"With Luis being one of our alumni, we have always felt a special connection to his ministry," said Michelle Peel, director of Alumni Relations at Multnomah Bible College and Biblical Seminary. "He is a great example of Multnomah's legacy to educate and equip Christians for impact in their world today."

The Festival
More than 6.5 million people have attended Luis Palau's festivals worldwide since they began in 1999. The Luis Palau Association (LPA) seeks to make their festivals more than just a weekend event; they want to leave a lasting legacy of united evangelistic efforts among Christian leaders in each community.

Season of Service
As a precursor to Portland CityFest, Christians from all denominations will work together under the banner of "Season of Service" to minister to their communities through relationships, service, and strategic outreach. Through focused efforts on such needs as homelessness, hunger, poverty, the medically uninsured, public schools and the environment, LPA strives to change the hearts of individual people and eventually the city itself.

Volunteer Opportunities
There are specific ways to get involved. As sponsors of Portland CityFest, Multnomah is looking for 500 volunteers for the event whether they be alumni, donors, faculty, staff, students, prospective students, or interested members of local churches. Volunteers will be able to serve as "advocates" or "decision counselors."

Advocates will commit to pray for five friends, neighbors, colleagues or family members during the months leading up to the festival. As part of the commitment, they will present the gospel message either through sharing their own testimony or extending an invitation to Portland CityFest where the Gospel will be clearly presented.

Decision counselors will volunteer at the festival to be a guide for those who come forward to make a decision for Christ. Training sessions will be scheduled for counselors as the festival approaches.

If you would like to be a part of Multnomah and Portland CityFest's efforts, notify us at alumni@multnomah.edu or 503.251.6460 and visit www.portlandcityfest.com to sign up for more info. You can also find additional information about LPA and their festivals at www.palau.org.

January 7, 2008

The boards of Multnomah Bible College and Biblical Seminary and Western Seminary have mutually decided to readjust the direction of their talks together concerning consolidation. This will involve focusing for the next several years on less formal ways in which the two seminaries can cooperate to the benefit of their larger constituencies. Their cooperative endeavors will include the sharing of resources, expertise, and programs and strengthening their institutional relationship. This action also means that the earlier goal of working toward a single, consolidated institution within a university model will be set aside for the indefinite future. In the meantime, both Western and Multnomah will move ahead to fulfill their respective strategic initiatives and missions.

Since the launching of the joint consolidation task force on June 20, 2007, Multnomah and Western have engaged in a beneficial process of discovery and research, gathering information vital for making decisions about current cooperation as well as future consolidation. One result was to identify areas within each institution that required special attention before formal affiliation or consolidation was possible.

For Western, one of those areas is related to presidential leadership. Because Western Seminary's president, Bert Downs, is transitioning out of the presidential role, the Western board concluded that it needed to address that situation before taking further steps toward consolidation in order to assure the ongoing health of Western. It was the Western board's belief that this would necessarily suspend consolidation talks for an indefinite season. This was communicated to Multnomah's board, which supports Western's decision and agrees that a focus instead on less formal ways of cooperation over the next several years is most appropriate.

Multnomah and Western will now employ simpler ways to continue a more informal collaboration process. The original task force structure with its five subgroups will be deactivated with the recognition that the discovery process accomplished many of its goals. The task force may be replaced with a single working group that can both explore and assess fruitful avenues of collaboration between the two schools.

Both boards are still prayerfully committed to making a mutual impact for the Kingdom of God in the Pacific Northwest, in the nation, and around the world. They believe, when the timing is right, that these two venerable evangelical institutions can leverage that impact through collaboration for the glory of God.

Student-centered, Ministry-motivated

"Over the years, we have received numerous requests from students intending to serve overseas as career missionaries," said Dr. Daniel R. Lockwood, president of Multnomah Bible College and Biblical Seminary. "Some encountered immigration obstacles in entering certain countries if officials learned they were graduates of a Bible college or a seminary." It was also found that in some countries, the word ‘college' refers to high-school level education, while ‘university' is widely recognized as a term for baccalaureate-level education.

Last fall, this need for unfettered student placement intensified when the college began planning our new teacher education program," Dr. Lockwood said. Several Christian educators with public school experience pointed out that our graduates could face severe employment obstacles with the name ‘Bible' on their diplomas. "All of us consider this program, which certifies qualified men and women to teach at the elementary level in the public school, to be a mission-fulfilling and ministry-enhancing program. The faculty sought to remove any unnecessary obstacle to our students' vocational goals."

Future Strategic Planning

"With our four seminary masters programs, we qualify with the State of Oregon to become a university," said Dr. Lockwood. "However, some of our planned graduate-level programs do not fit a seminary curriculum. Our Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree, scheduled to begin this January, is a case in point; and other master-level programs (e.g., TESOL and Humanitarian Studies) are in our long-term strategic plan. Faculty and trustees anticipate a day where a future Multnomah Graduate School division would become necessary. An appropriate name like Multnomah University would more accurately reflect our developing institutional structure."

