When Kevin Eshleman, lead pastor of Ephrata Community Church (ECC), first became a student at Evangelical Seminary in Myerstown in 2007, he was impressed with the caliber of the institution and the quality of the professors. "It's a great place," said Eshleman. "The professors are godly people who love the Lord and have dug deep into the Scriptures in their specific areas of expertise."

Eshleman wondered if there might be a way for the seminary to share the wisdom of its teachers with members of the community and church leaders who are looking to deepen their own knowledge of God. His answer, the creation of the Institute for Christian Learning (ICL) at ECC, resulted in Evangelical Seminary presenting the Catalytic Church Award to ECC at the end of 2020. The award would have typically been presented at the school's fall banquet. But when the banquet was canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions, Ann Steel, Evangelical Seminary executive director of institutional advancement, traveled to ECC, 70 Clay School Road, Ephrata, to present the award in person.

ICL was born of Eshleman asking the question, "How can we take these (professors), who are in a graduate setting, and actually bring some of their materials to a broader audience?" He noted that he was thinking that a number of area residents, ranging from local church leaders looking for refinement to pastors who need refresher courses, might be interested in taking part. "We worked through the idea in 2019," said Eshleman, who noted that the first launch of ICL attracted 90 students in two classes in a non-credit format. ICL has now offered classes in both live and livestreamed configurations for two semesters.

"What we learned was that people were very much hungry for (this knowledge)," shared Eshleman, who credits Matt Swords, pastor of discipleship and young adults, with implementing the plan for ICL. Eshleman added that it has not only been ECC members taking part in the classes, but interested learners from a number of area churches. "Many people approached me and thanked me for providing this for them," he said.

In response to the award, Eshleman expressed gratitude to the seminary for being willing to partner with the church. Calling the effort a "significant relationship and the opportunity for many people to grow in the Lord," he wrote on the school's website, "Thank you to Evangelical, its professors, and its leadership for the opportunity you've given us to partner with you."

Readers who would like to learn more about the seminary may visit https://evangelical.edu/about/about-evangelical. Those who are interested in ICL may visit https://ephratacommunitychurch.com/icl.