At Falls Baptist College, New Dorms a Sign of Growing Commitment to Evangelist Mission

has grown steadily every year, from 13 students in 1998 to 120 this year. So far the college has never rejected students due to limited space, and Administrator Stephen Zempel said they don’t plan on doing so soon.

This year, construction of a new dormitory building, dubbed the Heritage Center, on the southwest side of the church property on Northfield Drive is set to begin. Ground is expected to be broken by the end of September.

The dormitory expansion will ensure young adults, like third-year student Josh Swanson, can continue to seek their calling at the growing college of ministry.

Swanson readily recalls the moment he found his life calling, with a certainty and directness rarely elicited from someone of his 20 years.  

“God got a hold of my heart and I felt his light,” Swanson, who studies evangelical leadership with a focus on reaching teenagers, said. “It’s just like sheep who have no shepherd—that’s how I see American youth. They don’t want to be doing alcohol and all these things; they’re escapes. It weighs on your heart. You want to help them.”

For Swanson, from Queens, New York, this critical moment of clarity came at a youth conference at Falls Baptist Church.

These conferences have attracted many other students, who’ve carried word of the college around the country to young adults seeking a bible-based education to prepare them for a life in ministry.

With two floors of classroom space (including the basement) and one floor of housing, the center will allow the college to spread out and take on more students.

Plans for the dorms were approved by the village in 2008, but had to be approved again after college officials decided they needed a full basement rather than a half.

Paid for entirely by donations, the roughly $2 million project has also been forced to slow to the timetables of fundraisers and pointed generosity.

Zempel said the college has now secured enough funds for phase one of three—enough to start construction. He said they are confident they will then be able to finance the rest of the project.

Although happy to see the college growing, Zempel said he likes the small college feel and would like to eventually slow growth to a sustainable size, whatever that may feel like at the time.

“As an institution we’re not really interested in growing to be a really large school,” Zempel said. “We enjoy the small, focused atmosphere. If we’re able to accomplish what we want with the numbers we have, then we’re happy.”

A different world

With just 120 students, the college is able to focus on a tighter mission and way of living.

Walking through the hallways of the college (which is connected to the church and elementary school), there’s a sense of having gone back in time. Many women wear collared shirts with long dresses or sweater vests, and long skirts. Men wear dress pants and button-up shirts; many wear ties.

Things are orderly. But Swanson added a caveat to the appearance.

“You see girls in dresses and guys with comb-overs and it seems perfect,” Swanson said. “But we know where we’ve been.”

Swanson, for one, hasn’t always been so devout.

“When I was in high school, I ran away to a life of rebellion,” he said. ”I was a pastor’s son and I wanted to do my own thing. But I felt like I was in bondage. I was running away from my parents; I was running away from God.”

Now with his own comb-over and button-up shirt, sitting with study materials and friends, he said he feels at home at a college of like-minded students and mentors.  

“Everything is based strictly on the Bible, so there are absolutes that we all agree on,” Ariel Mundt, 19, said. She sat a few tables over from Swanson with Andrew Sickna, 20.

“There are absolutes,” Sickna added, “but we debate about applications of doctrine—like managing finances. Everything belongs to God so we have to use our finances for his purposes.” 

Every student is first a Bible major. From there, they may take on second majors or minors for their chosen careers as missionaries, pastors, evangelists, teachers and musicians.

There’s a strong value placed on tradition. Students expressed distress with many facets of modern life—from drug addictions, to war, to social networking—but with tones of sympathy and optimism.

“We’re looking around at the world and seeing the need with more clarity than we ever did,” Zempel said. “There are a lot of spiritual needs out there. When we talk about making a difference, we’re talking about one person reaching another.”

Zempel said the staff discourages excessive internet and cell phone use and values personal conversation above any other form of learning.

“Spiritual mentorship is not what it once was—the connection of two people talking about spiritual needs,” Zempel said. “These days people are used to really shallow quick Twitter expressions. We’re in a bit of a different world here.”

Coming to a door near you

Although within the walls of the church people share many of the same beliefs, students and faculty are keenly aware of the diverse world outside their doors.

To their north is Menomonee Falls; to their south, the City of Milwaukee. Through various outreach programs, students hope to connect spiritually with people from these communities and ultimately bring them into their church.

“Are you 100 percent sure you’re you to heaven?” Trevor Grimes, 18, said he asks when he goes door to door. “If they’re not saved, they’re going to Hell.”

It’s an abrasive question, and he said people often refuse to talk to him. But he isn’t swayed.

“We can’t let the ones that aren’t receptive to being saved stop us from finding the ones that are,” Grimes said. “There’s a whole field of souls out there.”

The church operates a “bus ministry” in which students ride a bus into the city to pick up people who would otherwise have trouble getting themselves to church. The ride is about an hour and half, meandering through the city, and the riders are brought to Falls Baptist for Sunday School and mass. 

Students have started some of their own programs, such as a Hispanic ministry created by a student from Mexico, and, beginning this year, music lessons open to anyone.

On Monday afternoon, Music Director Elizabeth Zempel introduced the lessons program to music students who will help teach.

“I was talking to the pastor about how to reach youth, and I realized we have an army right here,” she said. “And this will help you develop as a person—your character, time management, getting up in front of people. I want you to understand why we do what we do; it’s not arbitrary. OK, any questions? … Oh, woodwind and brass together today.”

For some students, Menomonee Falls and Milwaukee are training grounds for missions far, far away. Andres Swanson, studying to be a missionary, doesn’t know where he wants to go yet, but it will likely be somewhere he has never heard of.

“I want to go to places that haven’t really had civilization, like where there are cannibals, places you could get killed, and I want to bring them the ‘good news,’” Swanson said in a steady tone. “I don’t have to be afraid because God won’t let me die until his will for my life is accomplished, when he will take me home to glory. When you die for Christ, the blood you seed falls like corn and brings forth fruit.”