In 2023, PBA students enjoy a beautiful campus along the intracoastal waterway that houses a spacious Warren Library, a newly renovated campus bookstore, a 400-seat DeSantis Family Chapel, a 76-acre Rinker Athletic Campus and more. Although PBA’s campus looks vastly different than it did 55 years ago, the mission determined by the founders of PBA has remained the same throughout its history.
The university we know today has developed and prospered from small beginnings. 在《推荐全球最大网赌正规平台欢迎您》中,” a detailing of PBA’s history, Dr. 唐纳德•沃伦, PBA’s founding chairman of the board, shares firsthand accounts of PBA’s formative years. He describes feeling “a great deal of anguish concerning why God had called [him] to such an impossible task.” Dr. Warren was a respected cardiologist with a thriving medical practice in 西推荐全球最大网赌正规平台欢迎您, but when Dr. 杰斯喜怒无常, 第一浸信会主任牧师, commissioned him to join the mission of starting a Christian college in 南佛罗里达, Dr. Warren reluctantly agreed, saying “why not us and why not 在这里?”
With seemingly improbable needs for finances and sponsors, the founders wondered if their dream for a Christian college, in the midst of the socially turbulent 多年的伟大梦想 都不可能完成. Warren explained that they started PBA with the aim to “produce Christian leaders – young people who would leave college…work in their professions as Christians, serve in their churches as lay leaders and become the backbone of their communities.”
Originally run out of First Baptist Church classrooms and small houses purchased as dormitory buildings,PBA seemed to have a long journey ahead to reach its goal. However, Warren says the doubt and uncertainty reminded him that PBA was not his or anyone else’s. 这是上帝的. 在《推荐全球最大网赌正规平台欢迎您》中,他说, “今天, 当我看这所大学的时候, it is clear that no one person or group of people built it. 上帝创造了它.”
威廉Yarick, PBA创始班的成员, shared his gratitude for the individuals who believed in PBA’s mission and vision from the very beginning, stating that “a lot of people invested in the college with a vision for the future, 正如你们今天所看到的, it has turned out to be quite a vision fulfilled.”
The vision for the Workship program that began in 1968 has continued to grow, and PBA students have now completed nearly four million Workship hours. Sharing the heart behind the origination of Workship, Warren explained that because “Christ taught and lived by example among the people, Jess (Moody) determined that…students would do the same. They would work for people in the community who could do nothing for them in return.”
The mission to produce leaders who seek wisdom, serve in their communities and have a heart for the Lord can be seen in the university’s motto: Enlightening Minds, Enriching Souls, Extending Hands.
With the celebration of 55 years of PBA, we can reflect on the seemingly impossible dream that God brought to fruition and the traces of divine intervention throughout PBA’s story. Now, more than five decades later, PBA continues to dream “无限的梦想” with Dr. 黛布拉一. Schwinn, PBA’s current president, at the helm. The strategic vision includes a multi-phased master plan to maximize available land – it plans for a new six-story, 旗舰商业大厦, 健康科学综合体, a student and alumni welcome center and a state-of-the-art performing arts center. “To remain competitive and responsive to marketplace changes, we are committed continuously improving our learning community, expanding relevant program offerings and building forward-thinking, 生命的空间,施温校长说. “PBA结合 whole-person education with an emphasis on excellence, so that our students graduate as servant leaders. That combination is what we need in the world today.”
Dr. Warren encapsulated PBA’s story well, stating that it “is not one of great human achievement, but one of God working through mere mortals in the past, present and future to accomplish the ‘impossible dream.’ Many people have contributed immensely to [PBA’s] cause and they are to be commended. But the main credit should go w在这里 it is due: To the God of mercy, 充满奇迹和奇迹, 谁在每个角落遇见我们.”
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