Part 1: Pre-Bible College Days Editorial Note: As the late Dr. L.C. Johnson prepared to step down from his long tenure as president of Welch College (then Free Will Baptist Bible College), Contact magazine asked him to write a five-part series of articles. In these short accounts, Johnson traced God’s hand in forming, building, and keeping the denominational college. The Free Will Baptist denomination has a very checkered history. Merger with Northern Baptists in 1910 left the denomination fragmented. Even though the southern branch of the denomination was not directly impacted by this merger, I feel certain that the effects of it were felt in non-obvious ways. From 1910 until 1935, no national organizational structure unified the churches that refused to take part in the merger. What organizational structure existed was local, which in most instances, meant any projects of a denominational nature were doomed to failure because the strength of the local structure was most often very weak. To illustrate this point: during the years in question several educational efforts had local sponsorship. But because of the weak base of support these educational efforts had, they all failed to survive. During this period, the lack of trained leadership began … Continue reading Over My Shoulder, Part 1