Lincoln Christian University is a Christian higher education community whose mission is to nurture and equip Christians with a Biblical worldview to serve and lead in the church and the world. The principal means we use to accomplish this mission are teaching, learning, leading, and serving through undergraduate and graduate programs offered in three schools, each of which has a distinct educational goal:

The School of Undergraduate Studies is a residential undergraduate school whose educational goal is to prepare servant leaders who know God's Word, engage God's world, and pursue God's will for their lives.

The Hargrove School of Adult & Graduate Studies is an undergraduate and graduate school for working adults whose educational goal is to enable servant leaders to be more effective in their chosen professions through programs delivered through non-traditional means taught from a Christian worldview.

The Seminary is a graduate theological school whose educational goal is to develop servant leaders to equip churches and church-related organizations to carry out Christ's Great Commission in the world.

We believe our highest privilege is to glorify God, serve His Son, and rely upon His Holy Spirit. To that end we pledge ourselves to these core values:

Authentic community that fosters Christian character, conduct, accountability, and unity amidst growing diversity.

Holistic development of students in and out of the classroom as spiritually mature and academically prepared lifelong learners.

Servant leadership and its focus on leading and learning through serving, based on one's gifts, passion, and sense of calling.

Responsible stewardship of the abilities and resources that God provides for and through His people.

Our Restoration heritage and its plea for Christian unity and Biblical authority in carrying out God's global mission.

The purpose of a philosophy of education is to clarify educational concepts, strategies, and outcomes. At Lincoln Christian University, our particular philosophy of education draws its form and substance from the shared theological values of the campus community. It is these shared values that give rise to the curriculum and its content. It also gives expression to the covenantal character of this educational community and its commitment to our mission, vision, core values, and basic beliefs.

The foundation of our philosophy is the shared belief that truth is revealed by God in the natural world, in the written Word of God, and in the person of Jesus Christ, the Living Word. This revealed truth in all three dimensions is the heart of our curriculum and has for us three key aspects: creational, propositional, and relational.

The creational aspect of truth requires a careful examination of the created, natural world and the collective knowledge of humankind throughout history. The propositional aspect of truth requires a purposeful process that focuses on the transmission of the truth revealed by God in Scripture through His Holy Spirit. The relational aspect of truth requires a deep knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ as “the Truth” that involves not only mental understanding but also personal experience as learner-disciples led by the Holy Spirit within a covenant community.

At the heart of our educational philosophy is the reciprocal relationship between the student and the faculty in the teaching-learning process. Students are valued as learners who are integral to our educational and spiritual community. Central to this process is the recognition and acceptance of the diverse nature of learners and the diverse ways in which they learn. This diversity is reflected by age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, life experience, interests, abilities, giftedness, and different learning styles.

The faculty are valued as teachers who do more than teach. Their education, expertise, and experiences are crucial components of the teaching and learning that occurs here, but faculty also serve as role models, mentors, advisors, encouragers, and partners in learning. It is their commitment to lifelong learning, to scholarship, to creativity, to the discovery of new knowledge, and to ongoing development that creates a vibrant learning community.

This community of teachers and learners strives to strengthen the learning partnership in a variety of ways. We employ a variety of educational strategies, both pedagogical and andragogical, to address the diversity of our learners’ ages and life experiences. We promote a variety of settings and opportunities for learning, both formal and informal, focusing on individuals and on groups, located inside and outside the classroom, occurring on-campus and around the world, and involving both scholarship and service, academics and ministry.

At the core of this partnership is the desire to achieve learning outcomes that reach the highest levels in all the learning domains, from memorization to critical application. We want learners who do know basic ideas, interpretations, and information, but can also critically analyze those as needed, synthesizing them in ways that allow for more informed judgments, so that our students can apply them to new situations and practical problems in our increasingly complex and diverse world. Ultimately, we want learner-disciples who continue to grow in all areas of their lives in order to contribute not only to the “common good” but to the Kingdom of God.