Hyles–Anderson College (HAC) is an

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independent Baptist Independent Baptist churches (some also called Independent Fundamental Baptist or IFB) are Christian congregations, generally holding to conservative (primarily fundamentalist) Baptist beliefs. Although some Independent Baptist churches refuse af ...

college in unincorporated Crown Point,

Lake County, Indiana Lake County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. In 2020, its population was 498,700, making it Indiana's second-most populous county. The county seat is Crown Point. The county is part of Northwest Indiana and the Chicago metropo ...

.Spivak, Diane ''Hyles' birthplace to be rebuilt on campus: Texas home of college co-founder will rest at Hyles-Anderson'' Northwest Indiana Times 7 November 2001 As a ministry of the

First Baptist Church of Hammond The First Baptist Church of Hammond is a fundamental Independent Baptist church in Hammond, Indiana. It is the largest church in the state of Indiana, and in 2007 was the 20th largest in the United States. Though founded in 1887 by Allen Hill, it ...

, it focuses on training

pastors A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and An ...

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

and

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teachers to work in Independent Baptist schools.

History

In 1972, Hyles–Anderson College was founded by

Jack Hyles Jack Frasure Hyles (September 25, 1926 – February 6, 2001) was a leading figure in the Independent Baptist movement, having pastored the First Baptist Church of Hammond in Hammond, Indiana, from August 1959 until his death. He was well known fo ...

with financial support from Russell Anderson. The school was originally located on a campus known as Baptist City in

Schererville, Indiana Schererville is a town in St. John Township, Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,646 at the 2020 census It is a suburb of Chicago located just 30 miles south of the city History Long before Indiana became a state ...

. HAC's former campus was turned into Hammond Baptist

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school. This school is also operated by the First Baptist Church of Hammond. The college's first president was Robert J. Billings, who later served as

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

's "liaison to the fundamentalist Christian movement in the 1980 presidential campaign", before spending six years in the U.S. Education Department, as well as acting as a founding member of the

Moral Majority Moral Majority was an American political organization associated with the Christian right and Republican Party. It was founded in 1979 by Baptist minister Jerry Falwell Sr. and associates, and dissolved in the late 1980s. It played a key role in ...

. In 1993

WJBK WJBK (channel 2) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government o ...

, a

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Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

news channel, produced a 30-minute documentary called '' Preying from the Pulpit'' that examined fresh claims of sex abuse in five different fundamentalist churches where church workers who molested children were traced back to Hyles–Anderson College."Preacher has links to molest suspects" ( May 17, 1993.) ''

The San Diego Union ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

'', p. A.7, San Diego, Calif. Besides the abuse, the program examined Hyles' teaching, including a 1990 sermon where Hyles "pretended to pour poison into a glass and asked an associate pastor, Johnny Colsten, to drink from it. Colsten said he would." The report said, "the sermon has the 'ring of

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' to it—the mass suicide in

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in 1978 by followers of cult leader

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American preacher, political activist and mass murderer. He led the Peoples Temple, a new religious movement, between 1955 and 1978. In what he called "revolutionary suicide", ...

." Hyles called the program "poor journalism" and organized a national campaign to respond. ''

The Times of Northwest Indiana ''The Times of Northwest Indiana'' (NWI) is a daily newspaper headquartered in Munster, Indiana. It is the second-largest newspaper in Indiana, behind only ''The Indianapolis Star''. History The paper was founded on June 18, 1906, as ''The Lake ...

'' also condemned WJBK's series, calling it "highly irresponsible" and "a monstrous overreach". When Hyles died in 2001, his son-in-law Jack Schaap, a 1979 graduate and former vice president of the school since 1996, became chancellor. That same year, Hyles' boyhood home, a shack in

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was purchased to create a museum to honor Hyles, and was shipped from Texas to Hyles–Anderson College. Schaap was removed as chancellor in 2012 after federal officials began looking into child abuse allegations, to which Schaap later pleaded guilty. In 2012, ''

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'' reported that the school " ppearedto be struggling", with only 1,000 students enrolled, down from 2,700 in its peak. That same year, school chancellor and graduate Jack Schaap was removed from his pastorate position at First Baptist Church of Hammond for having sex with a member of the church when she was 16. The girl, who was not named, was taking classes at Hyles–Anderson College. As a result, Lake County law enforcement began a criminal investigation into the church and its Hyles–Anderson College. Schaap was charged in a U.S. District Court for taking a minor across state lines to have sex with her and signed a plea agreement. In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors alleged that Schaap "groomed" the girl, including kissing the victim during counseling and had sex with her in his office. In March 2013, Schaap was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for having sex with an underage girl. In 2015, Stuart Mason, the former President of Hyles–Anderson College, resigned to Pastor the Timberline Baptist Church in Sherwood, Oregon. The next President will be John Wilkerson. Hyles–Anderson alumni have pastored at over 572 churches within the US and Guam. Over 123 alumni compose missionary families, church planters, and mission teams around the world with Fundamental Baptist Missions International and many hundreds have teamed up with other mission boards as well. One graduate, Jon Nelms, started the Final Frontiers Foundation mission board, which has led to the creation of over 44,000 churches worldwide.

Academics, policies and accreditation

Hyles–Anderson College is not accredited by any recognized accreditation body. An essay on Hyles' website presents several arguments against accreditation. However, the U.S. armed services and public schools do not recognize unaccredited degrees, while several states restrict the use of degrees from unaccredited institutions. All faculty, staff, and students are required to go soul-winning weekly by participating in the evangelistic ministry of the First Baptist Church of

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. First settled in the mid-19th century, it is one of the oldest cities of northern Lake County. As of the ...

. The 2008 college catalog claimed that 10,000 new baptisms are performed each year at the church. For school year 2010–2011, HAC's catalog listed policies under the title "Maybe You Wouldn't Like...", detailing the prohibition of long hair on men, the use of alcohol, cigarettes, dance, Hollywood movies, playing cards, having "fellowship with liberals", or participating in "other questionable amusements" as well as requiring "young ladies" to be chaperoned if they venture off-campus. page 8

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyles-Anderson College Unaccredited Christian universities and colleges in the United States Religious scandals Independent Baptist universities and colleges in the United States King James Only movement Educational institutions established in 1972 Northwest Indiana Private universities and colleges in Indiana Education in Lake County, Indiana 1972 establishments in Indiana

History

Academics, policies and accreditation

See also

References

External links