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The Way campus bought by non-profit

By Rachel E. Blakeman
The Journal Gazette

ROME CITY - Sylvan Springs Inc., a non-profit group, announced Thursday it has bought The Way College of Biblical Research Indiana Campus and will turn it into a family center for northeast Indiana.

Sylvan Springs said the purchase price for the Rome City compound was $750,000, including all of the furniture, kitchen equipment and other accessories.

"The vision is for three separate, yet connected opportunities for learning," said Max Roesler, president of the Sylvan Springs board of directors.

They are: the Sylvan Springs Professional Learning Center, Sylvan Springs Family Enrichment and Conference Facility and the Sylvan Springs Family Life Center. Some of the programs that the group wants to organize include vocational training, marriage counseling and a child-care center.

Linda Speakman-Yerich, Sylvan Springs administrative director and board treasurer, said tours of the campus will be offered in the next three to four weeks and programs will begin within three months. It has not been decided what will be offered first.

Sylvan Springs officials said the project's funding will come from contributions, leasing space, program fees and grants.

Speakman-Yerich said she will serve as administrative director until a chief executive officer is named.

The Way International, founded in Van Wert, Ohio, and based in New Knoxville, Ohio, is a religious group that differs from other Christian beliefs. Unlike most Christians, The Way followers do not believe in the Trinity - the unity of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

The seven staff members of The Way who had been maintaining the buildings and grounds were moving off the campus after Wednesday's news conference.

The campus had been for sale for about two years, after The Way announced it was moving the Rome City classes to a Gunnison, Colo., campus.

Howard Allen, secretary and treasurer emeritus for The Way, said what became Sylvan Springs was the first group to tour the campus when it went on the market in December 1997.

According to Noble County records, The Way International made its first Rome City land purchase in 1976 from the Sisters of the Precious Blood and bought more land in 1979 from a couple.

It has almost 190 acres, according to the Noble County Assessor's Office, with about 30 buildings.

PUBLISHED: THURSDAY DECEMBER 16, 1999