8 / 36
when McQuilkin told him in 1989
that he needed to resign to care for
Muriel. Oliver says he successfully
talked McQuilkin out of that decision,
something he regrets to this day. But he
said McQuilkin came back with the same
request a year later, saying: “John, if
you’re my real friend, don’t try to talk me
out of it.”
That was just one experience in the
life of McQuilkin that Oliver recounted
correlating to McQuilkin’s life verse on
how the believer is transformed into the
image of Christ:
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
freedom. And we all, who with unveiled
faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are
being transformed into his image with
ever-increasing glory, which comes
from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
(2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
“Change,” Oliver began. “The care (for
Muriel) for which he is famous – and
let the Christian world not forget (it),
the students who pass through here
– let them not forget it – (it’s) the gold
standard, those years of care.”
“A Spiritual Giant”
Many of those associated with CIU over
the years chatted for over an hour after
the service recalling the many ways
McQuilkin impacted their lives.
n the last months of the life of
Columbia International University
President Emeritus Robertson McQuilkin,
when his health was declining, his close
friend and former CIU Vice President
John Davidson would visit him and
inquire how he was doing.
“He would say, ‘Terrible,’” Davidson
recalled.
“I would say, terrible? What’s wrong?”
“He’d say, ‘I’m still here. I want to be in
heaven.’”
“Well now he is,” Davidson told those
who gathered at a memorial service in
CIU’s Shortess Chapel June 4. “And we
rejoice.”
J. Robertson McQuilkin, who served as
CIU’s third president from 1968-1990, went
to be with the Lord on June 2, 2016. The
family welcomed hundreds of CIU alumni,
faculty, students, and members of the
community to celebrate McQuilkin’s life.
McQuilkin was eulogized by his
colleagues, friends, and children who
shared about his worldwide influence
among evangelicals, his deep love for his
family, and his longing for his heavenly
home.
“He loved extravagantly, and we’re going
to miss him so much,” said his daughter,
Amy Barber. “But we’re so glad he’s with
Jesus.”
Humble Acts of Service
McQuilkin’s accomplishments were many.
After graduating from Columbia Bible
College (now Columbia International
University) and Fuller Theological
Seminary, he served as the headmaster
of Ben Lippen School, and as a church
planter in Japan, before returning to CIU
to serve as president.
However, for all his accomplishments,
those at the memorial service
remembered him more for his humble
acts of service. His children recalled
him taking them on special trips and
throwing surprise birthday parties
for them; his friends remembered
his faithfulness in prayer and writing
letters of encouragement; his students
remembered him for his energy and his
desire to disciple them. And of course,
those who knew him remembered his
devotion to his first wife Muriel who
suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. His
decision to resign as CIU’s president to
care for her full time still reverberates
around the world.
Muriel - “Those years
of care”
Delivering the sermon at the funeral
was McQuilkin’s friend of 50 years, Dr.
John W.P. Oliver, a former CIU board
member. Oliver was board chairman
Hundreds attend memorial service on CIU campus
By Melissa McCutchan and Bob Holmes
I
8
CIU Today
Fall 2016