Here We Stand

Here We Stand

MISSION, STATEMENT OF RELIGIOUS FAITH,

STATEMENT OF RELIGIOUS CONVICTIONS, AND STRATEGIC PRIORITIES OF THE UNIVERSITY

Mission CHRIST-CENTERED COMMUNITY Our community of interdependent students, faculty, and staff seeks to honor and obey Jesus Christ, who is present in Spirit and speaks in Scripture, in order to advance God’s purposes in the lives of every member.

EXEMPLARY ACADEMICS

CHRIST-CENTERED HIGHER EDUCATION TRANSFORMING STUDENTS TO IMPACT THE WORLD WITH

GRACE AND TRUTH. Colorado Christian University cultivates knowledge and love of God in a Christ-centered community of learners and scholars with an enduring commitment to the integration of exemplary academics, spiritual formation, and engagement with the world. We envision graduates who think critically and creatively, lead with high ethical and professional standards, embody the character and compassion of Jesus Christ, treasure the gospel, and who thereby are prepared to impact the world in their callings.

Our undergraduate and graduate curriculum integrates faith and learning in a scholarly environment that fosters critical and creative thinking, academic excellence, and professional competence.

SPIRITUAL FORMATION Our academic and student development programs cultivate a deep and enduring faith that affirms the authority of Scripture and embraces Christ as the authentic center of life.

ENGAGEMENT WITH THE WORLD Our students experience and engage the world in ways that prepare leaders to serve and transform their professions, churches, and communities.

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EMBODY THE CHARACTER AND COMPASSION OF JESUS CHRIST

THINK CRITICALLY AND CREATIVELY

TREASURE THE GOSPEL

IMPACT THE WORLD IN THEIR CALLINGS

LEAD WITH HIGH ETHICAL

AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

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Statement of Religious

Faith

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Colorado Christian University unites with the broad, historic evangelical faith rather than affiliating with any specific denomination. In this commitment, the University embraces the following declarations of the National Association of Evangelicals:

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

JOHN 1:17 ESV

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We Believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God. We Believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We Believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.

We Believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.

We Believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.

We Believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.

We Believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

These declarations do not comprise all that individual Christians may consider important elements of faith; rather, they establish the essential framework within which members of the University both unite in shared beliefs and explore differences.

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Statement of Religious

Convictions

CCU is a Christian institution of higher education. Our University rests on a belief system where truth matters and where there is a unifying center (Christ) which holds all things and disciplines together. This has been our conviction since our founding in 1914, and it continues to be our conviction today. But truth is to be held and lived out in love. Hence our motto, "grace and truth."

(John 1:14-16; Ephesians 4:15) 01

HOLY SCRIPTURE

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THE GOSPEL

We have always believed in the truthfulness of the Bible. We understand the use of the word “infallibility” in our Statement of Faith to mean inerrancy (as articulated in The Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy), that the 66 books of the Bible, in their original manuscripts, are without error in all that they affirm. Scripture is our supreme authority under Christ. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; Psalm 12:6; John 17:17) As evangelicals, we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The term “evangelical” comes from the Greek word euangelion, meaning “the good news” or the “gospel.”

Thus, the evangelical faith focuses on the “good news” of salvation brought to sinners through Jesus Christ. We have a biblical mandate to share this good news everywhere. We also understand the language of being “saved” in our

Statement of Faith to mean that we are saved (i.e., justified) by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and that true faith will show itself in good works. (Romans 3:21-28; Romans 5:1; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-10) 03

RACE AND ETHNICITY

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SEX AND GENDER

Believing in a biblical view of human nature, we affirm that all people are made in the image of God and are consequently worthy of respect. Scripture also states that Christ has “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and … made them a kingdom and priests to our God.” Therefore, we look at the value of all persons through the lens of biblical truth as image bearers who can have a new identity in Christ. (Genesis 1:26,27; Ephesians 1-2; Revelation 5:9,10) In affirming “traditional family values” in our Strategic Priorities, we mean what Biblebelieving Christians have always meant, and what we have believed as an institution since our founding in 1914, that God created human beings in His image as male and female, that He ordained that marriage is to be between a man (male) and a woman

SCRIPTURE IS OUR SUPREME AUTHORITY UNDER CHRIST.

