An interview with Mark Milioni,
new president of Baptist Bible College
by Keith Bassham
Most of our Fellowship does not know Mark Milioni. I have come to know Mark largely through our common work with the BBFI National Church Planting Office church planters’ schools. I found him engaging, thoughtful, and competent as a lecturer, and with the drive and humility in the right proportions to make him a role model for students and a leader for our Fellowship as a whole. The summer has been busy for the new president, but we have been able to have a few conversations, and this interview is typical.
Tribune: When we met in April before your selection as president, I recalled you had shown an interest in the position several years before, and I asked, “What is different now?” You replied, “Me. I’m different.” Can you elaborate on that a little?
Milioni: Five years ago, I was younger and had experienced some ministry success. I thought I could do anything and was interested and excited about the possibility. When it didn’t happen I just dug into my current ministry.
Then in the fall of 2007, I was young, healthy and doing great, when out of the blue comes cancer. I had a couple of surgeries, and all of the cancer was removed, but then I had some infection and a very serious condition. I was really bad and ended up in worse shape than before. It took months but I got better and stronger, and God really used that to help me become not only a better pastor, but also a stronger believer in many ways.
I think at some point everyone has a time when they realize “I can’t do this on my own.” Back then, I was sure I could do anything. Then, God reminds me how much I need Him. There are still times when I feel the effect of my surgeries, and I am reminded that I am only here by God’s grace and without Him I can do nothing.
So I very humbly come to this job willingly admitting I cannot do this. I readily acknowledge that if we are going to make it, that if I am going to lead this college, I need God’s help every minute of the day. I have been humbled, I have been weak, I have been discouraged — I truly understand what many of my fellow pastors and members have gone through now like I hadn’t before. So when this opportunity came, I believed that if this was what God wanted, it would happen. And it did. I didn’t campaign, call, encourage — if anything I tried to discourage the trustees along the way. I love my ministry in Medina and it has been heartbreaking to leave it. But now, BBC is my heart and passion. So look out!
Tribune: You have a son in the military, and you are raising prospective college students. How has that family experience shaped your thinking about what should happen at BBC?
Milioni: Having children of college age does help. It helps me know how they live in a very personal way and even how I wish they would live. When we dropped Emily off at BBC a few years ago, Barb and I had a terrible time emotionally, leaving her hundreds of miles away. But I just kept telling myself, “Billions of other people have done this, I can do this.”
As a parent, and now as a president, I want to make the experience here at BBC very positive, exciting, and life changing. Think about it — we have on this campus the potential future of our movement — that might be scary but it is a reality. Who is going to be the future Tribune editor? You never know who might be a president someday.
We are going to challenge the students to have a very thankful attitude toward the Baptist Bible Fellowship. Every student is blessed by the sacrifice of the pastors and churches, and we must always remember that.
And most of all, we must constantly evaluate what we are doing to prepare them for ministry in the 21st century. Being a pastor in very tough economic climates has been challenging, but God has blessed, and I have been privileged to see growth every year in my 25 years of pastoral ministry. But it takes constant evaluation, constant oversight, and aggressive reaching into our community. With the same mindset, we need to understand the college-age students of our day and seek to reach them and find those that fit who we are and what we are doing.
Tribune: Education comes in many forms other than the classroom. What do you want to expose our students to, and how do you plan to do that?
Milioni: Let’s make sure everyone understands what our purpose is — ministry training. That is why I am here, that is what I know, and that is our focus. The tough thing about ministry is that so much of it is learned in real life, and not just in a classroom setting. So, ministry students are going to learn from some seasoned, successful, and wise people who have been out there and have a lot to share. I am very excited about some things we are working on and hope to have some details in place by the time school starts.
We will also work to engage the students in ministry right here in Springfield and in ministries around the world. I remember hearing chapel speakers say, “If you aren’t doing it here, you won’t do it there.” They were right — ministry training happens here right now alongside the coursework. So we will be working with local churches to involve students in ministry right now.
Tribune: It is not realistic nor necessarily wise to mass merchandize BBC across a general spectrum — BBC has a specific agenda, but it’s not just for theological eggheads or fire-breathing evangelists. Who would be a good prospective student for the college these days?
Milioni: A good prospective student for BBC is one who senses God’s leading to use his or her life in any kind of ministry. We are not for everybody and should not try to mass market ourselves. BBC was created and is designed to teach ministry. So we of course have a major for pastors and missionaries and worship leaders, but even those in our business or education programs are going to use their lives to make a difference for Christ. We have students right out of high school who want this, and we also have students who are a little older whom God has brought here to learn ministry.
Barb and I were like that when we came. I was a police officer, but when I was 22 years old we moved to BBC. Ministry was what God put on our hearts, but we didn’t know all that meant. So we came, worked hard, studied hard, and followed God’s leading year after year.
BBC has programs that can help anyone in any context of life. We have online programs, and we have master’s options for those who may already have undergraduate degrees. If someone has any interest at all, we would love to talk to them about what BBC has to offer.
Tribune: In your dream of dreams, what does a BBC graduate look like in terms of worldview, commitment, and competence?
Milioni: Great question, I would like to think that a BBC graduate today is similar to those in the past. We are known for our great Bible and ministry training. BBC graduates are known for their commitment to the Scriptures, for their evangelism, and for their hard work. I have said that I want BBC to be known as the MIT and the Harvard of ministry training. Should anyone in the world want to learn how to do ministry, then they should think of BBC first. That’s the ideal and my dream — that our ministries are making a difference in every town and village, here and around the world. That we would provide such an important service to the Kingdom that pastors and churches want to partner with us to get in on what God is doing.
In addition to teaching ministry, we hope to reinvigorate the entire Fellowship. Being a part of the BBFI should be something we are proud of, active in, and encouraging. I am so thankful for what the Fellowship has meant to my life and to the eternal history and destiny of my family.
Tribune: You’ve come to this job in a difficult time, no doubt. How are things going for you right now?
Milioni: That is one of the most frequent questions I get: “How are you doing?” I think I am doing well. It has been a very emotional time in our lives, not just mine, but also for my family and church. I have a son going into the Marine Corps in September, his older brother returns to a very dangerous situation in Afghanistan while serving in the Army, I’m resigning from a church that I dearly love, trying to sell a home, and then coming into a situation that demands a great amount of time and effort has been a little overwhelming. But through it all I must say that God has been so faithful. It is His work, after all. The challenge to raise funds in our Fellowship this summer turned out to be such an encouragement. In just a matter of weeks we raised well over $600,000 coming from over 800 different gifts. That really demonstrated the commitment, the desire, and the support BBC has from this Fellowship.
I am very thankful for what God has done and is doing and there is an excitement about the future that has taken time to develop — I truly believe great things are ahead.
Tribune: Instead of simply saying “pray for us at BBC,” how should we shape our prayers for you and the college?
Milioni: I would ask anyone to pray for us in this way — mainly for wisdom. We are indeed facing a time when tough decisions are being made in literally every area, from finances, to personnel, to facilities, to students. Pray for me, pray for our trustees, pray for Greg Christopher our academic dean, pray for Jon Slayden our director of student life, pray for our professors, and please pray for our students. You could also pray for finances to be consistent, pray for enrollment, and would you please pray for the weather? It has been ridiculously hot and it is supposed to continue. Northeast Ohio sure sounds nice right now.