Some years ago a young man paid us a visit. We encouraged him to make himself at hom, and

he did. One evening he checked our cupboards for snacks, without any luck. His came back

saying, “there isn’t any food in there - only ingredients”.

Now I had never thought of it that way before. When I open our cupboards, I see food.

Of course, he was looking for ‘value-added products’ - like cookies or pretzels. The thing about

adding value to products is that they already are ‘all that they can be’. You can’t plant a potato

chip and a cookie will never grow up to be a wedding cake. The benefit of added convenience

results in a loss of potential. But as long as you have ingredients, the possibilities are endless.

At Great Lakes Bible College our philosophy of education begins with ingredients. We think of

our finished ‘product’ as ‘a work in progress’ that will take a lifetime to complete.

It is not our goal to provide ‘all of the answers’ or for that matter, to raise ‘all of the questions’.

What we want to do, is to equip our students for a lifetime of growth in matters pertaining to God

and his Word. Our goal is to graduate candidates who have a broad base of biblical knowledge

and the ability to think for themselves. At the same time, we encourage and support personal

spiritual growth and meaningful service in the church.

The bottom line is that Great Lakes Bible College does add value, but we are careful about how

we do it. We do not want to sacrifice potential for the sake of convenience. I think that it is fair to

say that none of our degree tracks qualify as a nice light snack. That is why it takes at least three

years to earn a Bachelor of Religious Education Degree and four years for a Bachelor of

Theology Degree.

A lifetime of Christian service deserves serious preparation. Make plans now to join us this fall.

Dave Knutson

Principal