South Bend, Indiana

INTRODUCTION TO CALVARY CHRISTIAN
MISSION AND METHODOLOGY

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15)

Our Mission:

Paul's inspired words formed the foundation of our Mission Statement from the beginning of Calvary Christian College and Seminary:

Christian education by correspondence isn't new. It was actually one of the favored methods the Apostle Paul employed for equipping the saints with the vital doctrines and duties accompanying the Christian faith during the first century.

I am happy to report the Pauline off-campus model reappeared several years ago in response to growing numbers of men and women desiring an education but unable to relocate to classroom settings. The fact is we have no buildings to pay for or maintain allowing funds to be used for ministry associated activity. Sadly, instead of applauding the "university without walls" in its effort to provide alternative educational opportunities for the disadvantaged and disenfranchised, the movement has been met with unkind and unwarranted criticism* from institutional protectionists angered with these schools for refusing their unbiblical man-made accreditation.

Today while the future of  "traditional" college is being debated, distance learning has proven to be a viable means of education through the following triad of evidences: The first can be clearly seen in the development of the self-study process. Quantum advances in technology and information storage and delivery systems now offer students- around the clock and around the world- quality scholarship and study opportunities via the computer and the internet in the comfort of their own home. 

The second evidence comes from its growing- and may I say prominent- list of proponents. A quick Google search reveals Government agencies, small and large businesses, home-schoolers, the military, secular universities, and Christian colleges and seminaries are all scrambling to incorporate distance study alternatives into their overall mission strategies. When reporting on this trend, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "All across the country, going to college is acquiring a whole new meaning as higher education undergoes a virtual transformation, one that some predict will make traditional campuses the dinosaurs of the digital age." Interestingly, that excerpt appeared in an article from their July 20, 1998 edition.

Finally, and perhaps most compelling, are the products of these distance education programs: the graduates. Nowhere has this been more of a blessing than in the Christian community. Thanks to the visionary efforts of many conservative off-campus Bible colleges like Calvary Christian, hundreds of thousands of evangelists, pastors and Bible teachers who probably would not have been trained- have been armed for  battle in a field glutted by agnostics, skeptics and liberals, where they are fully equipped to earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 1:3).

Now in all honesty, who would benefit most by accusing, opposing, and ultimately eliminating these correspondence type "without walls" schools, my friend (Rev. 12:9-10)?

Dr. John F. Stampfli, Brigadier General, United States Army Reserve  (2009-2011 Graduate: Doctor of Biblical Studies).

Yours for Christian Education,

Kenneth F. Pierpont, D.Min
kfpierpont@gmail.com

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