At Montreat College, education is not simply training for a vocation (although it certainly does include preparation for vocations). In our mission statement we say, “Through faith and learning we seek to encourage [students] to discover the call of God in every sphere of life.” That’s right—every sphere of life. As a Christian, liberal arts college, we understand a Montreat education to address not only the life of the mind, not only vocational preparation, but the complete person: a person who is made in the image of God, who has aspirations and hopes, whose primary purpose is founded in Christ and therefore whose ultimate meaning and purpose is found in the discovery of one’s calling in Christ.

Yes, we teach history and English and chemistry and computer science. Yes, we offer chapel services and an energetic student life program enriched by Christian service activities, speakers, and the like. But in offering all of this and more, we do not compartmentalize “religion” and treat it as peripheral to the large issues of life and thought. Neither do we bifurcate students into parts, addressing only the moral or ethical life of students in our claim of the word “Christian," concerned only about students’ personal devotional practices or church attendance. Rather, as a Christian liberal arts college (we’re not a Bible college), we understand every person to be a reflective, thinking, responsible agent who is made in the image of God and who thus finds meaning in recognizing and embracing his or her relationship to God. The life of the mind is part of that relationship. So are our physical, emotional, creative, and social lives. The totality of our human experience has relevance in Christ, including academics and vocations.

Education at Montreat is education that has the Christian worldview as its starting point. Assumptions about the nature of reality, about humans’ identity and purpose, about the nature of evil, and other fundamental philosophical questions are grounded in a Scriptural understanding. From this Scriptural rootedness springs inquiry into the academic disciplines and professions. This rootedness in Christ—our pursuit to understand what Colossians 1:17 means in stating, “In Him all things hold together”—is what we mean when we say we strive to integrate faith and learning. At Montreat, we understand Christian higher education to mean not merely education in which personal prayer or Christian worship is present, although those are important. Rather, when it is done well, Christian higher education seeks to help students to be aware of their own assumptions about life and to have desire to align those with the Scriptures. From this pursuit comes students’ development of a relevant Christian worldview through which to take “every thought captive to Christ,” including the values, assumptions, and content of their chosen academic disciplines. And from the genuine embrace of a Christian worldview comes the development of faithful followers of Christ who desire to imitate Christ in all aspects of their lives.

Through example, through on- and off-campus opportunities, through personal conversations in a professor’s office, students are nurtured to discover the meaning and relevance Christ can have for their own lives. Because the Christian liberal arts college is a community of learners grounded in the assurance that all truth is God’s truth, educators and students alike can be excited about learning, not fearful. We thus joyfully embrace intellectual inquiry and standards of excellence even as we seek to express Christian compassion towards each other and to tolerate personal differences.

At Montreat College, job training is not enough for us. Helping students to integrate faith, learning, and living is. Educating students for a life of meaningful work and service begins with helping them to understand themselves and their world in an atmosphere that enables exploration, excellence, and real answers to real questions.