The college years are often thought of as formative years.
It’s a time in life where one is immersed in critical thinking, rich classroom discussions, and learning. But, university life is not just about expanding the mind. While a critical aspect of what an institution of higher education is tasked with, Concordia University not only educates student minds, but seeks to be formative of the whole person—to produce Christian citizens who make an impact on the world for the sake of Christ.
This desire is evident in the mission of the university: Concordia University is a Lutheran higher education community committed to developing students in mind, body and spirit for service to Christ in the Church and in the world. Guided by our confessions, a Concordia University education serves students differently — We recognize that students will develop in each of these areas during such a formative time and seek to enable that development in a way that reflects our Lutheran identity.
Christ has given us our bodies, souls, mind, personalities, and all our being to use as means by which He works in this world. Neglecting any aspect of God’s glorious creation in each human would deny the fashion in which God has designed us. We confess and acknowledge this design, as articulated in Luther’s Small Catechism: “I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them.”
In every Concordia classroom, on the playing fields and performance stages, in the residence halls, and even in our online learning, we strive to develop within each student the ideals of a Christian life. Resources and learning opportunities available to students not only address their academic learning, but their physical wellbeing and spiritual growth. Students engage in experiential learning, coursework, as well as athletic opportunities, that provide them hands-on experience and engage the physical health of each student. Every student hears the Good News of Christ and His redemptive work in classroom instruction, residence hall Bible studies, daily Chapel, and campus ministry outreach. Through formation as a whole person, graduates of Concordia University go forward, shaped by God’s word, in fulfillment of our mission, in service to Christ in the Church and the world.
—Elizabeth Polzin, EdD, Assistant Professor of Graduate Education
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