An Act of Faith
But less than a month after Ballenger’s initial idea, the NGBA — then comprised of around 30 area church- es — met for its larger annual meeting. Naturally, the topic of a high school came up once again.
As they began to give further consideration and add up the cost, they realized it would be an expensive deci- sion, that’s for sure. Tey would need to purchase land, construct a school house, hire employees . . .
Te building contract alone would cost $1,280. By comparison, this sizable sum amounted to more than the annual salary of every pastor in the association put together! Somehow, they would have to increase giving from their mostly lower-class congregations by 55 percent to raise the funds.
It probably seemed impossible on paper.
But at least one of them — Dr. M.L. West, a doctor and minister who lived in Travelers Rest — really believed they could do it:
“Oh, brethren, then let us, as we value the happiness of our dear children for life and for eternity, let us rise in our might . . . and let us establish and maintain a high school within our borders that will be a blessing to our children and a monument of glory to the North Greenville Association. . . . We can do this,” West urged with passion at that meeting on Oct. 14, 1891. “Have we the moral courage to go forward?”
If they didn’t before, they certainly did after this mov- ing speech; in fact, historians tend to credit West that the association took action so quickly.
At that same meeting, the association not only ap- proved the proposal but also took the first few steps in developing the new institution. Benjamin Perry Rob- ertson had, in fact, already created a draft of rules to govern the school. After he read those proposed rules, the association went ahead and appointed a committee of nine that would determine the location for the new school.
Continued on page 26 1934
NGBA became North Greenville Baptist Academy and Junior College (NGBAJC) in 1934.
1949 North Greenville transferred
its property to the ownership of the South Carolina Baptist Convention in 1949, becoming part of the convention’s cooperative program.
1950 In 1950, NGBAJC became North Greenville Junior College (NGJC).
1972
NGJC became North Greenville College (NGC) in 1972.
Bruce Hall, 1971
Bruce Hall, 2017
NGU.EDU | 23
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