Farewell Jackson

It’s hard to say goodbye.

As the demolition of our former building has begun, it stirs a lot of emotions. Sadness mixed with thankfulness! Here is the last look at 1303 Jackson Ave as we knew it.

You can see photos on our Facebook page – and if you have pics or memories to share from your time with us – we’d love to hear from you there.

What a Difference a Move Makes

by Ron Kadyschuk

Tuesday January 19, 2021. It was almost a déjà vu moment. I walked into Horizon College and Seminary at 604 Webster Street. A brand-new state-of-the-art building. My thoughts went back to March 1969. Central Pentecostal College had purchased the Lutheran Theological Seminary building and our student body moved into a brand-new residence at 1303 Jackson Avenue. Workers were everywhere trying to get the residence finished just as they are still putting the finishing touches on 604 Webster today.

I was in my graduating year of the Diploma in Theology. The old college building on Idylwyld Drive North had been held together on ‘a wing and a prayer’ for years. Most of us in the residence used our window ledges as convenient refrigerators. The Lutherans had moved to a new facility on the University campus and, while the new residence was being built, our college held classes that school year at Jackson Avenue. Every morning we loaded into a big yellow school bus for the ride from Idylwyld to Jackson. It was like a pack of adolescents heading off to summer camp. We laughed, we sang, we drove the bus driver crazy. I don’t think any of us had a sense of the momentous ‘game-changing’ moment in history that we were privileged to be experiencing.

Rev. Alvin Schindel, our President at that time, was a visionary and strategic leader. Alvin knew that the college would die a slow and painful death if there was no seismic shift in its organizational realities. He and the faculty had cultivated a healthy relationship with the Lutherans and the University, relationships that led to the purchase of the Lutheran Seminary building and eventually an affiliation with the University itself. A ‘game-changer’ moment in time that established the college for the next 50 years.

In one respect I use the word ‘privileged’ rather loosely to describe our moving experience in March 1969. Alvin knew that in six weeks, after Graduation weekend, he would lose a ‘voluntary’ labor force of 60 students. So -and here I may be exaggerating a bit- he stared down all the harsh realities of a new residence that was far from ready for occupation and mandated a total move from Idylwyld to Jackson Avenue. Thinking that he was doing this brave act for our sakes, so we could enjoy at least a few weeks at the new location, we pitched in with zealous fervor. It was not until years later, after reading many books on leadership, that I realized he might have had other motives as well. God rest his soul. He impacted so many lives through his enduring longevity of ministry.

And now we have a subsequent generation of visionary and strategic leader. Rev. Dr. Jeromey Martini saw the need for a new paradigm, a seismic shift in organizational realities, in order for Horizon to have a viable and meaningful future. He pioneered a competency-based approach to curriculum and established new relationships with multiple denominations, a visible testament being the actual location of the new building adjacent to Forest Grove Community Church (Mennonite Brethren Conference). Partnering with the Mennonite Brethren Conference, the Church of God in Western Canada, and the Midwest District of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Horizon College and Seminary now enters a dynamic new chapter in its service.

We always build, when we build well, on the shoulders of those who went before us. Pioneers in 1935 started this ministry in Star City. Another generation established Bethel Bible Institute on Idylwyld Drive North. The torch was passed to those who made Central Pentecostal College on Jackson Avenue a reality. And now we have 604 Webster, a flagship for the glory of God and the training of competent Christian leaders for the next generation. May God be praised.