ABOVE PHOTO: The first graduating class of Regent College (1970-1971). Pictured second from left is Dr. James Houston, the first principal of the College.

History, Mission & Goals

The College was founded in 1968 as the first graduate school of theology in North America to make education of the laity its central focus. The beginning of such a venture in Western Canada was a response to a growing belief that the “new frontiers” of lay involvement should be implemented in a strategic centre of trade and commerce. Vancouver proved ideal because of its location on the Pacific Rim and its access to other capitals of the world.

A second conviction shared by Regent’s founders was that the College should relate to the university world, which is the focal point for the development of the philosophies that shape both thought and action in today’s marketplace of ideas. To that end, the College sought and obtained affiliation with the University of British Columbia in 1973, thus giving its students access to the facilities and life of a major centre of secular learning. Affiliation with UBC, however, has not necessitated any loss of independence or self-determination on the part of the College.

Additionally, Regent College is a response to an obvious need for quality evangelical theological training that will meet the requirements of the church in Canada and elsewhere. From its inception, the College has been committed to building up the church, and it does so through continuing education for ministers and missionaries, and the Master of Divinity and Master of Theology programs that combine traditional curricula with integrative interdisciplinary studies.

The College offers a full range of graduate study programs taught by an international faculty committed to the historic evangelical faith, both as a credal affirmation and as a living experience. The College emphasizes close contact between faculty and students as an integral part of the development of Christian character. To that end, times of worship, together with growth in personal spiritual disciplines, are considered an essential part of the educational process.

Global Mission

Regent College cultivates intelligent, vigorous, and joyful commitment to Jesus Christ, His church, and His world.

Educational Mission

Our hope for students is that through their time at Regent College their lives will become more fully integrated in Christ, so that their minds are filled with the truth of Christ, their imaginations captivated by the glory of Christ, and their characters formed according to the virtues of Christ.

We understand our educational mission to be what the New Testament calls paradosis (transmission), the handing on of living faith from one generation to another. In service of the Church we engage in graduate education through a kind of higher catechism or paideia (formation) that enables Christians to live more thoughtfully in varied vocations in the church and the world. By our formal classroom interaction, and by the culture we foster more generally at Regent College, we aim to help students to see all of life—and all aspects of our own lives—as spheres of God’s creative and redemptive work. As students leave Regent College, they should be prepared to pass this vision on to another generation.

Regent College does not aim principally to prepare students for thoughtful and virtuous citizenship, or to prepare them with the necessary skills to succeed in the workplace. These aims of higher education have their place at Regent only within the larger educational aim of preparing students to engage with their culture as thoughtful and prayerful Christians, sharing in Christ’s creative and redemptive mission to the world.

Since our ideals are as high as those of the apostle Paul who aimed to “present everyone perfect in Christ,” we will never be able either to see our educational mission fully achieved, nor will we ever be able to take much credit for the lives of our graduates when they demonstrate the sorts of qualities we desire for them. Yet we will rejoice with our graduates

• when we see that they are passionately devoted to Christ, seeking after holiness, their lives shaped at the deepest level by prayer and Scripture, sharing in the suffering of Christ in order to bring life to others.
• when we see that their domestic and intimate lives are rich with family and friendship, celebration, service, and a joyful stewardship of the gifts of creation.
• when we see them participating fully in the life of the church, leading in ministries of evangelism, discipleship, teaching, worship, and healing, and exercising their gifts to further the work of the kingdom in all its forms.
• when we see that they are able to discern their work in the world as God’s work and to grasp how their Christian faith calls them to live creatively, thoughtfully and redemptively as artists, teachers, politicians and public servants; doctors, lawyers and business executives; engineers, carpenters and social workers; pastors, missionaries, and youth workers; and in every other worthy vocation, paid and unpaid.

 

Ethos

Regent College, as a Christian academic community, takes relationships seriously, seeking to understand and live them in light of our biblical and theological commitments. We want to embrace the vast implications of being the “new humanity in Christ,” including how we treat gender, ethnic, racial, denominational and theological differences (cf. Galatians 3:28). Regent College welcomes students as varied as the whole people of God and seeks to create an environment in which all students feel safe to engage in courteous and respectful conversation in the pursuit of truth, as we seek to be formed and reformed by the Scriptures. The College welcomes and actively pursues qualified faculty reflective of this commitment.