Happy
New Year!

Alumni and Friends Fellowship – Springfield, TN

This month’s Alumni and Friends Fellowship was hosted by Pastor Frank Gagliano at the South Haven Baptist Church in Springfield, Tennessee, on Thursday, November 19, 2015. Pastor John Wilkerson and Dr. Ray Young joined us for a great time of fellowship. We were served a fantastic meal of roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, and salad, as well as a delicious assortment of pie. We were thrilled to hear from our alumni of the encouragement they received from attending the fellowship.

Invitational Basketball and Volleyball Tournament

Twenty-four teams descended on the campus of Hyles-Anderson College on December 2-4 for the ninth annual Hyles-Anderson College Invitational Basketball and Volleyball Tournament. Nearly 400 student athletes from eleven states participated in three days of intense competition on the basketball and volleyball courts.

After eighteen pool play games in each sport, the single elimination tournament began on Thursday afternoon. The tournament continued through Friday culminating in volleyball and basketball championship games played in front of a large crowd in the DeCoster Gymnasium at Hyles-Anderson College. You can see complete results of each game on our tournament website.

Congratulations to the 2015 Volleyball Champions, the Liberty Christian School Lady Patriots from Durham, North Carolina. They defeated the First Baptist School Lady Lions from Plattsmouth, Nebraska in the championship game.

Congratulations to the 2015 Basketball Champions, the Hammond Baptist Swordsmen from Schererville, Indiana. They defeated the Lakecrest Baptist Patriots from Waterford, Michigan in the championship game.

The Most Valuable Players were voted on by all the coaches in their sport. The 2015 Volleyball Most Valuable Player was Miss Meghan Lee from First Baptist School in Plattsmouth, Nebraska. The 2015 Basketball Most Valuable Player was Mr. David Cowling from Hammond Baptist High School in Schererville, Indiana.

Christmas Lights

The largest student activity of the fall semester is the annual Chicago Christmas Lights Activity. This year over 250 students and staff loaded buses and took off for an evening of fun together in downtown Chicago. Christmas Lights has been a tradition for almost thirty years at Hyles-Anderson College. The activity includes strolling through millions of Christmas lights in downtown Chicago, ice skating in Millennium Park, shopping in the Christkindle German Christmas Market, sightseeing, eating delicious food, and viewing the Macy’s window displays. It is definitely a highlight of the Christmas season every single year.

The Story of Christmas

Hyles-Anderson College students have the one-of-a-kind opportunity to be a part of the First Baptist Church of Hammond, IN. Each year, our students participate in the annual Christmas program. This year’s program was written by our Program Director, Bro. Anthony Collins. The program was entitled “The Story of Christmas” and followed verse by verse the Biblical account of the Christmas story. The music students got to be part of the 200 voice choir, the orchestra, drama, and special singing groups. In all, they participated in three showings and ministered to thousands of people, with many trusting Christ.

Final Chapel Service of the Fall Semester

On the last day of chapel before Christmas Break begins we go all out to celebrate the accomplishments of the semester and look forward to the upcoming year. This year was no exception. The annual appearance of the “Oom Pa Pa Quartet” was a delight to the student body and the service ended with Pastor and Mrs. Wilkerson singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” just before the students were dismissed.

This year's service was extra special because it gave everyone a final opportunity to say goodbye to Dr. Stuart Mason and his dear wife Toni. We are excited for them to have the opportunity to follow God’s will to become the pastor of the Timberline Baptist Church in Sherwood, Oregon. While it is difficult for us to say goodbye, we are thrilled for the people of Timberline Baptist Church. Dr. Mason served as president of Hyles-Anderson College since 2012 and helped our college through a very difficult time. We will be forever indebted to him for his leadership, investment, and love to the students and staff of Hyles-Anderson College.

We hope that you will pray with us as Pastor Wilkerson considers who will be the next President of Hyles- Anderson College. This is not a decision that is being taken lightly and we want to bathe the entire situation in prayer for God to lead us to the right man.

We are looking forward to the start of the spring semester on January 12, 2016. Hyles-Anderson College will continue moving forward in the training of the next generation of Independent Baptist Christian leaders. We are committed to preparing our students to be effective Christian leaders prepared to serve in local churches all over the world. If you want to join us, there is still time. Visit our Admissions website for more information or call 219.365.4031 extension 1239.

