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Purpose
of Concordia College
The purpose of Concordia College is to influence the affairs of the
world by sending into society thoughtful and informed men and women
dedicated to the Christian life.
Founded by Norwegian immigrants in 1891, Concordia College is a four-year,
residential, liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America. It invites women and men of different backgrounds and
aspirations to join a formative society of rigorous inquiry and disciplined
practice. The College strives to nurture liberally learned, responsible
graduates by educating the whole person for meaningful vocation and
constructive participation in God's world. As a place of faith
and learning, Concordia cultivates dialogue with the world and service
to life.
Following Martin Luther, Concordia affirms both sacred and secular
purposes for its liberal learning community. The College serves the
life of the Church by studying, transmitting, and contributing to
Christian conviction and practice. Students engage and examine this
tradition for personal growth and for strengthening the Christian
community. Across the curriculum, students are free and encouraged
to connect their studies with ultimate concerns and questions. The
College serves the community of faith by upholding expressions of
the Christian life and by helping students to find authentic religious
lives in conversation with a multiplicity of worldviews and faiths.
At Concordia, the life of faith and the pursuit of learning occur
in dynamic interaction.
The College also serves life in the world. As an accredited academic
institution, it serves the community of life by studying, transmitting
and contributing to the breadth of human knowledge and activity. Through
scholarship and teaching, the College develops in students enduring
powers for many ways of being human. These callings are the various
social roles and places of responsibility that all people live out
every day in different spheres and contexts. They require working
knowledge and competence. A liberal arts education seeks understanding
and ability for thoughtful and informed participation in the whole
array of personal, communal and natural relationships. Liberal learning
at Concordia involves both broad and in-depth study. It seeks skills
and capacities to think, communicate, and create across domains of
knowledge and to master a discipline of inquiry and practice. Liberal
learning is learning for life: for self-fulfillment, for participation
in the affairs of the world, and for lifelong learning.
For students to become liberally learned, responsible persons, they
need to embrace the privileges and obligations of higher education.
They need to observe academic freedom and intellectual integrity.
They need to be passionate about the life of the mind and about making
a difference in various communities. They need to be open to our complex,
integrated, and multicultural world. Concordia affirms the Christian
practice of hospitality and welcomes students of all backgrounds and
faiths to be full and active participants in college life and its
public intellectual discourse. Preparing students to inhabit a world
of plurality and to live well in common with others are important
goals for the College today.
Martin Luther thought of the liberally learned person as someone of
“wondrous ability subsequently fit for everything.” In
the Lutheran view, students glorify God and love the world by understanding
education as a form of vocation and by pursuing their studies with
wisdom and commitment. For its part, the vocation of the College is
to call and prepare students to influence the affairs of the world
in thoughtful, informed, and responsible ways - in service to
the life that God engenders, redeems, and sustains. |
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