When Lincoln Christian University closes its doors in May, a Lincoln church is set to become the owner of much of the properties and grounds that comprised the 80-year-old private liberal arts college and seminary.
LCU announced late last year that its seminary would be acquired by a sister college in Missouri and it would otherwise cease operations at the end of the 2023-24 academic year. The four-year Christian college had been beset by financial and enrollment challenges for some time, president Silas McCormick said.
Larry Crawford, an LCU alumnus himself and pastor of Open Arms Christian Fellowship in Lincoln, said he began discussing leasing options with LCU leadership a few years ago before entering into a purchase agreement for six buildings and acreage that was finalized for around $4 million last year.
Now, Open Arms is preparing to pay $800,000 to purchase the remaining five buildings and some green space acreage that comprised LCU. Altogether, LCU’s property is about 130 acres in size, according to its website; once the purchase is finalized, the roughly 550-member church will own about 100 of those acres.
“One of the things that’s really important to us is to build on the legacy of Lincoln Christian university. Literally, they’ve raised up leaders that are all over the world. We want to honor that, we want to celebrate that legacy,” Crawford said in an interview with WGLT. “But we also want to build on that and what the Lord has put us here to do — and that’s reach people in our community, in our area.”
In a statement earlier this month, McCormick said that “in contemplating what would happen to this holy ground, there was no question that what was most important was that it continue to be used to make disciples if at all possible.”
[Open Arms] has “been a wonderful partner and neighbor—particularly these last four challenging years” McCormick wrote. “Though I grieve what is lost, that grief is certainly not without hope, and I look forward to what may yet be.”
Crawford said the church has a “really big plan” for the campus, but would only publicize some parts of those plans since meetings and work to finalize details remains ongoing.
He said the church plans to open a youth center for junior high and high school students in one of the buildings. That youth center is separate from church programming Open Arms already offers on Wednesday and Sunday nights. Plans to offer additional on-site services for younger children are still being worked on, Crawford said.
“One of the biggest things right now is that students don’t have a place to go. This will provide for them a place to go — and it will enable us to reach more students through youth ministry and outreach to the community,” he said. “We’re looking to provide after-school programs and have a place where they can hang out.”
With the purchase of a building that has a kitchen and dining hall, as well as its ownership of a former residence hall, Crawford said the church will expand the amount of conferences and retreats that it hosts. The church also plans to use the extra space to serve more people community meals on Thanksgiving.
Already active in sports ministry, Crawford said the church is also considering expanding that athletics programming with groups like the Fellowship of Christian Athletics, since it will have both dining and residential spaces.
“That’s just a small part of what we’re looking to do,” Crawford said. “We plan on maximizing the use of all 100-plus acres and all 11 buildings in some way.”
Lincoln College property
The local purchase and ownership of LCU’s buildings and land stands in stark contrast to the fate of the former Lincoln College property nearly a mile-and-a-half down the road.
Lincoln College, a 157-year-old school that claimed to be the only one named after Abraham Lincoln while he still lived, closed abruptly in 2022 after a ransomware attack; the 50-plus acre campus is still listed for sale with Chicago-based global real estate firm Cushman and Wakefield.
“We really believe that even though those things hurt and we’re grieving those things, we’re not just looking at that. We’re looking at the present and what the future holds,” Crawford said. “We believe that the best is yet to come from Lincoln, Illinois, and that this city will live and that it will prosper — and that is what our focus is.”