This semester we will be adding some brand-new classes to our academic offerings.

“History of Music II” will be taught by Mr. Jerry Vargo. Mr. Vargo has an amazing knowledge of hymn history and will be covering Gospel music from the mid 1700's to the present. This class is the second in our History of Music series.

“Music Lab” will be for those music majors taking private lessons. In addition to each student’s weekly lesson, he will have the opportunity to participate in supervised practice time where a music faculty member will be available to help the student work through difficult sections of music. This program will advance the private music student's progress at a faster pace and provide practice time as part of the daily class schedule.

“Basic Church Media” is an entry-level media course giving an overview of what the needs and practical solutions are for a church media program. A variety of guest speakers will teach this class giving a wide array of information concerning audio, video, design, printing, radio, social media, file management, presentations, advertising, church outreach, branding, and marketing.

“Ministry Ethics and Relationships” is a new course that will be taught by Dr. Ray Young. Dr. Young has over forty years of experience as an assistant pastor, teacher, administrator, national speaker, host, and counselor. This class will provide the opportunity to learn first-hand from one of the most experienced men in fundamentalism.

The students at Hyles-Anderson College have the opportunity to learn from and be influenced by some of the greatest Christian leaders of our time. We are excited about the guest speakers and lecturers who will be joining us at Hyles-Anderson College this semester. Many of these men will preach in chapel and teach the Church Education class. Some will also teach seminar-type classes on specific subjects. You can view a full schedule of guest speakers on our events calendar.

Guest Chapel Speakers:

Pastor Warren Johnson
Evangelist Caleb Garraway
Evangelist David Young
Pastor Mark Johnson
Pastor Elmer Fernandez
Pastor Mike Ray
Pastor Matt Wilkerson
Pastor Jeff Eldred
Bro. Jack Baskin

Upcoming Events:

Spring Semester Begins – January 12
Winter Revival – January 18-20
First Baptist Church Marriage Retreat – February 4-6
15th Anniversary of Dr. Jack Hyles death – February 6
Valentine Banquets – February 19-20
Mid-Term Exams - February 29 - March 4
Spring Break – March 4 – 14
Missions Conference – March 20-23
Spring College Days – April 6-8
Senior Day – April 22
Commencement – May 6

You can view a full calendar of all upcoming events on our events calendar.

In each edition of the Hyles-Anderson Connection for the next several months we will be highlighting a specific area that Hyles-Anderson College has to offer. We call this segment "The Spotlight.” We want you to be informed of some of the areas that make our college unique.

This month we put our spotlight on the Student Employment Resource Center.

The job market in the Chicagoland area is one of the best in the nation. Many Fortune 500 companies are based in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Within a forty-five minute drive of our campus there are literally thousands of jobs available for the student who is willing to work.

At Hyles-Anderson College, we want to make it as easy as possible for our students to finance their college education. Our Student Employment Resource Center (SERC) has developed relationships with a wide variety of local businesses throughout the Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland area to help secure great jobs for our students as they prepare for the ministry.

Due to our close proximity to Chicago, the demand for honest, hard-working employees is very high, and Hyles- Anderson College students have a great reputation as dependable workers that businesses are eager to hire. SERC works diligently with local employers to help provide jobs for our students with pay adequate enough to pay their school bills each month.

The Student Transportation Department provides local transportation to and from work within a specific transportation route. This convenience allows our students greater flexibility in finding a well-paying job within a few miles of the Hyles-Anderson College campus.

Job fairs are held twice annually at Hyles-Anderson College. These events bring potential employers to our campus to expose students to employment opportunities and to give them the convenience of applying to many places at the same time. Often, students apply, receive an interview, and are hired on the spot at one of our job fairs.

For those who meet the criteria, on-campus employment is available on a limited basis to offset the cost of room and board. For information about on-campus employment opportunities, please visit the Scholarships page.

For more information about the Student Employment Resource Center or for job openings in the local area, please visit the HACSERC Facebook group. If you have any questions, please contact our SERC Director, Miss Jennifer-Ruth Green, at greenj@hylesanderson.edu or by calling 219.365.4031 extension 1260.

Happy
New Year!