What it Doesn't Mean

Dr. Lockwood and the board are quick to point out several things the name change will not mean. First, it does not signal a change in Multnomah's mission. "We will still remain committed to ‘educating, equipping, and enriching Christians for leadership in their church, community, and world,'" Dr. Lockwood said. The name change will not eliminate the Bible and theology core required for every Multnomah student.

Furthermore, university status will not eliminate the two divisions of Multnomah: Multnomah Bible College and Multnomah Biblical Seminary. Both divisions will continue to exist under the umbrella name of Multnomah University.

Finally, the name change will not begin a transition from a Bible college to a Christian liberal arts college. A Bible college possesses three fundamental values

1. A solid, required core of Bible and theology for every student
2. A strong, campus-wide emphasis on the spiritual life
3. Sustained Christian ministry experience concurrent with one's academic learning

"These three values will continue to characterize Multnomah Bible College and Biblical Seminary," Dr. Lockwood said.

For more information regarding Multnomah's university status, please consult the official "Multnomah University Blog at http://blogs.multnomah.edu/university. You may also contact Robert Leary at rleary@multnomah.edu or 503.251.6451. 

That same weekend, the two trustee boards met at a trustee's home where they heard a presentation by Dr. Cooley about shared governance, interacted with questions, and spent time in prayer. Future events for relationship-building between trustees, faculty, and administrators are planned.

"Under God's leading, our two trustee boards have initiated an exciting process. Many uncertainties exist," said Dr. Daniel R. Lockwood, chair of the task force and president of Multnomah. "It will be lengthy, with both unanticipated challenges and unexpected breakthroughs. A substantial investment of time, energy, and resources will be necessary, but I believe the rewards in expanded impact for biblical education and vocational ministry and pastoral training may well be immeasurable."

The Task Force
Last April and May, the two boards of trustees authorized the Task Force to oversee a process of collaboration between the two institutions. The Task Force held its first organizational meeting in late June 2007; and, since then, it has been busy studying, planning, and implementing a strategic plan for a potential consolidation. This plan would guide the boards through the various stages of assessment, negotiation, agreement, and implementation, and provide the institutions' stakeholders with timely information and communication.

The Task Force reports directly to a steering committee made up of Drs. Lockwood, Bert Downs, Jack Dryden, and Tom Tunnicliff, the two presidents and two chairs of the trustee boards of both institutions. Dr. Robert Cooley, also serves on the steering committee.

Task Force Sub-Groups
The five sub-groups that began their work at the end of June are made up of Multnomah and Western representatives. Each subgroup represents one of the five major "zones" of institutional life. Each also has its own set of goals and objectives to achieve as part of the Task Force.

• The Governance and Mission Fulfillment sub-group will research a decision-making system of governance for the consolidated institution that balances the board of trustees, the office of the president, and the faculty. It will also fashion a mission and vision statement for the consolidated institution. Priority tasks include proposing a name for the consolidated university, conducting a preliminary legal audit, and notifying accreditation agencies of the affiliation and consolidation plans.
• The Enrollment Management subgroup addresses all aspects of student life outside the classroom, including financial aid, housing, graduation, placement, alumni, and recruitment. They will research consolidated student enrollment projections and assess financial aid and loan resources.
• The Educational System subgroup seeks the effective integration of the educational system of both institutions. They will address both institutions' doctrinal and value statements, identify proprietary programs or emphases, and assess denominational identities.
• The Resource Development sub-group will analyze fundraising and friend-raising issues involved in consolidating the two institutions, compare joint donor and fundraising goals, and contact foundations.
• The Economic Vitality sub-group will assess the economic strength of a consolidated institution in order to design an integrated operation and finance system for long-term sustainability.

Steps Toward Affiliation
While the five subgroups continue their important work of discovery, the Task Force will begin to encourage the two seminaries to begin a process of affiliation. Affiliation involves working together without changing each institution's fundamental identity. Name, governance structures, campus location, extension sites, and budgets will remain in place. However, administrators and faculty will begin to investigate ways in which the two seminaries can increasingly share faculty, library resources, academic programs, and even information technologies. The steering committee believes that affiliation at this level will have a positive benefit whether or not consolidation ever takes place. Deepening these affiliations, however, will lay a foundation vital for future consolidation.

A Working Timeline
This fall, the processes of discovery by the task force sub-groups, and the steps of affiliation by the two seminaries, will be the focus of activity. The task force plans a meeting in October and will prepare a fuller report to the two boards before February 2008. Board authorization of the affiliation stage could occur in the spring of 2008. And, if successful, the process of institutional consolidation could begin by the fall of 2008.

