ONU’s Bowling heads to Colorado Springs

For a man with a wealth of education in his background, John Bowling, the former 30-year president at Olivet Nazarene University, continues to fail in his latest role.

The 76-year-old Bowling readily admits one thing for certain: “I keep failing retirement.”

Bowling, who retired four years ago after guiding ONU in Bourbonnais for the longest presidential tenure in the school’s history, has been named the interim president of Nazarene Bible College in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

He will begin his tenure March 1. He expects his tenure there to be far shorter than his ONU post. He has informed the school that he will serve for a six- to nine-month stint.

The school’s Board of Trustees unanimously elected Bowling as the interim president this week.

Interestingly, it was at Nazarene Bible College that Bowling began his professional career as a teacher in the 1976-77 school year.

He taught there for one year before heading to Bourbonnais to teach at ONU. He also become a pastor guiding the College Church of the Nazarene on ONU’s campus.

Nazarene Bible leadership said Bowling’s extensive background helped them identify him as the candidate to lead them through this period of transition.

NBC’s current president, Scott Sherwood, has accepted the position of pastor at Kansas City First Church of the Nazarene.

Bowling will help lead a transition at NBC through the remainder of the 2024-25 school year and through the summer. He will help ease the transition for NBC’s new president, who likely will be on hand for the upcoming school year.

“They contacted me. I told them I wasn’t interested,” Bowling said.

NBC stayed in pursuit. Bowling relented – sort of.

He informed school leadership that he could not commit to a two- or three-year tenure. Instead, he offered to be on hand for no more than nine months.

They accepted.

‘Incredible leadership skills’

“I can’t imagine anyone more qualified than John Bowling,” said Phillip Fuller, NBC’s board chairman.

Fuller, a 1982 Olivet graduate, said the board sought a leader who could set the school’s direction for the next few years. Once the board identified Bowling as its top choice, it wasn’t about to let him go.

“He has incredible leadership skills,” Fuller said. “He will lead and guide our school as we are making this transition. We are extremely grateful he’s accepted our invitation. He was definitely our choice.”

Bowling will help the school establish a new three-year plan and budget as it embarks on a transition of its own. The school is focused on establishing itself as the site where prospective ministers – those mainly older and with family – can gain certification through the school’s new ministry training program.

This program would be a two-year course of study rather than the traditional program offered at schools such as ONU.

The school’s enrollment is currently about 900. With this new programming, leadership believes enrollment can more than double.

Bowling had retired to southwestern Michigan. He and his wife have a home there. It was his intent to enjoy life there. That is, however, until his phone rang.

Since his ONU retirement, he also spends a few months at Northern Seminary College in Chicago.