Christian college mission: formation that nurtures soul and mind
Drawing from personal experience with college decisions, this piece contrasts the stated aims of a Christian college and a state university. It also highlights features in a special issue focused on Christian colleges and why churches may want extra copies for youth ministry use.
- Two orientation messages illustrate sharply different educational missions.
- The special issue emphasizes spiritual growth woven into campus life.
- Churches are encouraged to keep quantities on hand for prospective students.
By Mark A. Taylor
This week’s issue took me back to the time when my own son and daughter were choosing a college.
A tale of two orientations
My daughter attended an orientation session for new students in the spring before she started classes at a Christian college. The wife of the school’s president spoke to the parents and incoming students gathered there. “At this college,” she said, “we’re not here to undo everything you parents have established in 18 years of rearing your child.”
About the same time a family friend and her daughter attended a freshman orientation weekend at the state school this girl had chosen. One of the school’s professors told the incoming students, “Our goal is to make you think, to challenge you to question all the assumptions you’re bringing with you to the university.”
What this special issue highlights
The unique mission of Christian colleges is clear in all the features we’ve gathered in this special issue. Dusty Rubeck, a college president with a daughter who will soon be a college student, reflects on the “spiritual intensity” present on Christian college campuses. “Christian college employees actively partner with God for the good and growth of the student.”
We invited all the schools listed on our annual Christian college chart to tell you why prospective students should consider their programs, and 26 of them gave their answer. Again and again these schools mention the spiritual growth and direction woven through the experiences of students on their campuses.
Our “CHRISTIAN STANDARD Interview” talks with Christian college senior Justin Bilyea, who speaks of the “passion for serving God” he has discovered on his campus.
And this week’s “Reflections” writer, John Derry (also a Christian college president), believes Christian colleges must “instill within our students an appreciation for values that are timeless and applicable to this generation as well as the next.”
Combined with the ads many of these schools have chosen to place in this issue, these pieces provide a powerful answer to the question on our cover. That’s why we’re making this issue available in quantities to churches that want to keep it on hand for use in their youth ministry.
These schools are working hard to offer top-notch programs that will nurture the soul as well as build the intellect. Congregations receiving this magazine, and every prospective college student in those churches, will do well to look carefully at what these schools have to offer.
See Related Articles
- “Why Go to a Christian College?” by Dusty Rubeck
- “Why Attend Christian College? 26 Schools Give Their Answer”
- “Christian Colleges, 2007-08 (chart)”
- “CHRISTIAN STANDARD Interview: Justin Bilyea”
- “The Future of Christian Church Colleges” by John Derry
Author: Mark A. Taylor
Mark A. Taylor, who served as Christian Standard editor from 2003 to 2017, retired in June 2017 after almost 41 years with Standard Publishing (Christian Standard Media).
