Hannibal-LaGrange University
Established in 1858, Hannibal-LaGrange University provides an excellent education in a co-educational environment that instills character-building principles and Christian ideals. While HLGU has grown physically far beyond what its founders could have imagined, it has remained true to its original spiritual and educational mission and continues to serve as both a community of faith and a center of academic achievement.
HLGU has a rich history, including the 1928 move from LaGrange, Missouri, to its present site in Hannibal, which was made with the support of the Hannibal Chamber of Commerce and the area community. The university began offering four-year degrees in 1981.
In 1989, Hannibal-LaGrange University suffered the loss of its administration building in a catastrophic fire. Located in this building were the administrative offices, cafeteria, gym, auditorium, and classrooms. Amazingly, only one day of classes was missed as a result of the fire. College personnel responded to the challenge immediately and relocated classrooms and offices to other buildings on campus. The fire served as a catalyst for significant growth for Hannibal-LaGrange University. HLGU then conducted the most successful capital campaign in the history of the university, which more than doubled the space lost in the 1989 fire.
Having been built on a great tradition of Christian higher education, Hannibal-LaGrange University has withstood many tests throughout its long history. Through each period of adjustment and change, HLGU has emerged stronger and more determined to carry out its vision of equipping students with “Knowledge for Service.”
Southwest Baptist University
Southwest Baptist University first opened its doors in 1878 in Lebanon, Mo., as Southwest Baptist College. In 1879, the college was chartered by the state of Missouri and moved to Bolivar. Early writings recount a legacy of sacrificial giving and extraordinary efforts by Baptists in southwest Missouri to establish and maintain the college. The founders, Abner S. Ingman and James R. Maupin, faced many difficulties as they rode horseback seeking funds, students, and an ideal college site.
Each spring semester, SBU celebrates Founders Day. It’s a time to reflect upon our rich heritage and to remember that in 1878, our founding fathers, Ingman and Maupin, established Southwest Baptist College. Founders Day is an important time when we are challenged to reflect on our past and to thank God for the people who have made the success of today possible.
The college faced many hardships in its early years and closed from 1910-13 to regain financial solvency and to recover from a devastating fire that destroyed the college’s only building. The efforts and prayers of area supporters and Missouri Baptists brought results, and the college reopened in 1913 as a two-year junior college.
The university has maintained its strong Baptist heritage through its affiliation with the Missouri Baptist Convention, which provides financial support for the university and whose messengers elect the 25-member board of trustees that governs the institution. The Missouri Baptist Convention approved plans in 1964 for the college to become a senior liberal arts college. The first baccalaureate degrees were awarded in 1967. Bolivar citizens donated a 102-acre farm on the southern edge of the city that allowed the college to expand beyond the small 10-acre campus located near downtown.
Another milestone occurred in 1981 when the college name was changed to Southwest Baptist University. In 1995, the university entered a joint nursing education agreement with St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Springfield, Mo., to form St. John’s School of Nursing of SBU. The school became the St. John’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences in 2005. St. John’s changed its name in 2012, making the name of the college Mercy College of Nursing and Health Sciences of SBU. Today, the Mercy College of Health Professions at SBU maintains a valuable and growing partnership with Mercy Health Systems.
Today, SBU is a thriving higher education institution with more than 2,400 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled annually. SBU offers more that 100 academic areas of study and has become a College of Distinction in Education, Business, Nursing, Affordability and Christianity. The 152-acre main campus is in the southern portion of Bolivar, a community of about 10,300 residents that serves as the county seat of Polk County. Bolivar is located about 25 miles north of Springfield, which is the third-largest city in Missouri after St. Louis and Kansas City.
The university also operates campuses in Mountain View, Salem, and Springfield, Mo. An online campus was added in 2019, and today SBU Worldwide has grown to offer 12 different online degree programs. SBU’s mission is to equip students academically, spiritually and socially for a lifetime of servant leadership.
Missouri Baptist Children’s Home
The story of the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home (MBCH) is one of faith, determination, cooperation, and willingness to change.
Scripture is replete with God’s command to remember what He has done. He often instructs us to “write it down” and “build a memorial … so that when your children ask ’what does this mean’ you can tell them what God has done.”
This is a condensed history of God’s work though MBCH; on display at the Bridgeton campus is a more complete history, or visit: www.mbch.org/media-resources.
1882-1886 Historically Baptist
MBCH was a product of ladies from five St. Louis Baptist churches. As they planned, pondered, and worked to create an orphan’s home, there was never any doubt that it would be a Baptist orphan’s home and would be managed, supported, and operated by Baptists. Throughout the years the bond between MBCH and Missouri Baptist churches has remained strong.
April 1886 – 1896 Strong Foundation Laid
The first home opened its doors in April 1886. The years between 1886-1896 were a struggle but highly successful. Dedicated board members and competent matrons set a pattern for succeeding years. It had taken them long enough to get the doors opened, and they would never see them closed.
1897 – 1929 High Tide of Prosperity
These years were difficult and challenging, but the women who administered the Home were up to the task. Picking up from a devastating 1896 cyclone, they restored order to the house and served an average of 60 children. By the early 1900s, the current location was no longer adequate and plans to move were made.
