Regent joins Consortium of Christian Study Centers
VANCOUVER, BC—Christian students at secular universities are often faced with the challenge of finding encouragement in their faith. Regent College has taken a step toward addressing the issue.
Regent recently announced that it has become a partner organization with the Consortium of Christian Study Centers (CCSC), an organization dedicated to advancing the growth and effectiveness of Christian Study Centers at colleges and universities around the world.
There are currently 19 members of the consortium. Its mission statement includes goals to promote collaboration between, provide resources for, and support the development of the Study Centers.
Regent president Jeffrey P. Greenman says God is raising up the growing movement to serve people on university campuses.
“The basic idea is to stimulate theologically astute and spiritually serious engagement with the life of universities,” says Greenman. “These centres are hubs for equipping Christian undergraduates, grad students and faculty for outreach that connects to the intellectual life of the university. They are remarkably strategic.”
As an affiliated college of the University of British Columbia, Regent College has sought to foster a deep, integrated Christian faith within the context of a contemporary university, says Greenman.
“Regent is a natural partner to support and encourage Christians on university campuses to think through their faith, across the wide array of disciplines and fields,” he says. “We hope that our students will be excited about serving God in study centre ministries around the world, and that we can assist Christians in secular university contexts.”
Greenman says the Study Center movement is important for graduate students in Canada because many universities do not encourage the pursuit of faith and Christianity.
“Most university settings are very secularized and often quite unfriendly toward faith, including Christian faith,” says Greenman. “This movement is offering a fresh, contextualized approach to thoughtful, spiritually serious witness to the university.
“As traditional campus ministries are under pressure and are sometimes being banned from campus, the study centre approach has a great deal to offer.”
So far, Regent is the only Canadian school that is part of the consortium. It hopes to open channels for graduates to become aware of the centres’ strategic value and to pursue ministry at study centres across the world.
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