In 2020 Horizon will be moving to a brand-new facility, debt-and mortgage-free, investing our equity as the first major installment of an endowment fund to grow as a source of sustainable revenue in order to help our college thrive into the indefinite future. Read more of the story in this Special Report >
A year ago, I was focused in a completely different direction. And then I had a meeting at Starbucks.
In the summer of 2017, I was writing business plans and applying for seed money from banks, credit unions, and a major foundation – ultimately to be rejected by them all.
You see, we had a plan.
Our college administration, board, and PAOC district leaders had met and faced facts. Facts like:
- We need competent Christian leaders. As the Baby Boomers retire and with about 1/3 of ministering PAOC credential holders aged 55+, we’re facing a leadership crisis.
- We need a new education model. The traditional Bible college and seminary models, although wonderful in many respects, have faced decades of criticism that they inadequately prepare people for real-life Christian leadership.
- We need a new business model. Until the 1990s, it was normal for Christians to attend Bible college for at least a year after graduating high school. These students created an enrolment that subsidized the smaller number of students preparing for professional Christian leadership. That’s no longer the norm.
- We can’t do it alone. The demographics of the PAOC in our Saskatchewan and Manitoba / Northwestern Ontario districts are not large enough to sustain a vibrant college.
Desiring a vibrant college on the prairies, we registered these facts and made a plan.
First, we tackled education. In 2015 (our 80th year) we launched Horizon 8.0 and have since been industry pioneers in Competency-Based Education (CBE).
After launching CBE, we quickly attracted attention from other denominations. Since 2015, three denominational colleges in Saskatchewan and more than 40 colleges accredited by the Association of Biblical Higher Education have closed. Might Horizon meet Christian leadership needs beyond the PAOC?
In 2016 we initiated PAOC Plus, exploring how denominational partners could customize Horizon’s curriculum to produce a denominational leadership track. In return, partnerships increase Horizon’s recruitment base by potentially over 200%.
Denominational conversations are going remarkably well, and I am thrilled to have just signed an agreement with the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary – our first official partner, with more soon to follow.
But there was a problem with our plan.
We had no additional resources to allocate to CBE development or our PAOC Plus initiatives. Consequently, our board approved borrowing on our equity to fund our plan. Next, cue 2017 and my “summer of rejection” (which sounds a lot like a young adult romance novel!).
And then I had a meeting at Starbucks.
I was meeting with a denominational leader last summer when he made a radical proposal. Their church had land in a prime location. Why not move our multi-denominational leadership vision next door?
I spoke with our board. Our current facility was aging and was annually becoming increasingly expensive to maintain. And the banks were clear that our property’s equity would be forever inaccessible to a religious, non-profit, educational institution. Our board agreed: moving was a smart opportunity.
Our only problem was that we needed somebody to develop the new location. In fact, we needed someone willing to let us sell our property and we keep 100% of the equity, to build us a new college, and to lease to us long term at substantially below market value. No problem!
And then, through a series of God-ordained moments, I met a developer named Josh.
Josh visited in my office for nearly two hours, hearing about our vision and our college’s needs.
“So, what do you think?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said, “I think we can do that.”
So, in 2020 Horizon will be moving to a brand-new facility, debt- and mortgage-free, investing our equity as the first major instalment of an endowment fund to grow as a source of sustainable revenue in order to help our college thrive into the indefinite future.
God is good!
As a student, I cultivated the habit of reading a chapter of Proverbs daily, corresponding the chapter to the day of the month. My favourite was chapter 16. That chapter contains several proverbs that remind us that no matter what we think of our own plans and powers, God always calls the shots.
A year ago, nobody would have predicted what’s now happening at Horizon. We made plans, but the Lord determined our steps (Prov. 16.9). Our job is to keep stepping faithfully.
We are grateful to you, our supporting constituency, for stepping faithfully with us all these years. We shared much of this vision with over 200 of you at our Town Hall meetings this year and are so thankful for your feedback and overwhelming encouragement. Thank you!
There are several more steps to take between now and 2020, and we hope you will journey with us. In particular, you can stay with us through your prayers and your financial support.
Please pray for:
- Completion of sale – conditional agreements are already in place for the sale of both our Jackson Ave and the new property. Pray all conditions are met.
- Increased favour and generosity from God’s people – both from our existing supporters and that we would see new support emerge for this ministry.
- Increased enrolments – that God would continue to call students here, and that parents, church leaders, and others would be discerning and bold to identify and send future leaders to Horizon.
- Continued partnerships – that we would continue making Kingdom-building, multi-denominational partnerships.
Blessings on our developer, Josh Remai – as Josh has been good to us, may he experience God’s own goodness in his life and in his business.
Ways to support:
- Sustained support – Regular donor support subsidizes student costs by 40%. The equity we’re able to invest only sustains us long term if we’re able to leave the principal alone, meaning our regular givers need to continue giving regularly.
- Special support – There are still two years to operate between now and 2020. In that time, we need not only to operate regularly but also to be developing our CBE and multi-denominational models. Please help us improve and promote what we are doing.
- Project support – We look forward to our brand-new space in 2020. But to minimize our lease rate, we need to raise capital to furnish our college and to outfit it with technology that enables excellence for both in-house learning and to expand programming beyond Saskatoon.
- Legacy support – We anticipate a day when we will lose access to government-related funding (e.g., student loans, charitable status). Like Joseph storing grain in Egypt, we aim to grow our endowment to aid our self-sustained operation into the future. Support for this may come directly in the form of a gift or, from many, as a bequest. Please consider including Horizon in your end-of-life planning.
We are grateful to God for presiding over this unprecedented vision, and to you for supporting it.
To God be the glory!
Jeromey Martini
What are your memories of Jackson Ave? Share them at info@horizon.edu, and watch our website for more information on our moves and trips down memory lane!
With grateful thanks to Josh Remai and Span West Construction!
