In 1978, while serving with Dr. Lee Roberson at the Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Clarence Sexton first felt the definite direction of God to establish a place in the heart of a local New Testament church where young men and women could be trained to use their lives in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God led Dr. Sexton to Paterson, New Jersey, in 1980 to pastor the Madison Avenue Baptist Church. From an attendance of less than 100, God built a thriving church that averaged in excess of 800. In 8 years of ministry there, just outside New York City, the world literally came to their doorstep, with over 35 nationalities and 20 languages represented in the membership of the church. God used this period to confirm and deepen Dr. Sexton’s burden to train men and women to reach the world with the gospel.

After twenty years in the ministry, Dr. Sexton accepted the call to become pastor of Temple Baptist Church in Powell, Tennessee, in August of 1988. On the same night the church voted to extend the call, they signaled their willingness to follow their new pastor by voting to establish the Bible college God had laid on his heart ten years previously. For the next three years, the Lord prepared the church family for the birth of the college. With no students, no faculty, and no curriculum, a step of faith was taken as the first building was constructed.

On August 1, 1991, Crown College opened its doors to 69 students from 14 different states. The student body now represents almost every state and many foreign countries. God has given us His favor with hundreds of pastors and parents who have sent their young people to train at Crown College. Over 2,500 alumni are presently serving Christ throughout the U.S. and on every continent of the world. One of the most unique features of the college is its place in the heart of Temple Baptist Church. While attending, students have the opportunity to be a vital part of a New Testament church where God is doing extraordinary things.

The Crown College of the Bible is a distinctive Baptist college continuing in “the heritage of the servants of the Lord.” May God continue to use The Crown College of the Bible for His glory “for such a time as this.”