Baptist University of America was a private

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

university located in

Decatur, Georgia Decatur is a city in, and the county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, which is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 census, the municipality is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple ZIP Codes in ...

near

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. It was made up of a merger of five separate seminaries. It was closed in May 1987.

History

In 1965, Pastor Al Janney began offering college classes. In 1971, he incorporated Baptist University of America, which the classes became part of. Temple Heights Christian College (founded in 1973 by the pastor of Temple Heights Baptist Church), Tallahassee Christian College (founded in 1974 by the pastor of Temple Baptist Church), Regency Baptist College (founded in 1974 by the pastor of Regency Baptist Church), and University Baptist College (founded in 1974 by the pastor of University Baptist Church) merged with Baptist University of America in 1974 and retained the Baptist University of America name. The pastors of Forrest Hills Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia and Bible Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia also supported the new organization. Tampa was used as the campus in the spring of 1974, but it was moved to an Atlanta campus in December of that year.

Closure

Baptist University of America was closed in May 1987.

Notable presidents

*Pastor Al Janney (also founded

Dade Christian School Dade Christian School is a private Christian school that enrolls kindergarten through 12th grade students in Miami, Florida. DCS was founded as a segregation academy in response to the court-ordered desegregation of Miami-Dade public schools. It ...

and New Testament Baptist Church in

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

) - 1965-1974 * Curtis Hutson - 1974-1978 *Cecil “the Diesel” Hodges - 1978-1983 *”Panama” Jack Baskin 1983-1987

Notable alumni

Daniel Lawrence Whitney (better known by his stage name, Larry the Cable Guy) attended for three years, dropping out after his junior year to pursue a career in stand-up comedy.

References

Defunct private universities and colleges in Georgia (U.S. state) Educational institutions established in 1965 Educational institutions disestablished in 1987 1965 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) {{GeorgiaUS-university-stub