A new campus and a growing population made fundraising a necessity. Several methods of fundraising were used to provide the needed capital (Strawberry Festival and Birthday Offering are still used today). In 1908, Dr. Milford Riggs became the first full-time fundraiser, and the constitution and by-laws were changed to empower the Baptist General Convention to elect Board members. By 1929, the Home was financially secure.
1930 – 1944 Years of Trouble and Change
These fourteen years were a time of transition for the Home. Many changes occurred, including the name change to Missouri Baptist Children’s Home. The past held a rich legacy, an inheritance of love, concern, and sacrificial personal giving – both of time and money. That tradition was expanded upon during the next 30 years. Many people deserve credit for this, but one name overshadows that time: Edgar E. Blake.
1945 – 1974 The Blake Years
Edgar Blake, coming from a school administrative position, was accustomed to boards and to making “on-the-spot” decisions. In his new position, he intended to cooperate with the Board, but also to be a decisive leader.
Blake immediately began the long process of changing MBCH from a “child’s warehouse to an individual treatment center” including cottages resembling a home-like atmosphere.
In the 1960s, MBCH began to emphasize foster care as the primary method to care for children. In the 1970s, daycare opened in the Barnes Building as a model center. Childcare now included: institutional care, group home care, foster home care, adoptive home care, unmarried mother services, daycare service, and counseling services.
1974 – 1980 Years of Turmoil
These years were some of the most difficult in the history of MBCH. Due to programming expansion, campus expansion, and aging facilities, the financial strain took its toll. God, however, was already raising up the next generation of leaders. Russell Martin and Bob Kenison had already been added to the staff as business manager and development officer. Some time later, Kenison was unanimously elected as interim administrator and the position became permanent shortly thereafter. The team of Kenison and Martin was to usher MBCH into the greatest days of the agency’s history.
1980 – 2014 The Kenison Years
During these years, MBCH experienced a time of leadership stability with Russell Martin (business manager) and Robert Springate (development officer) serving alongside Kenison throughout his entire administration. This was a time of financial stability but also geographic and ministry expansion.
2014 – 2024 The Martin Years
In 2014, Kenison retired and the board elected Russell Martin to lead and serve as the president of MBCH. Board members knew the Kenison years were a time of change and growth and sensed the importance of a time of stability. The selection of Martin showed the board’s commitment to continue the legacy of leadership and ministry as well as to build upon the solid financial foundation for future expansion. These years saw a time of continued expansion in services and ministry as well as a focus on looking to the future as the political culture became more unstable.
Present Day
July 2024 ushered in a new era with the retirement of Russell Martin. Dr. Juston Gates began as the new president of MBCH. The board selected Gates, confident that his previous roles, experiences, and education have prepared him to lead MBCH as the organization fulfills its mission through direct service to children, youth, and families, and by supporting local churches in their efforts to do the same.
Much has changed through the ministry’s 140-year history, but one thing will not change: our commitment to be a Christ-centered agency. While we are committed to providing care that meets or exceeds the best professional standards, we will only do so as we unapologetically share the gospel of Jesus Christ with all of the children and families in our care.
Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries
Somewhere on the back roads of the early 20th century in Missouri, God spoke to the heart of a young pastor who, while traveling the state working to start Baptist Young People Unions, became painfully aware of the destitute nature of many older retired Baptist Ministers. After decades of service to Baptist churches, these elderly pastors were now facing their last years with no retirement income, no home, as most lived in parsonages, and little support outside of family. This reality burned into the heart of Dr. Milford Riggs, who, in 1913 with the able assistance of his wife Mary, set about to open the first Baptist home for “retired” pastors and their spouses.
From such small beginnings in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, the dream of The Baptist Homes began. Those first decades were marked with innovation, creativity, and financial crisis. Over the decades, The Home found its footing and expanded to a large ministry in rural Ironton. The reach of The Home extended to every city and hamlet in Missouri as retired pastors and eventually many other destitute Baptists came to know The Home as their final home. Eventually, The Home expanded to have a regional footprint with campuses in Chillicothe, Ozark, and Ashland.
After a lengthy and difficult period of separation from the Missouri Baptist Convention early in the 2000s, The Home returned to the governance of the Missouri Baptist Convention and a new period of expansion began. During the height of the COVID 19 Pandemic, Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries (our new name) acquired three existing homes that were Medicare and Medicaid eligible. This opened the door for Baptist Homes to minister to more people, in more places, with greater access to financial resources to which all working Missourians had contributed.
Today, Baptist Homes are generally located within two and half hours of any point in the state and offer independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, and inpatient and outpatient physical therapy. This means that a resident of Baptist Homes can have virtually all his or her needs met through the ministry of Baptist Homes.
