CHI Connect: June 2023
Dear Friends,
So much has happened since our last update! God has opened doors beyond what we could have even imagined, and I'm looking forward to updating you on the work He has in store for Christian Halls International. Rather than jamming everything into a single update, this will be the first of a regular series of updates. I will kick things off by giving you a high-level overview.
In the coming days, you will see a substantial change to christianhalls.org. These changes reflect the heart of our mission: to serve as an educational design and consulting service, working with our regional Private Christian Hall clients and our partner universities to design, launch, and sustain local, no-debt, Christ-centered, mentor-led higher education. Over the past two years of piloting regional sites, we have identified five core Hall designs that we are using to build a national network of local micro-campuses:
Christian Community College Alternative:
Did you know that the fastest growing space in higher education is secular community college? Increasingly, students are looking to avoid the exorbitant costs of 4-year college degrees and often enroll in a local two-year college before transferring to a state or private university. For example, in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro area, there are more than 350,000 students enrolled in community college. Did you also know that there are almost no Christ-centered community colleges or junior colleges? We have found that the Christian Hall can offer a compelling local, debt-free, highly relational alternative to increasingly secularized community colleges.
Dual-Enrollment:
Today, many high school students are seeking dual credit options to accelerate their college experience and save on costs. Secular universities have used this demand to infiltrate both private high schools and homeschools. Many of our Christian Hall sites have asked for a Christ-centered alternative, and our Dual Credit program is our response. Now, Christian Hall members can earn college credit during their high school studies, with some students able to graduate high school with an associate's degree.
Christian Trade School Alternative:
Similarly, Christians have largely abandoned training for those who seek to pursue trades and vocational work. With the rise of federal funding, our colleges and universities followed the money and abandoned the education of our skilled tradesmen. Can you imagine? These are the people who are in homes, in businesses, with the opportunity to deeply impact our neighbors and communities on a daily basis. It is past time for the Church to re-engage and reinfuse the Trades with the message of Christ's kingdom. We have worked with Southeastern University over the past year to design associate's and bachelor's degrees in HVAC, Welding, Plumbing, Electrical, and General Contracting. Take a moment and check out the program on SEU's website.
We have also reimagined the Bible College and Seminary design and developed a Work-Study and Apprenticeship design that works closely with select Christian-operated businesses to place our members into the workforce while earning college credit.
Future Hall Designs: We are in the process of designing solutions for Special Needs and Special Education, a Christian Conservatory of the Arts, and a Teacher College. Each of these Hall Designs is a response to the needs of local communities as we redesign Christian higher education to meet the needs of the local Church. If you're interested in contributing to the establishment of these community designs or feel called to be a part of the process, please contact us.
Staff Highlight
As our mission has crystallized, God has been faithful to bring the people we need into that mission. Over the next few newsletters, I will highlight some of the central staff, regional partners, and volunteers that God has brought into our mission. To kick things off, here's a little about me
Dr. Nicholas Ellis
“I grew up on the mission field in Brazil, where I developed a passion for local mentorship and flourishing local community. I then pursued an academic career, earning degrees in biblical studies, languages, and theology from Union University, Trinity Western University, and the University of Oxford. It was during my time in Oxford that I saw the potential to use the Oxford Tutorial system as a means of uniting local mentors and tutors with accredited academic study. Laura Lee Ellis is my brilliant and talented wife, who uses her gifts and loves for literature, writing, and speaking to train our five children (Liam, Grace, Owen, David, and Anna). I currently serve as CEO of Christian Halls International, and as our team grows I increasingly find my role shifting from operations to vision casting, team building, and engaging with regional and international partners. I have also recently earned my private pilot license, which will be the topic of a future newsletter!
Finally
I hope that you can be encouraged: in what feels like an increasingly dark world of higher education, God’s church is beginning to respond, sloughing off the old skin and re-examining the work of training our next generation. I am so energized by how local communities across North America, Brazil, East Africa, and elsewhere are rising to the task and responding to the need, taking back governance of human formation from childhood through adult education. I am so grateful for your ongoing support, your prayers, your emails, your donations, and your participation in this mission.
