Heritage Christian University traces its roots to 1871, when T.B. Larimore opened Mars Hill Academy on land inherited by his wife Esther Gresham Larimore. Located along Cox Creek near Florence, Alabama, Mars Hill Academy equipped ministers and other Christian leaders for service in the churches of Christ.
Students trained at Mars Hill established hundreds of congregations in Florence and surrounding communities in North Alabama and southern Tennessee. Initially housed in Larimore’s home, the Academy closed in 1887 in order for Larimore to devote himself fully to evangelism. The 12-room house was restored in 1971 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Among those educated by Larimore at Mars Hill were notable restoration preachers F.D. Srygley and J.C. McQuiddy.
Locally organized Christian education for the churches of Christ resumed in 1947 when Mars Hill Bible School, an elementary and secondary school, began on the site of the old Mars Hill Academy. William Wallace Alexander, a local physician, purchased property for the school from T.B. Larimore’s son, Virgil, who still resided on the land where his father had operated the original academy. Mars Hill Bible School continues to provide excellent preschool through high school education.
In November 1965, noting an extreme shortage of preachers, a number of Shoals area church leaders proposed to the Mars Hill Board of Directors the establishment of a school to help prepare men for ministry. A steering committee, functioning under the Mars Hill Board of Directors, quickly assumed responsibility for the promotion of the school, curriculum planning, and the selection of teachers. Supplementing the work of Mars Hill Bible School, the new T.B. Larimore School of Evangelists was seen as a restoration of the type of preacher training accomplished by Larimore in the late 19th century.
Opening in January 1966 with 70 students enrolled, the T.B. Larimore School of Evangelists followed the model of a non-credit Bible institute or preacher training school. After operating in the spring and fall of 1966, the school’s steering committee, at the direction of the Mars Hill Board of Directors, transitioned from an administrative function to an advisory one. There is no known record of the school meeting for classes after December 1966.
The dream of providing higher education in the Shoals, designed specifically for the training of preachers, did not lay dormant for long. Before the end of 1967, plans were already underway to establish a private college in Florence, independent of Mars Hill, to prepare students for ministry. In 1968, those plans began taking shape when Malcolm Hill agreed to leave his work as preacher for the Forest Park congregation in greater Atlanta to become the inaugural president of the newly established Southeastern Institute (College) of the Bible in Florence. Inez Alexander, widow of Dr. William Wallace Alexander, donated land for a campus near the old T.B. Larimore home and local orthopedic surgeon, Dr. G.R. Melson, serving as chair of the Businessmen’s Advisory Board, began efforts to establish an endowment for the school. Founded in 1968, Southeastern classes met for the first time in January 1969. The institute would include a three-year program offering bachelor’s degrees in Sacred Literature and Religious Education.
In October 1970, the Southeastern administration and Board of Directors was reorganized. In early 1971, Charles Coil was selected by the new board as the second president of Southeastern College of the Bible. As president, Coil was empowered to establish a program unique among the churches of Christ—the four-year Bible college. Neither a preacher training school nor a liberal arts college, the coeducational Bible college would have a standardized academic calendar, admissions policies, and curriculum.
In September 1971, Southeastern was renamed International Bible College. The new name reflected a desire and practice to train men and women for service worldwide. International Bible College achieved initial accreditation with the American Association of Bible Colleges in 1988. That institutional accreditation has continued seamlessly, but the accrediting organization has changed its name to the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges (1994), the Association for Biblical Higher Education (2002), and the Accrediting Association for Bible Colleges in Canada and the United States (2009).
In addition to its ongoing commitment to world evangelism, International Bible College [HCU] is also known as the birthplace of the evangelism workshop among churches of Christ. Following a precursor lectureship in April 1971, the first annual Evangelism Workshop followed in August 1972. Through the decades, thousands participated as speakers from around the globe encouraged world evangelism.
In 1989, after serving eighteen years as the college’s chief administrator, Charles Coil announced his resignation as president of International Bible College. He continued to serve as chancellor until his death in 1994. IBC alumnus, Dennis Jones, succeeded Coil as the institution’s third president. He served from January 1, 1990, to April 6, 2017.
The Overton Memorial Library stands as a major strength of the University. From humble beginnings, it now houses more than 137,000 books, journals, and additional physical holdings. Special collections include the Danker Depositorium, the Tillery Bible Collection, the Heritage Marriage and Family Resource Center, and the Roper Rarities and Antiquities Collection. Various databases make a notable array of electronic resources available to all students.
Though International Bible College occasionally published books before its name change, Heritage Christian University Press and its imprint Cypress Publications began in their current form on January 2, 2019 with the appointment of the Heritage Christian University Press Committee. To date the Press has published some 80 books, all of which are available in both print and electronic forms. Its Academic and Trade Catalog includes a 5-year Bible class curriculum for adults using resources published by the Press. The Press currently maintains seven series focusing on biblical studies and Christian living. It published its initial Spanish-language volume in 2024.
To help meet the need for advanced education for preachers and church leaders, a graduate school offering Master of Ministry and Master of Arts degrees was added in 2000. In January 2001, the institution changed its name to Heritage Christian University to reflect its status as offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees. In August 2001, the first graduates were awarded their master’s degrees. In 2011, the university initiated a Master of Divinity program with emphasis on small church growth.
On December 15, 2017, the Board of Directors announced the selection of W. Kirk Brothers as HCU’s fourth president. Dr. Brothers took office on June 1, 2018 with the presidential inauguration celebrated on August 18, 2018. He will serve through May 2026, having decided to return to teaching and to devote more time to Latin American missions.
Among the major accomplishments of the Brothers’s administration, the Heritage Christian University Graduate School of Theology achieved dual accreditation through membership in the Association of Theological Schools. Enrollment rose to record levels, and a study abroad program was initiated. Construction of a learning resource center housing the Overton Memorial Library, a museum, a chapel, student study spaces, and faculty offices began in 2025.
HCU alumnus (BA 2004) Michael Jackson will take office as HCU’s fifth president on June 1, 2026. Dr. Jackson had previously served HCU in a variety of roles from Director of Distance Learning to Instructor to Director Institutional Effectiveness to Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs. During that time, he earned his EdD in educational leadership from Union University (2017). He served as the Associate Director of Accreditation at the Association for Biblical Higher Education from 2022 until accepting the presidency at HCU. Dr. Jackson also serves as an elder with the Highland Park Church of Christ in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
