A Life Transformed: William S. Davis

First Alumnus of LBC’s Graduate School

My conversation with William S. Davis (’69 & ’98) introduced me to a man full of the experiences and memories of a lifetime transformed by Lancaster Bible College.

Bill Davis grew up in Hamburg, Pa., and spent his childhood isolated by the life and work of a dairy farm. His father was antagonistic to the gospel, and Davis and his siblings were forbidden from attending church. Instead, he spent his Sunday mornings “cleaning manure from gutters.”

Introduced to Jesus through his mother and Child Evangelism Fellowship ministry at his grade school in Shartlesville, Pa., Davis ultimately gave his life to Christ at the Percy Crawford Pinebrook Bible Camp in 1961. Through Lancaster School of the Bible’s weekly radio show, he learned about LSB and began the three-year Bible certificate course in 1966.

Davis describes himself as a “bashful farm boy” who sat behind taller people in class to avoid being called upon. He watched fellow students who had grown up in Christian schools and churches effortlessly respond to requests to pray aloud and draw timelines of the biblical narrative. Davis, on the other hand, constructed his new life of faith and love of God’s Word through those early experiences as a student. His “lifetime of verse-by-verse expository preaching” had its roots in Lancaster School of the Bible. The farm boy who cleaned gutters on Sunday mornings would graduate in 1969 as the pastor of the newly formed Faith Independent Church of Manheim (now Lakeview Bible Church).

Davis was profoundly shaped by those deep relationships with professors who invested in him and invited him into their homes and churches. Dorm life gave Davis newfound social connections. More importantly, required dishwashing duty introduced him to Karen (Wyatt ‘69), who sprayed him one day with the dish rinser. He eventually married her on campus in the “old tobacco barn” converted to a chapel. Because Karen’s parents could not attend the wedding, then-academic dean, Dr. Thomas Figart Sr., gave her away. Thus began a marriage and a partnership in ministry that has spanned 55 years.

Bill Davis studies on campus in the ’90s.	William S. Davis receives his master’s degree from then-President Dr. Gilbert A. Peterson

Davis went on to earn his double major bachelor’s degree in Bible and Greek at Grace College (LBC was not granted approval to award degrees until 1973), then took courses at Grace Seminary, Baptist Bible Seminary and Biblical Seminary. That was when he decided to enroll in Lancaster Bible College’s fledgling graduate program. With seven or eight other students, Davis took courses in Greek and Bible, eventually becoming the first student to graduate from LBC with a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies in 1998. He gratefully remembers the direction and support of faculty members such as the late Dr. Ronald Gibson and Dr. Rick Fairman, as well as Professor Emeritus Dr. Gerald Lincoln. Davis said his graduate course work and degree served to strengthen a heart and mind “grounded solidly in the word of God.”

In just over 25 years, LBC | Capital has grown from a single student matriculating with an MA in Bible to offering four doctoral degrees, 23 masters degrees and several graduate certificates, with classes and residencies in person and online, reaching students around the world. While the programs have grown and the modalities have changed, LBC | Capital continues to transform lives through biblically rooted teaching and learning, just as it did for William Davis over two decades ago.