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(female) for life, and that sexual intimacy is exclusively for marriage. (Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:22-33; Revelation 19:7-9) 05

THE CHURCH AND ITS MINISTRIES

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CHRISTCENTERED HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRUTH

When we claim to be “servants of the church,” we mean what we have always believed since our founding that all our employees — administration, faculty, staff, and also Trustees — should be committed, Bible-believing Christians and true disciples of Jesus (see No. 2). While we recognize the vital role of pastors and teachers, we also believe in the priesthood of all believers, where God calls every believer to active ministry as a member of His body, the church; so we hold that every Christian at CCU (i.e., all employees, from office staff to facilities, to faculty, to the president) should see their jobs as ministries to our students and that all should live lives of obedience to Christ and His Word. (Matthew 16:18; 28:1820; Ephesians 4:11-13; 1 Peter 2:9) In its central convictions, CCU stands in the great tradition of Christian higher education in which education must begin with the “fear of the Lord,” must be rooted in the Scriptures and Jesus Christ (“in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”), and must affirm the truthfulness of truth and the reality of God’s created order. (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10; Colossians 2:3)

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Believing in a biblical view of human nature, we affirm that all people are made in the image of God and are consequently worthy of respect.

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Strategic

Priorities

Colorado Christian University’s Strategic Priorities were adopted by the CCU Board of Trustees to serve as a guiding compass for the University. They direct the implementation of CCU’s long-established mission and vision, and provide context for our first priority — an enduring commitment to Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.

The Strategic Priorities provide a point of convergence for every member of the CCU community and for every aspect of life at CCU, from how we teach and learn in the classroom to how we live with and serve others.

Colorado Christian University shall: Honor Christ and share the love of Christ on campus and around the world.

Teach students to trust the Bible, live holy lives, and be evangelists.

Be a magnet for outstanding students and prepare them for positions of significant leadership in the church, business, government, and professions by offering an excellent education in strategic disciplines.

Teach students how to learn.

Teach students how to think for themselves.

Teach students how to speak and write clearly and effectively.

Give students significant opportunities to serve our Lord while they are at CCU and to help them develop a lifetime habit of such service.

Impact our culture in support of traditional family values, sanctity of life, compassion for the poor, Biblical view of human nature, limited government, personal freedom, free markets, natural law, original intent of the Constitution, and Western civilization.

Be seekers of truth.

Debunk “spent ideas” and those who traffic in them.

Ask God to multiply our time and ability to the glory of His great name.

Be a servant of the Church.

BE a GREAT Christian university.

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Be a

GREAT Christian University

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Be the nation’s best performing and most trusted, respected, and recognized Christ-centered, biblically sound, evangelical, conservative university.

Be a magnet for outstanding Christian students and scholars offering a biblically integrated, rigorous, exemplary education that equips each CCU student for significant leadership that transforms the world with grace and truth.

Be conscious in building cross-cultural campuses (residential, online, Academy). We will effectively engage, educate, and emulate God’s Imago Dei as we reflect the breadth of the Body of Christ and God’s creation.

Be a leading Christian university in developing student spiritual formation, student discipleship, and the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Be strategic in growing CCU’s brand as the nation’s best-performing and most-trusted and respected Christ-centered, biblically sound, evangelical, conservative university.

Be committed to actively recruiting, retaining, and rewarding the best performing, most distinguished Christian professors to the existing roster of eminent CCU faculty, because students are drawn to professors, not courses.

Be intentional in developing and delivering competent, convictional, and courageous CCU graduates into the world; graduates exceptionally employable and capable of becoming cultural leaders.

Be competitive, character-filled, and committed to excellence while nurturing the spiritual development of each student-athlete, producing CCU Cougar athletes who lead Christ-centered lives inside and outside the arenas of competition.

Be welcoming to philanthropic partner opportunities to fund scholarships, academic programs, and campus development, increasing charitable innovations, and prioritizing rapidly growing the university endowment to secure the future of Colorado Christian University.

Be excellent Christian stewards of the University’s resources and our students’ tuition, constructing professional, best practice facilities and operations, emphasizing financial profitability for sustainable growth to both ‘secure and mature’ CCU’s distinct Christ-centered higher education mission.

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OUR COMMUNITY SEEKS TO HONOR AND OBEY JESUS CHRIST, WHO IS PRESENT IN SPIRIT AND SPEAKS IN SCRIPTURE.

8787 W. Alameda Ave. Lakewood, CO 80226