Why should students choose to attend a Christian university? What makes faith-based higher education different? While I currently work at Manna University and I can tell you all about what we do as a staff to serve our students, how every class integrates Scripture while making room for spiritual formation, and how our professors are encouraged not only to teach, but to coach our students, I’m going to approach my response to this question from an alum perspective.
I graduated from Grace College of Divinity (changed to Manna University in 2021) in 2008, while it’s crazy to think that’s been almost 20 years, I still remember the impact the culture, environment, and professors had on my life (there’s two professors who are still teaching today). I began taking classes at GCD when I was still in high school. I remember many of the typical components of college—finding my group of friends, study groups, people always asking for my study guides, staying up late to write papers, and too much coffee. While I have fond memories of some of these basic areas you will encounter at any university, I also distinctly remember classes such as Systematic Theology, Kingdom of God, Hermeneutics, World Religions, and more that helped me learn facts, but more importantly more about my relationship with God and how that impacts me every single day. Additionally, I took other classes that may have not been theology courses, but every class and topic was looked at through a Christian lens, reinforcing a Christian worldview education that shaped how I approached every area of life. My identity comes from God and therefore every area of life should be looked at through that perspective. In my opinion, it was evident in every class that God is not simply an add-on to our life, but He is the core of our life and that impacts every aspect of our lives.
I grew up in a Christian household and had a pretty good foundation before coming to college, but attending college at GCD helped me to continue to walk that out as I finished up high school and began adult life. Especially as a young adult, creating a stronger foundation of what I believe, why I believe it, how my faith impacts every area of life, and how I’m supposed to be a mature Christian is so important through this critical transition in life.
Now that you’ve read just a portion of my story, I want to circle back to the title of this blog, what makes a Christian university different? A healthy and biblical Christian university creates an environment (and systems) to develop students into theological, thoughtful, and transformed leaders.
- Theological
- “At Manna University, we believe everything, including leadership, rises and falls on theology for the Christian leader. As Christian leaders, our understanding of who God is (Theology Proper, Christology, Pneumatology), who we are to God (Christian Anthropology), how God responds to us (Soteriology, Eschatology), and how we are to respond to Him (Ecclesiology) influences every aspect of our lives.”
- My dad used to say, “My theology is better than my math.” Our theology, our understanding of who God is, should be our priority as our identity comes from Him. Christian universities put this at the forefront of curriculum, services, and all they do to serve their students.
- Thoughtful
- “A thoughtful leader is humble, teachable, and committed to lifelong learning, not for the sake of acquiring head knowledge, but for the sake of advancing the Kingdom of God.”
- It’s critical today to know the why behind the what! Why are we acquiring knowledge, why are we going to school, why are we choosing Christian universities? To advance the Kingdom of God. This perspective ought to permeate the culture and curriculum at Christian universities.
- Transformed
- “Transformation is a theological cornerstone at Manna University. Our mandate is to ‘be transformed’ by the word of God, renewal of the Spirit, and sacrificial living.” … “Since spiritual transformation is immediate (salvation) and continual (sanctification), we encourage our students to find security in their identity in Christ, while always moving toward their destiny.”
- God has first called us to have a relationship with Him, and then secondarily has called us to the other roles and responsibilities in our lives. That includes our relationships, our jobs, our assignments, and more. “As transformed people, we are committed to Kingdom transformation.” Students are learning and growing while at universities, but at biblical Christian universities they are also encouraged and coached to be leaders committed to Kingdom transformation in their own lives and the lives of others.
As someone who has personally experienced life change while attending a Christian university, I encourage all students to begin their college journey in such an environment. Getting a degree or practical training for your career matters, but who you become matters even more. Even those who are going on to be nurses, lawyers, mechanics, stay-at-home parents, or whatever it may be, creating a stronger foundation in theology and personal and spiritual formation will take you farther than books and curriculum can take you. Our spiritual formation is critical and who and what we surround ourselves with will significantly impact this process. When we stop seeing God as an add-on and instead find our identity in Him and our purpose in pursuing Him, our faith becomes the lens through which we view every area of life.
*All of the above quotes came from an internal culture training document called “Manna U 101.”
Stefanie Ertel , Executive Director of Academics, Manna University