Called to be Christ-Centered, Bible-Based, and Ministry-Focused: The Campbell University Divinity School

Abstract

Campbell University, a school founded by a Baptist preacher in 1887, has for its existence been involved in the task of educating church leaders in the context of a Christian liberal arts university. The decision to add a divinity school to Campbell's already existing professional programs in law, pharmacy, business, and education fulfilled a dream nurtured at the university for over twenty-five years. The school's new model of a university-based theological education, capitalizing upon the rich resources of a liberal arts environment and the contributions of other professional disciplines, seeks to educate Christian ministers for the twenty-first century who are intellectually prepared, spiritually mature, and capable of inspiring and leading churches to fulfill their unique role in the world.In the days following the appointment of Deans, we faced the large task of defining our mission and charting our course. With prayer and pencil, we strived to articulate what was so sure in our hearts. It was our aim to frame a mission statement that would express the heart of Christian theological education, one that would be simple and clear to students and churches and one that would bring students and faculty together as a spiritual family, bonded by call, and not regulated by age, race, or gender. We desired a mission statement that would hold us to our course, inspire us daily in our work, and judge us if we strayed. Those hours of prayer and work thus formed the mission statement we proudly proclaim: to provide Christ-centered, Bible-based, and Ministry10cused theological education.