For more information about the Multnomah Bible College and Biblical Seminary and Western Seminary consolidation, go to www.multnomah.edu/consolidation or contact Multnomah's Director of Promotions and Communications Robert Leary at 503.251.6452 or rleary@multnomah.edu. To contribute to discussions regarding the latest consolidation updates, visit the blog at seminaryconsolidation.wordpress.com.

"The possibility of a formal consolidation between Multnomah and Western was not something any of us were deliberately seeking six months ago," said Dr. Daniel Lockwood, president of Multnomah. "But I believe trustees of both institutions were always open to the leading of the Spirit of God no matter how radical or how surprising that leading might be.

"Multnomah and Western share so many common values, missional goals, doctrinal distinctives, and historic connections that partnering together to impact the Northwest with rigorous biblical, pastoral, and spiritual training made sense on so many levels."

"Over the many years the ministries of Multnomah and Western have impacted this region, the question has been raised as to why these two fine missions don't become one," said Western Seminary's President Dr. Bert Downs. "I find it remarkable and totally of the Lord that at a time when both seem to be at their individual strongest, the Lord is stirring that thought again."

The Spirit Behind Consolidation
The process started last year when the chair of Western Seminary's board of trustees approached Multnomah with the idea of the two institutions collaborating. Since then, the respective boards have discussed and prayed about the details behind such an endeavor. "Back in December we began asking the question ‘Can we serve the Lord better as one team rather than two?'" Western Seminary's board chair Dr. Tom Tunnicliff said. "The answer to that question so far has been nothing but a resounding ‘yes!'"

A resolution from the two boards in April and May stated that "after a period of prayer and discussion we, the executive committees of the respective Boards of Trustees of Western Seminary and Multnomah Bible College and Biblical Seminary, are united in sensing the Lord's leading to partner together in a united enterprise of theological education. Trusting in His timing, we affirm a process of moving forward to glorify the Lord and His Kingdom through the formation of a special task force."

The Task Force
The task force, which met for the first time on June 27^th, is responsible for the studying, planning, and implementing of a consolidation plan to guide the boards through several stages of assessment, negotiation, agreement, and implementation while providing the stakeholder communities with timely information and communication.

Chaired by Dr. Lockwood, the task force will be comprised of key trustees, administrators, faculty, and alumni from each institution that will represent critical constituencies. The task force will report to the two boards of trustees on a regular basis with information and recommendations. President Emeritus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Dr. Robert Cooley, who also works as an organizational consultant specializing in seminary education, has been retained to help facilitate this process. The task force aims to complete its work over the next two years.

Prayerful Consideration
"It is my sincere belief that the individuals involved on the executive committees at Western and Multnomah are not pursuing any agenda other than to discern God's will in this matter and to follow His leading," Multnomah's board chair Dr. Jack Dryden said. "We have been entrusted with the leadership of institutions that God has blessed and used for great good in the world."

Leaders from Multnomah and Western have been working together to determine how the consolidation may unfold. "This entire discussion began in prayer, genuinely seeking the Lord's guidance and wisdom," Dr. Tunnicliff said. "Prayer has continued to be at the forefront, not an after-thought."

"I think that after several months of talking and praying together the question of collaboration shifted from ‘why should we do this?' to ‘why not?'" Dr. Lockwood added.

For more information about the Multnomah Bible College and Biblical Seminary and Western Seminary consolidation, go to www.multnomah.edu/consolidation or contact Multnomah's Director of Promotions and Communications Robert Leary at 503.251.6452 or rleary@multnomah.edu.

"We are excited about this year's new additions," Coach Curt Bickley of the Multnomah Lions said. "We are adding a solid point guard that had a great high school career. Mike not only is a very skilled player, but he brings intensity and toughness to the program that will be a great asset."

During Woodard's senior year of play with the Pioneers basketball team at Western Mennonite High School in Salem, Oregon he was named to the Tri-River Conference (TRC) First Team All-League; TRC Player of the Year; First Team All-Tourney at the 2A State Tournament in Pendleton, Oregon; First Team All-State at the 2A level, and First Team All-Region and 2A State Player of the Year published by the Statesman Journal newspaper in Salem, Oregon.

After setting 13 records with the program as a four-year starter, scoring a total of 1,604 points, Woodard is the most decorated player in the history of the Western Mennonite High School basketball team. "Mike has been a great leader both on and off the court," said Western Mennonite coach Gary Hull in a statement submitted to Multnomah. "We will miss his aggressive, gritty, and relentless style of play he brought to us each and every night."

Woodard capped off his high school career with a 3.6 GPA and by leading the Pioneers to the Tri-River Conference title with a 27-3 season record and a 96-22 career record. "All Pioneer fans wish Mike the very best as he continues on with his basketball career at Multnomah Bible College," Coach Hull said.

For more information on Multnomah Lions Basketball, visit www.multnomah.edu or contact the Athletics Department at 503.251.5395.