A sad day at my alma mater

By James Lambert

Linfield College has a long, rich history. The school based in McMinnville, Oregon, was founded by members of the Baptist community in 1859. The college was also named in honor of a Baptist minister by the name of George Fisher Linfield in 1922. Until 1940, Rev. Linfield's wife was active in the leadership of the school where she promoted Christian education. Much of this history of the school was recounted in a book written by a Linfield Professor by the name of Jonas Jonasson.

I had the distinct privilege of attending one of his history classes when I was a student at the college from 1968 to 1972. I am also deeply grateful to the Campus for Christ (CCC) ministry that was active at the school when I went there. In February of 1971, it was their (CCC) outreach that rescued me from the drug culture when I accepted Christ into my life. From that point on my life changed dramatically, for the better.

Two months ago, I was invited to speak to several Oregon churches about my new book, 16 Amazing Stories of Divine Intervention. In early September, I decided to return to my alma mater on the Friday before my weekend engagements. That morning for about 45 minutes I passed out, on the Linfield Avenue public sidewalk, several hundred CCC's booklets entitled: the 4 Spiritual Laws. I was delighted to share the good news of God's love to students as they were heading to class.

Before I left the campus that day, I decided to take some pictures of the school that I could pass on to my family (pictures of my wife's dorm, the old school library, Melrose Hall and other older school buildings). As I looked inside of the doorway of Graf Hall, I noticed a man with a walkie-talkie right behind me. As a security guard for the school, I explained I was an alumni / graduate of the school, taking pictures of the campus. The security agent asked me for my ID, which I gave to him. I then went out to the quad and noticed this guy was still following me. Apparently, he was talking to someone on the other side of his walkie-talkie. I continued to walk around the parameter of the quad and proceeded to my wife's old dorm, continuing to take pictures. This campus security guard said he would continue to follow me until I got into my car to leave. For any observer, it was obvious that I was playing the tourist, but obviously something caused the school to have me followed that morning. My situation became so annoying that I decided to go to the Administrative Offices of the school and ask them to take me of their donor rolls. It was a sad day for me. I became convinced that the school didn't like me passing out Christian literature on McMinnville's public sidewalk. One administrator even suggested that that might have been the cause of this.

Sadly Campus Crusade for Christ no longer has a chapter at the college. When I went to the front door of the school's Emmaus House (which is a meeting house for various religious ministries) I noticed a sign that read "No Homophobes allowed." One has to ask themselves: "if I support traditional marriage, would I be allowed in the building?" I could only conclude: so much for the Christian heritage of the school.

© James Lambert