An open letter to the Board of Trustees of Oklahoma Christian University.
I am an avid supporter of Cascade College and have two of my sons attending as students. Jon is in his third year and David has just started his first year. I was shocked at the news of Cascade’s closing planned for the Spring of 2009. After the news broke, my brother, who is on the Cascade Board, emailed me and said if I felt like talking, feel free to call. I emailed him back and said: “What is there to talk about? OC is only doing what Daimler did earlier this month.”
I also work for Daimler Trucks North America LLC in the Portland area and they recently announced planned plant closures in Canada and Portland with additional layoffs in the Corporate office located in Portland. They, like OC, are working to maintain a viable business and are taking steps to ensure responsible management of their assets. I do not know how this will impact my future at Daimler but I commend Daimler’s efforts and the efforts of OC in this regard.
But this is where OC parts ways with Daimler. Daimler’s desire is to build trucks and make a profit in the process. OC also has to make a profit; no one wants to put their money into a losing business. But here is where OC is different. Not only does OC need to run like a business but the business of OC also involves impacting the lives by sharing the message of Jesus Christ to a world that desperately needs Him.
It is not just about Christian education, it is about using the venue of Christian education to let people practice their Christian beliefs in front of the most impressionable part of society, our young people.
The Northwest does need a Christian college. Except for two years in California, I have lived in the NW all my life. My family lived in Portland for about 1 year in the early 60’s and during that time my mother took classes from a professor at Columbia Christian College. We eventually returned to Seattle, Washington but from her time spent in Oregon, her desire was to send all four of her children to Columbia Christian College.
She succeeded and we have all been blessed by a Christian College in the NW.
I am also tired of living on the “Left Coast”. Yes, Oregon is beautiful but the populace has and practices a liberal bent. We are hard pressed to mount a good offensive for Christian living without a local college. Cascade College has been and is providing that support to our local churches.
As for the support base in the NW, it is there but it is nothing compared to what OC has built and is maintaining in Oklahoma.
I would ask you to prayerfully reconsider your decision about closing Cascade College. OC can provide for the churches in the NW what is so desperately needed, a collegiate venue by which the name of Jesus Christ can be proclaimed to a younger generation.
Glen Aus
gwaus24@msn.com
I also work for Daimler Trucks North America LLC in the Portland area and they recently announced planned plant closures in Canada and Portland with additional layoffs in the Corporate office located in Portland. They, like OC, are working to maintain a viable business and are taking steps to ensure responsible management of their assets. I do not know how this will impact my future at Daimler but I commend Daimler’s efforts and the efforts of OC in this regard.
But this is where OC parts ways with Daimler. Daimler’s desire is to build trucks and make a profit in the process. OC also has to make a profit; no one wants to put their money into a losing business. But here is where OC is different. Not only does OC need to run like a business but the business of OC also involves impacting the lives by sharing the message of Jesus Christ to a world that desperately needs Him.
It is not just about Christian education, it is about using the venue of Christian education to let people practice their Christian beliefs in front of the most impressionable part of society, our young people.
The Northwest does need a Christian college. Except for two years in California, I have lived in the NW all my life. My family lived in Portland for about 1 year in the early 60’s and during that time my mother took classes from a professor at Columbia Christian College. We eventually returned to Seattle, Washington but from her time spent in Oregon, her desire was to send all four of her children to Columbia Christian College.
She succeeded and we have all been blessed by a Christian College in the NW.
I am also tired of living on the “Left Coast”. Yes, Oregon is beautiful but the populace has and practices a liberal bent. We are hard pressed to mount a good offensive for Christian living without a local college. Cascade College has been and is providing that support to our local churches.
As for the support base in the NW, it is there but it is nothing compared to what OC has built and is maintaining in Oklahoma.
I would ask you to prayerfully reconsider your decision about closing Cascade College. OC can provide for the churches in the NW what is so desperately needed, a collegiate venue by which the name of Jesus Christ can be proclaimed to a younger generation.
Glen Aus
gwaus24@msn.com
Labels: Cascade College
posted by Glen at 7:41 PM
5 Comments:
Nice letter Glen. I can see that this hurts you and LeeAnne as well. It is a sad issue.
However, as a person minimally involved with the school and one who has observed for years, can we blame OC in this case? Is it possible that an institution can lose its focus, to where the burden falls on the sponsoring business. Maybe something like Luke 13:6-9.
Is it right to blame the sponsor or should we look inward and ask what we could have done to change things?
Or, is this a reflection of what is going on in Portland churches as a whole.
I am also thinking as a person being supported by a church in Tulsa. We are working hard to become self sufficient. Do we blame our supporting church if they have to pull their support years after our agreed deadline? Or do we look at ourselves and reevaluate? Who do I blame if Agape doesn't grow to support my salary. Equally, who do our members blame if that doesn't happen?
Just some thoughts.
You are correct on all counts.
No easy answers only tough questions.
Do we have the strength to ask the right questions?
It seems to me that OC did their part and went well beyond their 10 year commitment to help this school. With nearly 2000 churches of Christ in the PACNW, one would like to think we loved our school enough to support it. Instead, we stand by and watch the outsiders "breathe" for us because we we won't. Now they are running out of air and need to quit before they, themselves, collapse.
It seems to me that OC has gone the extra mile....and then some. We, on the other hand, are simply getting what we have been asking for.
Packrat
Packrat,
You are also correct. OC has a rich history stretching back to 1950. We have a history since 1956 of .....Columbia.
Of course we stood by and watched the outsiders breath for us, we have already been burned.
Ron Clark is right in his blog, we need to find another venue for outreach if OC is not there. God Bless OC!
I would also like to add that we didn't completely stand by and watch without interest.
I do remember a few years ago when Portland churches raised enough money to help Cascade pay off the debt they owed for the land and campus. For some reason that was the last year churches were approached and asked for help.
I think that we have to acknowledge both entities in this. Many of the church leaders had no clue this could happen because we weren't encouraged to work with the school through prayer, support, and spiritual encouragement.
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