Additional Steps to Address Coronavirus
Press Release
Update on COVID-19 Response from Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary
March 16, 2020, 4:30PM
For immediate release
The Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary has announced suspension or modification of on-campus educational activities as part of a society-wide effort to contain the effects of COVID-19.
“We appreciate the substantial sacrifices and inconveniences our students are about to endure, and we will do our best to retain much of the academic and spiritual nurture value of the semester,” said Pastor Wade Mobley, President of FLBCS.
While Seminary classes will continue with slight modification for the next two weeks, which are followed by Spring Break, on-campus Bible College instruction was suspended at noon on Monday, March 16. Faculty met in the afternoon to form a plan for online delivery of modified content and assignments. Students will be given approximately two weeks of work to accomplish over the following four weeks, with the hope that the end of the school year will be able to resume as scheduled on Tuesday, April 14. A Spring Break choir tour to California, along with a cross-cultural missions trip to Mexico, had been previously canceled.
Additionally, FLBCS announced the cancelation of several on-campus events, including Spring Campus Days the week after Easter. Further considerations and accommodations will be made in the coming weeks. “We promise to do what is right by our students, their parents, and generous donors to FLBCS,” said Pastor Mobley. “I am thankful for the faculty and staff who have worked so hard to deliver on our mission of ’establishing students in the eternal and inerrant Word of God for life in Jesus Christ and faithful service in His Kingdom.’”
Students will move out of the dorm temporarily no later than Thursday, March 19, at noon, and will receive a prorated credit for room and board. Students are encouraged to return home, though some will find other lodging in the area for work purposes. While students are gone staff will clean and do light maintenance. “Every hardship is an opportunity for the gospel,” said Mobley. “Our students are now applying the Word of God as they have learned in class. The question isn’t ‘how to get this under control,’ but ‘where is Jesus in all this?’ and ‘how can I serve my neighbor in Jesus’ name?’”
Founded in 1964 by the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations (www.aflc.org), the Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary (FLBC.edu) includes a two-year post-secondary program (FLBC) and a four-year Masters of Divinity-level pastoral training program Level (FLS). The Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary gained accreditation from the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS, www.tracs.org) in 2018.
