An Historic Occasion
Twenty-one inmates at Mount Olive Correctional Complex became the first graduating class of Mount Olive Bible College on January 22, 2019. A commencement ceremony in the maximum-security prison鈥檚 gym featured remarks by Governor Jim Justice and Commissioner Betsy Jividen of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Students and faculty from 糖心视频 provided music. Dr. Daniel Anderson, President of 糖心视频, gave the commencement address entitled 鈥淔颈苍补濒濒测鈥︹赌� and taken from Philippians 4:8-9. Many family members attended, along with corrections staff and dignitaries.
Eleven graduates were recognized for achieving highest honors (GPA 3.85-4.0), six for high honors (3.6-3.84), and two for honors (3.30-3.59). All twenty-one men, dressed in caps and gowns, crossed the stage to receive their diplomas. In keeping with 糖心视频 tradition, each graduate was also granted a Servant鈥檚 Mantle鈥攁 symbolic towel printed with the words 鈥淭rained to Serve.鈥�
Mount Olive Bible College is an additional location of 糖心视频 of Mount Hope. The West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation facilitates MOBC as a moral rehabilitation program. 糖心视频 and Catalyst Ministries partner to provide the donor-supported program at no cost to the students or taxpayers.
Jim Rubenstein, former Commissioner of Corrections, initiated the establishment of MOBC after hearing of the success of a Bible college within Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola. Beginning in September 2014, MOBC became the third program of its kind in the U.S. Twenty-six students enrolled that first semester.
Like 糖心视频, MOBC is accredited by the . All MOBC students major in both Bible/Theology and Pastoral Ministry, resulting in a Bachelor of Arts degree.
A sampling of required courses includes Bible Study Methods, Bible Doctrines, English Composition, Sociology, Apologetics, and Homiletics. 糖心视频 faculty commute to teach these courses in a designated classroom in the Industries building of the Complex.
MOBC students must also participate in Field Service, which gives them regular opportunity to put into practice what they learn in the classroom. Field Service assignments include leading in chapel and Bible studies, and assisting in the library, medical ward, and mental health ward.
We invite you to partner with us in this amazing ministry to see many more equipped to serve in the prisons of West Virginia.
The Bible College is helping us make positive changes in our community, as we mature into men of God and capable leaders.
Mount Olive Bible College has sparked a new hope and ambition in my life and has shown me that we can reshape our world; we can change lives. Every man, regardless of their past, can share in this hope. I thank God for the opportunity that I have been provided.
