Lake Zurich church acquires site to expand its Christian college program

Jim Scudder believes in miracles. When he was told property was available that would expand the Dayspring Bible College and Seminary in Lake Zurich, he said he witnessed one.

Scudder, executive pastor of Quentin Road Bible Baptist Church and president of Dayspring Bible College, said the church had been looking for extra land for the college but didn't expect to find anything nearby at an affordable price.

Now, the church has purchased a 13.5-acre campus near Mundelein for $1 million to provide a separate space for the college. The campus has seven buildings, including two large dormitories, a gymnasium, a new commercial kitchen, a cafeteria, an academic building, and married student apartments.

“It truly is a miracle that this could come about right at the right time that we were ready to make a move,” Scudder said.

The property used to house the Alternative Behavior Treatment Center, 27255 N. Fairfield Road, a residential facility for teen sex offenders and other troubled youths. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services cut off funding for the operation May 31 for not meeting performance-based standards. The facility had operated there for more than a decade.

Dayspring Bible College and Seminary is now part of a 43-acre campus with Quentin Road Bible Baptist Church and Quentin Road Christian Schools that serve preschool through 12th grade.

Currently, around 150 students are enrolled for college classes.

Scudder hopes the new property will increase enrollment because of its college-campus atmosphere.

“What we have now is nice, it's large, but it's not a college campus setting,” Scudder said. “We're hoping more students will be impressed (by the new campus) and will certainly want to enroll.”

Ministry Coordinator Paul Julian said the new property will also open space on the current property in Lake Zurich.

Julian, a graduate from Dayspring Bible College and Seminary, said he hopes the new campus will reflect the type of ministry training that's being done.

“I think it will show more people the level of ministry training that they can get,” he said. “It's just going to showcase it that much more.”

School officials plan to have the property ready for use before the fall semester.