To look at its well-kept, well-appointed suburban campus these days, you'd never know they once couldn't afford coal to heat the buildings.

Or that the meals were sparse, and the school budget was on a little shoestring.

Even though it has spanned life from before television to the Internet age, the mission of Lancaster Bible College and Graduate School in its 75th year remains the same as back at the start, President Peter Teague said.

That is, raising up young men and women to learn to follow and serve God.

And at the same time, they want to be good stewards of what God has so generously given the school, Teague said this week.

Which is why the theme of the current 2008-09 diamond anniversary is "Celebrating God's Faithfulness."

LBC, at 901 Eden Road, is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a school year full of events, including a concert by Christian contemporary singer/songwriter Michael Card next Saturday, Nov. 1.

Card's "Friends Fellowship Celebration Concert" is from 7 to 9 p.m. at LBC's Good Shepherd Chapel. It's free, but tickets are required (visit www.lbc.edu for details).

Teague, now in his 10th year as president at Manheim Township's only college, said steering the school's spiritual growth, while also shepherding its resources, are his main goals at the helm.

Students "are in the process of spiritual maturity ... we want to make sure there's a climate here so that those students who want to grow deep in their relationship with God can do so."

After school leaders had prayed earnestly this past June, Teague said, the school set a record for the largest monthly giving amount in its history, nearly $617,000, and LBC ended 2007-08 with a balanced budget, its 29th.

It all comes as the "typical" student is no longer always of a just-out-of-high-school age, the president noted.

"They used to be 18 to 23 years old, but now they're getting older (when they start) and have what we call 'a consumer mindset' ... they want education delivered 24/7."

That's why LBC started four years ago to offer courses online. Its students come from 26 states and 22 countries, and total enrollment today is 859 undergraduate and 199 graduate, along with more than 1,000 part-time evening students.

Even at age 75, LBC is among what Teague called the "young-comers to the Bible-college movement," which began at the very start of the 20th century, in response to what was viewed as an increasingly secular higher-education system.

Said Renee Crowe, LBC's director of community relations, "God's faithful, and those two words are the key ... none of this would have been possible without God."

Many similar Bible schools have closed over the years, so it's clear that LBC has been covered by prayers, Teague noted.

It all comes at a time when fewer young people today are becoming pastors or entering full-time church service ... only 7 percent of practicing pastors today are under age 35, for example.

Future LBC expansion "will move forward as God directs," according to Teague. That could include a worship and performing-arts building, a new library and an upgrade to several other buildings.

Formerly known as the Lancaster School of the Bible, the institution was founded by Henry Heydt in September 1933, with eight day students and 14 evening students enrolled.

They first met in the Convention Hall at West Orange and Pine Streets, and at the time there was no tuition and even no listed salaries for teachers.

And since there also was no library, Heydt made his own extensive library available to students. There were just five in the first graduating class.

Earlier this school year, LBC hosted a special 75th anniversary weekend, plus a free concert by Christian music performer Andrew Peterson.

Other upcoming anniversary events include:

• A "Maximum Impact Missions Conference" on Jan. 19-21, featuring Yale University's Jim Ehrman.

• A "Spiritual Emphasis Week," Feb. 10-12, with well-known New Jersey-based speaker and pastor Buster Soaries.

• A production of the play "Little Women," on Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4, and a "Spring Celebration Concert" April 24 and 25, featuring music and worship from each decade of LBC's history.


Staff writer David O'Connor can be reached at doconnor@LNPnews.com or 481-6033.