You’re invited to Gloria 2011!
December 1 or 2, 2011

6:00pm Punch Bowl/Dinner in GBC Dining Hall
7:30pm Christmas Concert in GBC Baker Chapel

Join us for the 2nd Annual Fundraising Dinner/Concert for the NEW Worship Arts Program at Grace Bible College. A Free Will Offering will be taken at the event.

Sponsorship Levels:
$25 – Dinner and Concert for 1
$50 – Dinner and Concert for 2
$100 – Dinner and Concert for 4
$200 – Dinner and Concert for 8

RSVP to 616-261-8573 OR email jstorms@gbcol.edu

Grace Bible College has recently completed construction of their new Student Commons which includes a dramatic revitalization of the campus entrance and O’Hair Memorial Administration Building that completes Phase I of a three phase 1.7 million dollar project. Celebration of this new building and recent revitalization will take place during Homecoming week festivities with a dedication ceremony and open house scheduled for Thursday, October 13 at 6:30pm and will also commemorate Grace Bible College’s 50 years in West Michigan. The event is open to all and the public is encouraged to attend.

For more information about Grace Bible College, or for more information about attending the dedication, please contact Steve Hilbrands at (616) 261-8565 or by email: shilbrands@gbcol.edu.

Article Source: mlive.com

WYOMING — All that Grace Bible College men’s basketball coach Gary Bailey remembers after hanging up the phone following the first call from retired Hope College coach Glenn Van Wieren a few months ago is he still wasn’t sure what, if anything, had been decided during their brief exchange.

He thought he had been informed of a prestigious coaching honor.

“I was pretty shocked when I got the call,” said Bailey, who is, in fact, being honored as the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan men’s coach of the year at a banquet tonight in Lansing. “Glenn Van Wieren is on the selection committee and he’s the one who called me to tell me about it. I felt really stupid when I talked to him because I wasn’t sure if he told me I won it or if I was a candidate or a finalist or what. He told me he’d call me back in a couple days and give me some details.

“I didn’t say anything to him (when he called back). I was too embarrassed,” he added with a laugh.

The 51-year-old Bailey has nothing to be embarrassed about.

He has taken a nondescript program and transformed it into a national powerhouse that has helped put the small Bible college in the Grand Rapids area on the map both in terms of its athletic and academic profile.

In six seasons at the helm, he has led the Tigers to five National Christian College Athletic Association Midwest regional titles, two Elite Eight appearances in the NCCAA tournament and four national championships.

He joins the ranks of Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Jud Heathcote, Grand Valley State’s Ric Wesley and Tom Villemure, Calvin College’s Ed Douma and Cornerstone University’s Kim Elders as recipients of the BCAM honor following his third consecutive NCCAA national title and a 31-7 record last season.

Izzo is a three-time winner of the men’s college coach of the year award.

Calvin College’s John Ross, who led the Knights to a share of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association title last season, is being honored as women’s college basketball coach of the year in Michigan.

“I’m pretty humbled by it,” Bailey said of his honor. “It’s still hard to believe. I really didn’t know how big it was at the time. Because we’re so small, sometimes you don’t get noticed on a bigger scale like that.”

The enrollment at Grace Bible College is 230 traditional students seeking four-year undergraduate degrees. That figure rises to about 320 when including adult and online students, but the college, which recently underwent a $1.6 million makeover, is on a campaign to boost enrollment in the future.

The school, started in Milwaukee in 1939 and relocated in 1961 to its current campus at 1011 Aldon St. SW, in Wyoming, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in the West Michigan area this year. It has fewer than 2,000 alumni, but that figure has continued to trend upward with the parallel success of its men’s basketball team.

The success on the court has been achieved without the aid of a single dollar spent on athletic scholarships.

The amiable Bailey, originally from Wheelersburg, Ohio, played college basketball at Jordan College in Cedar Springs. So he understands all about the importance of servant leadership and small-school pride.

“It’s always been hard for me to get individual awards,” said Bailey, who has been honored as NCCAA national coach of the year each of the past two years. “So much goes into it. We preach team, team, team all the time. It’s just hard to be the only guy up there when so many other people were such a big part of it.”

He has been approached about taking on bigger challenges elsewhere.

He has resisted the temptation to leave Grace Bible College to coach at a bigger program at another school because he “just feels comfortable” being part of the fabric of a place where everybody knows his name.

“I get asked all the time, ‘You going to be there much longer?’ I don’t look at it like that,” Bailey explained. “I’ve been approached a few times about other opportunities, but it’s just comfortable here at Grace.

“I don’t feel like we’re the little dinky college that other schools schedule us for a tuneup game,” he added. “I know how people used to look at us. I don’t think people look at us that way any more.”

Now everyone looks at Grace Bible College with a deep sense of pride.

Join us, October 11th – 15th, at Grace Bible College for an exciting week of fun and fellowship with alumni and friends!

To Register Online, click here.

