How Will a Christian College Shape My Child Spiritually, Not Just Academically?

Spurgeon College’s great spiritual advantage, as I see it, is that we view the academic aspect as an essential component of our students’ shaping, but we do not view academics as all that we have at our disposal to effectively shape students spiritually.

We shape them spiritually . . .

1. In the Christian Life and Worldview Program

Perhaps the greatest spiritual growth advantage we sculpt for our students is that we place the spiritual disciplines front and center in our students’ weekly experience and semester-by-semester rhythms. First, the leadership of the school sculpts the Christian Life and Worldview curricula and cohort time; then in turn that curriculum and cohort time sculpts our students. Arguably, this is the most important thing we do at Spurgeon College. We seek to outfit students with daily spiritual habits that will serve them for a lifetime as a Christian—namely, Bible intake, prayer, silence and solitude, journaling, fasting, corporate worship, etc. The Christian Life and Worldview program, which functions as a certificate, is centered on the spiritual disciplines. This is our way of shaping students into the image of Christ.

2. In the Local Church

We expect each and every Spurgeon College student to be a member of a local church. We recognize that the local church is the essential and primary means of Jesus discipling His followers. Therefore, we expect our students to play a vital role in their churches. Although Spurgeon College is obviously not the local church, we see the local church as the primary non-academic component shaping our students’ spiritual lives. We wish to be complementary to the essential nature of the local church; we do not wish to be an impediment. Therefore, we expect each student to be growing in their local church.

3. In the Community

Spurgeon College students are shaped in the hallway, the dorms, in the cafeteria, the stands watching athletic events, and on the court, field, and track, in the library, and at conferences too. This is the carefully sculpted and providentially provided community for SC students—a community brimming with activity and thrumming with energy. It has been said that we shape our buildings and then our buildings shape us. With this principle in mind, SC sculpts the spaces we inhabit so they will in turn shape us for spiritual good.

4. In the Classroom

Now, embedded in the very prompting question that launches me into this article is, “What outside of academics shapes our students spiritually?” So why would I say we shape SC students in the classroom? Well, what I still must highlight is the real-life example of our professors’ lives, church lives, marriages, and personal walk with Christ. Their example is a powerful shaping mechanism in our students’ lives. Professors are exceptional examples of, and shaping influences in, our students’ lives.

5. In the Chapel

Finally, I would highlight that the hub and hive of activity for our campus is chapel. Anybody who is anybody, which is everybody, comes to chapel. We intentionally bring in preachers who are gifted and who challenge us as a community toward spiritual growth and edification. Chapel is no small part of how our school shapes students.

These five shaping mechanisms are not all that we do, but they are the main ways in which Spurgeon College shapes our students spiritually.