Last week, I discussed how the Bible has uniquely inspired me as I carry on the work of my father in leading the historic Thomas Road Baptist Church. I mentioned several men in the Bible whose stories have inspired me as I observed how they courageously responded to new challenges brought before them.
This week I want to tell you about another man who has uniquely inspired me in recent days. His name is Jerry Falwell Jr., my brother.
On Wednesday, Jerry, who serves as president and chancellor of Liberty University, addressed the first convocation service of the fall semester. With more than 10,000 students and hundreds of faculty and staff filling the Vines Center arena, Jerry brought one of the most stirring messages I have heard in quite some time.
Jerry noted that years ago, our father determined that there were three key objectives for Liberty University that needed to be addressed. He detailed how God has seen fit to answer our prayers in resolving these issues:
1. Liberty needed facilities that were second to none. It’s hard to believe now, but old hotels and abandoned school buildings were used in the initial days of Liberty. Today, the university operates on a beautiful 5,000-acre campus that features state-of-the-art classroom, housing, computer, athletic and dining facilities.
2. Liberty needed to find new ways to recruit students and establish an endowment beyond Dad’s “Old Time Gospel Hour” broadcast (which was virtually the sole recruiting tool for Liberty in the 1970s and 80s). Today, Jerry noted, “Liberty recruits its own students and operates within its own revenues and is not dependent on contributions from other ministries for support.”
3. Liberty needed to reduce its debt, which once stood at around $83 million. “We have seen more miracles in this area than perhaps any other over the last 20 years,” Jerry stated in his address. He thanked several people for their financial help through the years, including local businessmen Dan Reber and Jimmy Thomas and many donors who have contributed tens of millions of dollars to Liberty.
Earlier this month, Jerry announced that Liberty received about $29 million in death benefits from university-owned life insurance policies on our father. On Wednesday, Jerry announced to the student body that through these benefits, Liberty today is a debt-free institution. The Vines Center erupted in applause during this very emotional moment.
This miracle university is now able to begin pursuing new avenues for establishing an endowment that will sustain it for years to come. In this regard, Mr. and Mrs. Sherwin Cook, a local couple, responded to Liberty’s financial strength by donating $2 million, the largest gift that it has ever received toward its endowment fund.
After sharing these financial victories, Jerry used the occasion to express his personal feelings about this university. He recalled the great faculty he had who helped to prepare him for the task he now faces in leading Liberty University. “The quality of Liberty’s faculty is still one of its best-kept secrets,” Jerry stated. “This academic excellence coupled with the faculty’s commitment to Christ and to biblical principles makes our faculty one of the best in the world, in my opinion.”
He also spoke to Liberty’s future, saying, “We cannot stop now that Liberty is on solid ground. Our vision is an ever-expanding vision. We will heed the warning of Proverbs 29:18 ("Where there is no vision, the people perish). And we will continue to dream and imagine and plan and work.”
Noting that Liberty begins this fall with more than 10,400 students on the campus and more than 18,000 in the distance learning program, the largest student body in our history, Jerry added, “We will continue to grow in the not-too-distant future of meeting Dad’s vision of over 25,000 students on the campus; we also are continuing to grow the infrastructure of Liberty to keep up with the demands of a growing student body.”
It was a great day in the history of Liberty. We got a close-up view of the man who will lead and inspire this university for these next phases of its unprecedented growth and development. I want to close this column with the words of my brother’s closing on Wednesday, in hopes that readers can capture the essence of the excitement and anticipation we share in continuing to build on our father’s dream for Liberty University.
“So it is with hope that we begin this new school year. I and my family have coveted and appreciated your prayers for us during this difficult time while the memory of dad and his passing is fresh. And it is imperative that we remember our founder, our friend and my dad fondly, and with gratitude for the work God did through him in building this house, God’s university. But we must not pine for the past, but rather look to the future with great anticipation and expectation, for while God’s work through Dad was completed, His work for Liberty University is not.
"I hope each of you, every faculty member, every staff member and every student will join with me in our unchanging mission and in continuing the work that God began here 36 years ago at Liberty University so that we can continue to build this house and discover God’s plan for prospering this university and prospering each of our lives in our service to him.”
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