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              Letters to the EditorLincoln Daily News
 601 Keokuk St.
 Lincoln, IL  62656
 
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            | Dear Friends, 
 Nearly one year ago - February 22, 2022 - we made an announcement 
			launching a new initiative we called LCU to You. Along with academic 
			changes and the creation of the Lincoln Christian Institute, we also 
			stated our intention to pursue ways to right-size our campus to this 
			new model. In June 2022 we announced that we were leasing a portion 
			of our campus to Open Arms Christian Fellowship, and that an option 
			to purchase was included as part of the lease contract language.
 
 Today, I want to share with you that we have completed the sale to 
			Open Arms. They purchased the Chapel, Laughlin Center, athletic 
			fields, Ruth Hall, Titus Hall, and Alumni Hall for $3,975,000. LCU 
			retains ownership of Restoration Hall, the Administration Building, 
			the Warehouse, Timothy Hall, Harmony Hall, Henderson Hall, and 16 
			acres of green-space along Route 10 between Chapel View Drive and 
			the former student apartments.
 
 I am relieved to be done with something we've worked so diligently 
			toward for months. I'm also happy to see facilities that we cannot 
			use be put to good Kingdom use with people who have been, and 
			continue to be, good neighbors to us over the last few months as 
			they have leased that portion of the property.
 
            [to top of second column in this letter] | 
            
            
             
            And, of course, I'm feeling sad and nostalgic. Like 
			moving to a new house, or a new town, or watching a child leave the 
			nest, I'll miss what once was. But with the realization that change 
			is a part of life and of ministry, overall, I am deeply grateful 
			that less than one year after our announcement of our LCU to You 
			restructure, we have a campus that better fits our new model and 
			have reduced our debt by more than half, to approximately $3.3 
			million.
 These steps, while often painful, are making real progress. We ended 
			this past semester without using our line of credit - something we 
			have not been able to do in more than twenty years. That fact along 
			with the sale to Open Arms that has now been completed also helped 
			produce our first audit without a single finding, material 
			deficiency, or weakness, since 2008.
 
 We have all endured much, but there is also much to be thankful and 
			hopeful for. Praise God from whom all blessings flow, and may we 
			ever be wise and faithful with them.
 
 Sincerely,
 Silas L. McCormick, JD, PhD
 President
 [Posted 
            
			February 18, 
			2023]
             
            
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