Stephanie Boegel 
Standing in the Student Union, I could hear laughter, cheers, and prayer coming from the graduate staging area. It was Saturday morning, and Manna University’s 23rd Commencement ceremony would begin shortly. Commencement is always a poignant moment at a college or university, and that sentiment certainly holds true at Manna University. But a Christian college graduation is about … Read more
Summer has a way of loosening things. Schedules relax. Deadlines soften. Rhythms shift. For many college students, summer feels like an exhale. For those who do not take summer courses, it means papers are submitted, exams are done, and the pace slows. And that is good. As I’ve said in previous posts, rest is not … Read more
Jesus Arroyo, hailing from Raeford, NC, just graduated from Manna University with a Bachelor of Arts in Worship Ministry. We got to talk with him and learn about how Manna University has influenced his own spiritual formation and his leadership in service to the local church. “I was baptized and truly accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior in January of 2017,” he … Read more
There is a stretch of road I travel often. We call it the Military Highway. It runs through places like Fort Leonard Wood, Killeen, Newport News, West Florida, Hawaii (I know it’s in the middle of the ocean), Sanford, the NC Capital Area, and Colorado Springs. Soon, it will run through Clarksville, TN. The time … Read more
Ivanna Labrador Tapias, a current Manna U student taking courses in our Certificate in Church Leadership in Spanish, shared with us some of her story and some insights into how Manna University has equipped her to lead within the local church. “I am from Venezuela… I live in the city of Valencia,” she shares. “I am … Read more
Commencement is a strange word. In higher education, we use it to describe the end of something. But it actually means beginning. Every May at Manna U, we gather to celebrate degrees earned, assignments submitted, research defended, and perseverance proven. Families fill the room. Names are called. Applause rises. It feels like an arrival. But commencement is not an arrival at all It is a … Read more
Each graduation carries a uniquely bittersweet weight. As a faculty member in Christian higher education, I do not merely witness the completion of academic programs; I participate in a moment of sending. We send graduates into ministries, professions, families, and communities with the conviction that God has been forming them long before they ever entered our classrooms—and will continue that formation … Read more
Every year, someone asks me a version of the same question: Why the UK? It is a fair question. In a world of digital classrooms, Zoom lectures, and AI-driven research tools, why put students on a plane and fly them across the Atlantic? Why invest the time, money, and energy required for international travel? Simple. Because formation requires exposure. At … Read more
At most colleges, commencement marks the end of a journey. At Manna University, it does more than that; it brings a community together that, for many students, has only existed online until that moment. Commencement matters everywhere. Full stop. But at Manna University, it carries a different kind of weight for graduates, faculty, and staff alike. To … Read more
Family has a way of exposing us. I come from a large one. Two brothers. Two sisters. Fourteen nieces and nephews. A growing collection of grand-nieces and nephews. Add in aunts, uncles, cousins, and in-laws and you get a room full of people who know exactly how to push each other’s buttons. There is no argument quite … Read more
