quiet man from mulkeytown   HE CHAMPIONED FREE WILL BAPTIST BIBLE COLLEGE FOR 64 YEARS... By Jack Williams

WHEN WALLACE MALONE WAS 25 years old, he traveled from his Illinois home to Columbus, Mississippi, to attend the Free Will Baptist national convention. That was July 12-17, 1942. He was one of seven Illinois ministers registered for that sixth annual meeting of Free Will Baptists.

He was young and hungry, and had answered the call to preach two years earlier. Deep inside the quiet man from Mulkeytown, a flame burned hot to know more about the Bible. He wanted to study, to be a better pastor, to take his place in the energetic new denomination.

Vote for Tomorrow

On Thursday afternoon of the convention, Wallace was one of the delegates who authorized the Board of Education “to proceed with the completion of all plans to open the Bible School in Nashville, Tenn., on September 15, 1942.”

That vote changed his life, for the “Bible School” became Free Will Baptist Bible College. Wallace’s son Tom was 18 months old during that convention. Forty-nine years later, the boy who grew up to become Dr. C. Thomas Malone was inaugurated as the college’s fourth president.

More than Talk

Soon after FWBBC opened, Wallace completed an application and drove to Tennessee where he enrolled for two days. But with no job and with pressing family responsibilities, he could not stay and returned to Illinois. Still, he remained first in line to say a word supporting the college, and he opened the doors of his churches to FWBBC—College Choir, drama groups, quartets, student preachers, and more.

Wherever he pastored, young people heard often and with great enthusiasm about Free Will Baptist Bible College. He did more than talk. He could have started his own college! Sixteen of Wallace’s children and grandchildren attended FWBBC. That doubles the institution’s first class in 1942!

Paying and Praying

Malone gave himself, his family, his finances, and his energy to a dream called Free Will Baptist Bible College. For nearly seven decades, he served Free Will Baptists—founding churches and youth camps, serving on the State Mission Board and the national Executive Committee. Always, he was an unapologetic FWBBC booster.

He was greeted with smiles and hugs on his many trips to the Nashville campus. He prayed for and paid for the college on West End Avenue, even though circumstances did not permit him to attend the school he loved.

Not Be Denied

When the eightY-nine year old Wallace died in 2006 after a bold 66-year ministry, his obituary included this line: He was a member of the Alumni Association of Free Will Baptist Bible College. The man who could not attend would not be denied—Wallace Malone was voted in as an honorary member of the FWBBC Alumni Association.

The H. Wallace Malone Heritage Scholarship has been established in his honor. Free Will Baptist Bible College has had no greater champion in its 65-year history than the quiet man from Mulkeytown.

Jack Williams is director of communications at Free Will Baptist Bible College. Learn more about the college at www.fwbbc.edu.