Ministry continues with mission and passion...

Büsingen, Germany - After 45 years, European Nazarene College (EuNC) held its last campus graduation on 24 June. There were nine on-campus students in the final graduating class.

EuNC has been in operation since 1966 and since then, people have identified EuNC with Büsingen. However, EuNC is not closing, just the campus, said Antonie Holleman, academic dean, who has been at the school for 15 years.

“In the past 45 years, to fulfill our mission, we needed a campus to get EuNC started,” he said. “In these years we have developed the ethos and corporate culture of EuNC. We want to pass that legacy on to the learning centers. As EuNC continues, the spirit of EuNC needs to continue as well.”

EuNC has 15 learning centers in 17 countries.

The highlight of the graduation week for Holleman was handing out the certificates and the building of a cairn (stone monument) on the campus after the final worship service. The stones signify the blessings campus residents have experienced as part of the community.

With past graduations, even though students moved on, the community always continued. This year, as the students left, they said goodbye to staff who left as well, making it an extremely special and poignant weekend.

“While it should just be the end of a stage in my life, it seems like the end of a stage of something that is so much bigger than myself,” said valedictorian Johanna Radziszewski, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion. “It was hard to think of this as my graduation; it’s more like the whole community here is coming to an end.”

Cezarina Cufaj, who also graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, said the feeling of sadness was intensified in knowing they are the last campus class.

“It raises a sense of responsibility because this campus will no longer be here, so it’s no longer available for transformation and growth,” said Cufaj. “This place has been a means of grace for us and now it is up to us to use all that we have learnt to be a mean of grace for others and create an environment of transformation.”

Radziszewski feels it is beautiful that this blessing, which was reserved for those who lived on campus can now be extended to the learning centers; graduating students will also carry the spirit of EuNC with them to their respective countries. Next year she plans to study for a Master in Theology with an emphasis in missions at Nazarene Theological College in Manchester, U.K.

When she first came to EuNC she was an idealist in her dreams about serving God. Over the past four years, she said she has become more realistic and critical, with her feet planted firmly on the ground.

“Now everything is coming into balance,” she said. “EuNC has helped me realize my dreams.”

As opposed to Radziszewski, Cufaj came to EuNC completely broken and without any dreams, as she was coming out of a difficult period in her life. EuNC was a “rescue place” for her. While it is painful leaving Büsingen, she is excited about the future.

“The core always has and will be a commitment to God. I have a philosophy of living with whatever tomorrow will be,” she said.

For graduate Wolfgang Köhler, one of the highlights of the graduation service was when a woman from Finland, EuNC's first graduate, was given a special book with pictures of EuNC's history.

“It was really moving to see how my own graduation is connected to a history of people that have come to this place and have not left the same way,” Köhler said.

In the past four years, he has worked to make connections outside campus. After three years of being in a football (soccer) club, he finally found openings to share his faith with his Swiss friends. Nine of them attended graduation.

Köhler will pursue a Master of Biblical Studies at the University of Heidelberg while continuing his education in Informatics.

Since 1970, there have been 361 EuNC campus graduates, with six in the first year. Since 2002, when the first learning center opened in Ukraine, there have been 37 learning center graduates. For the past five to seven years, the number of credits earned by students in the learning centers has been higher than those earned by the full-time students in Büsingen.

The campus will continue to host some of the offices of the administrative centre serving the various learning centers.

Holleman, with his wife Wilma, and Klaus and Martina Arnold will continue to run the administrative center on campus. Klaus is the rector of EuNC.

Click on the image to view more pictures of the graduation.