Every long-term care organization is tasked by the state and federal government to provide for the physical, medical, and emotional needs of aging seniors. At Baptist Homes we seek to address all these needs with the utmost skill and proficiency. The greatest difference provided by Baptist Homes & Health Care Ministries is what we call Soul Care. We believe that every senior has the responsibility to continue to grow in his or her discipleship. There is no expiration date on being a disciple of Christ. We also recognize that a growing number of seniors are entering our care without a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thus, we seek to minister to, challenge, and evangelize our residents in all aspects of their lives while they live at Baptist Homes. We seek to have a spiritual activity daily that involves Bible studies, worship, prayer times, times to share one’s testimony, and individual prayer and Scripture reading. We do this through the service of various levels of our staff and through an increasing involvement of volunteers.
Baptist Homes exists to please God and help others do the same by making Christlike ministry the standard of care for the aging.
Missouri Baptist Foundation
The Missouri Baptist Foundation was started in 1946 with the prayers of state leaders. The following trustees adopted articles of agreement on June 28, 1946: Claude R. Blue; Virgil Dent; Forest A. Lowry; T.W. Medearis; J.A. Hemphil; L.G. Keley; V.W. Wilhite; Ray F. Moseley; and K.J. O’Banion. T. W. Medearis served as the first MBF president from 1946-1949.
At the start, the Missouri Baptist Foundation’s total assets were about $80,000, designated to three accounts. As we began to grow, Roy Johnson, one of our trustees, proudly predicted that “One of these days, this Foundation will be investing ten million dollars.”
Today, the Foundation’s assets exceed $200 million, representing more than 1,000 active accounts, including individual and ministry cash funds, long-term investment funds with redemptive investing principles, charitable gift annuities, endowments, trusts, and donor-advised funds. These tools enable the distribution of more than $25 million annually to Missouri Baptist causes in the state and around the world.
Throughout the years, many things have changed within the Foundation, Missouri Baptist life, and the world, but our mission, repeated by Dr. K.J. O’Banion in a 1950s testimonial, is still as true today as it was then: “The Missouri Baptist Foundation is a means of giving ourselves, represented by our gift and money and our wills to carry on our Baptist work in Missouri until Jesus comes again.”
To learn more about the Missouri Baptist Foundation’s work and services offered, visit www.mbfn.org or call (573) 761-0717.
Missouri Baptist University
Walking through the Missouri Baptist University campus today, it’s hard to imagine that 60 years ago this thriving university was just a small extension campus with a modest group of students. Today, MBU has blossomed into a vibrant Christian institution known for its expanding enrollment, ever-growing campus, and esteemed faculty.
In 1957, Hannibal-LaGrange College opened an extension site at Tower Grove Baptist Church in St. Louis, enrolling 68 students. These early courses were aimed at pastors and laymen, but the vision quickly grew beyond its original scope. By 1960, the influence of students, Baptist leaders, and local pastors led to the Missouri Baptist Convention’s decision to establish a Baptist college in St. Louis.
The journey officially began in 1964 with the first meeting of the board of trustees, followed by the groundbreaking of the original 81-acre campus site in 1967. Just a year later, nearly 200 students were attending classes, setting the stage for MBU’s first graduating class in 1973. President Frank Kellogg presided over the commencement ceremony where 29 students received Bachelor of Arts degrees.
MBU’s progress continued steadily. In 1978, under the leadership of its third president, Robert Sutherland, the college earned initial accreditation from the North Central Association, a crucial step in establishing its academic credibility. The early ’90s brought more growth as presidents Patrick Copley and Thomas S. Field focused on modernizing campus facilities and securing the financial stability needed to sustain the college’s future.
A turning point came in 1995 when R. Alton Lacey was appointed as the university’s president. His tenure marked a period of rapid growth, with the university doubling its housing capacity with the opening of North Hall. The Spirit of Excellence Campaign followed in 1999, raising $10 million for the construction of the Pillsbury Chapel and Dale Williams Fine Arts Center, a facility that would become a central hub of campus life.
As MBU transitioned into the new millennium, it continued to evolve. In 2000, the university was approved to offer its first master’s-level program, the Master of Science in Education. Two years later, Missouri Baptist College officially became Missouri Baptist University, reflecting its growing role in higher education.
MBU’s commitment to innovation was evident in 2008 with the launch of its first online degree program. The following year, MBU introduced its first terminal degree program, the Doctor of Education.
The next decade saw continued growth in both facilities and enrollment. The opening of Spartan Village in 2011 marked a new chapter in campus residential life, offering modern apartment-style living and a state-of-the-art sports complex. By 2013, MBU’s enrollment reached a record 5,200 students.
The university’s 50th anniversary in 2014 was a moment of celebration, coinciding with Dr. Lacey’s 20th year as president. That year also saw the launch of MBU’s football program, symbolizing the university’s commitment to providing a comprehensive student experience.
In 2018, Keith L. Ross (’88) became the university’s seventh president. Under his leadership, MBU has achieved enrollment milestones, welcoming the largest freshman class in the institution’s history in 2022. Ross also oversaw the completion of Spartan Field, as well as the major renovation to the Jung-Kellogg Learning Center on the university’s main campus. MBU continues to expand its academic offerings, including vibrant undergraduate and graduate programs in the School of Nursing.
As MBU looks to the future, its foundation remains rooted in the values and vision that have guided its growth for six decades, ensuring that MBU remains a shining beacon at the intersection of faith and learning.
