Heartbroken Boyce College students mourn sudden death of Nick Challies
By Jeff Robinson
Editor’s note: This article has been updated since initial publication.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) – Boyce College students and faculty gathered this morning on the lawn at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to mourn the death of 20-year-old Nick Challies, son of popular evangelical blogger and author Tim Challies.
Nick Challies collapsed suddenly and died Tuesday night (Nov. 3) while playing a game with his sister, fiancée, and several other Boyce College students at a park near the campus of Southern Seminary. Efforts by emergency personnel to revive him were unsuccessful. Cause of death remains unknown.
The Boyce College and Southern Seminary community was stunned as news began to spread of Challies’ death. Challies was a junior at Southern Seminary’s undergraduate college in the BA to MDiv program. His sister, Abigail, is a freshman at Boyce. Nick was engaged to fellow Boyce student Anna Kathryn “Ryn” Conley. Seminary leaders canceled Wednesday classes at the college.
Tim Challies reported the heartbreaking news in a brief post this morning on his blog: “In all the years I’ve been writing I have never had to type words more difficult, more devastating than these: Yesterday the Lord called my son to himself – my dear son, my sweet son, my kind son, my godly son, my only son.”
In a letter to the seminary community, SBTS President R. Albert Mohler Jr. urged fervent prayer for Nick’s family and friends.
“Nick was an outstanding young man, faithful to Christ, who was also a friend to all,” Mohler said. “He was a much loved and important part of the Boyce College family. We are thankful to have known him, and so very thankful that he came to be a student at Boyce College. He made us all proud. No one saw this coming.
MBTS disburses CARES Act funds
By MBTS Staff
KANSAS CITY (BP) – In May 2020, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary received funds through CARES Act, a pandemic-related stimulus package passed by Congress in late March. In accordance with the details of the grant, the institution plans to award no less than 50 percent of the funds received under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act to provide emergency financial aid grants to students. The institution received $233,499 from the Department of Education specifically for emergency financial aid grants to students.
As of September 30, 2020, the institution had disbursed $172,839 in emergency financial aid grants to 92 students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act. Students who were potentially eligible were encouraged to complete the FAFSA and an emergency aid request form. Other students who were already eligible were distributed funds based on expenses incurred, as calculated by the institution.