Tuesday, October 11th

• 9:30am – Founder’s Week Chapel: Dr. Dale DeWitt / Baker Chapel

Wednesday, October 12th

• 9:30am – Founder’s Week Chapel: Dave Rachoy / Baker Chapel

Thursday, October 13th

• 9:30am – Founder’s Week Chapel: Dave Noebel / Baker Chapel
• 5:00pm – Dinner* with GBC Students / GBC Dining Room
• 6:30pm – Dedication Ceremony and Open House of New Student Commons

Friday, October 14th

• 9:30am – Founder’s Week Chapel: Bill Rigg / Baker Chapel
• 10:40am – Attend a Class (Greek, Theology, Youth Ministry, English, Music Technology)
• 12:00pm – Burger Day* with GBC Students!
• Afternoon free time to visit with friends
• 6:00pm – Alumni and Friends Homecoming Banquet / GBC Dining Room

Saturday, October 15th

• 10:00am – Brunch* with the President
• 4:30pm – Cookout/Picnic
• 5:00pm – Women’s Alumni Basketball Game / Aldrich Athletic Center
• 7:00pm - Men’s Alumni Basketball Game / Aldrich Athletic Center

Featuring:

• A Delicious Full Breakfast
• Prayer with a Purpose for Grace Bible College
• Grace Bible College Dining Room

From: 9:00 am to 11:00 am

A freewill offering will be taken to cover the cost of the brunch.

Please RSVP by September 18 (womensconnection@gbcol.edu or 616-261-8573)

Video from our Groundbreaking Ceremony, celebrating the start of the new addition to the campus. The Groundbreaking Ceremony was on April 29. The new building should be completed in August.

Article Source: MLive.com
Photo Credit: Rex Larsen

WYOMING — A 1961 Press article described Grace Bible College’s then-new campus as “a contemporary design with rustic overtones.” Fifty years later, the original main building just looks rusty.

A $1.6 million project to modernize the appearance and feel of the campus begins today. Work will include improvements to parking lots, walkways and landscaping and a 3,500-square-foot expansion of the main entry into a student commons with a fireplace, coffee bar, modern seating and outdoor patios.

“Relationship is everything for students at this age,” said Ken Kemper, college president.

“We have no one place where students can gather.

Now, (our renovated building will say) ‘This is a cool place to be.’”

And 1011 Aldon St. SW remains the place the college wants to be, a half-century after it relocated from Milwaukee. Then known as Milwaukee Bible Institute, the school that’s affiliated with churches of the Grace Gospel Fellowship held classes in the basement of Fundamental Bible Church. The church’s pastor, Charles F. Baker, was the school’s founder.

Grace had close ties to Grand Rapids because of several supporting churches in the area. So when a school next door wanted to expand, the 100-student college went looking for a new home and found 10 acres in Wyoming, said Bill Velting, 83, a board member of the college at that time.

The $400,000 campus included a central building and two dormitories.

The board’s vice chairman at the time of the move was Chris H. Sonneveldt, who later became a Grand Rapids mayor.

“Grand Rapids was a real hub of Grace people,” said Velting, who was part of the Berean Bible Church that built in the same neighborhood in 1959.

Berean Bible Church, now called Rush Creek Bible Church, since has relocated to a suburb farther afield. Grace Bible College several years ago also looked at moving out of Wyoming, but deemed an estimated $10 million cost of building a new campus too pricey, said Rick Velting, chairman of the board and Bill’s nephew.

Through the years, the college has added a chapel, library, housing for married students, a soccer field and a gymnasium that’s home to the school’s national championship basketball team. The campus has grown to more than 20 acres, moving faculty offices and all classrooms in 2004 to a former Wyoming elementary school across the street.

Grace now is making four times its original investment in the property, hoping to boost enrollment nearer a 350-student capacity.

“God has given us a spot in Wyoming. There’s a mission here and it’s growing (as other churches move out),” Kemper said. “We need to be more diverse and we need to work cross-culturally.

“People are looking for us to lead in that.”

Grace Bible College will again be hosting National Day of Prayer on its campus. The event will start at 12pm (Noon). There will be a light lunch following the National Day of Prayer  Service at 1pm.

For more information regarding National Day of Prayer, please visit their website.

The GBC Women’s Connection invites you to order an Exam-time Survival Kit for a student at GBC. We pack a bag full of snacks including a Monster or Frappuccino Coffee drink, home made cookies or bars, granola bars, Easy Mac, chips or Chex mix, a personal message and more! We distribute them to students just prior to exam time.
If you’d like to order a survival kit, download the PDF Order Form.

The students thank you!

Grace Bible College is hosting a celebration at noon Monday for its men’s basketball team, which returned Sunday from Springfield, Mo., after winning the National Christian College Athletic Association Division II national championship for the third straight year.

The event, which will include cake and guest speakers, will take place in the school cafeteria between classes.

The top-ranked Tigers defeated Valley Forge Christian College (Pa.) 76-56 on Saturday night in the NCCAA title game.

Former Wyoming Park standout Allen Durham had 26 points and 11 rebounds for Grace, which hasn’t lost to a NCCAA Division II team in three seasons.

“It will be a smaller celebration, but the whole team will be there and I think ‘back-to-back-to-back’ T-shirts are being printed up,” Grace coach Gary Bailey said. “We’re going to enjoy it.”