Jernigan, John Corinthian
John Corinthian Jernigan (1900-1980) became president of Lee College in 1951 at age 51. Church leadership called on Jernigan to serve as president. Jernigan had served as general overseer for the Church of God from 1944 to 1948 and was state overseer of Virginia at the time of his appointment to serve at Lee. He left Virginia for Lee in 1951 and was brought in to help stabilize the college.
President Jernigan held nostalgia for the school and had been a strong advocate for BTS and Lee. He was from Tennessee originally and had attended BTS in 1922 after having a dramatic conversion experience and accepting the call to ministry. He later wrote of his conversation experience in a booklet titled From the Gambling Den to the Pulpit. In it he shared about a momentous event at BTS when he was a student:
“It was in the lobby of the dormitory of the Bible Training School where we were both students that I met her, whose name was Miss Addie Hendricks of Willisburg, Kentucky. She possessed a very quiet, meek and sweet spirit. All the students and teachers loved and highly respected her, and in my opinion she was the most consecrated student in the school. Her life had always been above reproach…. At the age of 20 she was a licensed Evangelist, and began to travel in evangelistic work. When she was 22 years old… she became MY WIFE, and has played all of her part in making my ministry successful.”
President Jernigan's tenure was not intended to be a long one, and he only served one year. This was not an easy year for the school or for him. Enrollment continued to decline and faculty were unhappy, as they felt what they had been working toward had come to an abrupt stop.
/ L.F. Morgan
President Jernigan held nostalgia for the school and had been a strong advocate for BTS and Lee. He was from Tennessee originally and had attended BTS in 1922 after having a dramatic conversion experience and accepting the call to ministry. He later wrote of his conversation experience in a booklet titled From the Gambling Den to the Pulpit. In it he shared about a momentous event at BTS when he was a student:
“It was in the lobby of the dormitory of the Bible Training School where we were both students that I met her, whose name was Miss Addie Hendricks of Willisburg, Kentucky. She possessed a very quiet, meek and sweet spirit. All the students and teachers loved and highly respected her, and in my opinion she was the most consecrated student in the school. Her life had always been above reproach…. At the age of 20 she was a licensed Evangelist, and began to travel in evangelistic work. When she was 22 years old… she became MY WIFE, and has played all of her part in making my ministry successful.”
President Jernigan's tenure was not intended to be a long one, and he only served one year. This was not an easy year for the school or for him. Enrollment continued to decline and faculty were unhappy, as they felt what they had been working toward had come to an abrupt stop.
/ L.F. Morgan