Mission & History




Our Mission, Our Values, Our Core Learning Goals, Our Institutional Objectives, Our History
Our Mission Christ For The Nations Bible College is an undergraduate theology and ministry training college that exists to prepare spiritually mature servant leaders who love and serve the Church, are skilled and trained in a variety of ministry competencies, and who influence their world by living as life-long learners and passionate disciples of Jesus Christ.
Our Values
WE ARE AN ANCIENT/CONTEMPORARY COMMUNITY We count ourselves in the lineage of God’s covenant people and we embrace the legacy of the ancient springs and modern movements of the historic Christian church. With Jesus Christ as the source and centre of our lives, we endeavour to remain true to the faith once delivered in our teaching, our worship, and our personal devotion. WE ARE A BIBLICAL COMMUNITY We value the Bible as our standard for faith and practice. The process of understanding, discerning and applying the Scriptures dominates our community life. We honour the Scriptures by seeking to understand them. We honour the Author by seeking to live them. WE ARE A WORSHIPING COMMUNITY We gather daily to sing God’s praise and to enjoy His fellowship. Sometimes we sit quietly in reflection. Sometimes our hearts are melted by a sense of our Father’s love. Sometimes we are broken in repentance. Sometimes we celebrate with festive praise. WE ARE A RELATIONAL COMMUNITY In the classroom, in the chapels, in the dorms, in small‐group ministry teams, and in social times, students and instructors relate as brothers and sisters. We are free to share triumphs and failures, struggles and successes. We are friends together sharing a common journey. WE ARE A SPIRIT‐EMPOWERED COMMUNITY We affirm the need for the growing disciple of Christ to be continuously filled with the Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit is to be filled with God. The purpose? That we would reflect the character of Christ, and that we would channel the power of Christ, so that we might do the works of Christ. WE ARE AN EQUIPPING COMMUNITY One of our priorities is creating an environment of openness and authenticity so students can gain a sense of their identity, gifts, and destiny in God. We are disciples of Christ who desire to continually redirect and re‐purpose our lives so as to be more like our Lord, and seek to pass on that desire to those we have the privilege to instruct. We lend equal weight to academics and practical life application, which we accomplish by teaching through mentoring, modeling, and demonstrating. WE ARE A MISSIONAL COMMUNITY We think it’s vital that our college produces missional world‐Christians who know God’s heart and who seek to live like Jesus in whatever context to which God calls them. Therefore, we think it’s critical that CFN has an atmosphere of authentic spiritual passion resulting in Christians who are excited about their faith and willing to share it with others. top
Our Core Learning Goals
SPIRITUAL FORMATION Our goal is to develop graduates that are committed to a rule of life, to practising spiritual disciplines that enhance their awareness of Christ’s presence in their life and the world, leading to Christ‐likeness in attitude and action. BIBLICAL FORMATION Our goal is to develop graduates that are biblically informed as demonstrated through research, interpretation and application of the canon of Scripture. PERSONAL FORMATION Our goal is to develop graduates that are able to reflectively assess, evaluate, and acknowledge their strengths, weaknesses, and the ways God has gifted them for service in the Church and the world. THEOLOGICAL FORMATION Our goal is to develop graduates that have a foundation in Christian thought and practice capable of engaging contemporary culture. INTELLECTUAL FORMATION Our goal is to develop graduates that demonstrate competent reasoning, research and communication skills. MINISTRY FORMATION Our goal is to develop graduates that exemplify competence in a variety of ministry skills. ECCLESIAL FORMATION Our goal is to develop graduates that love and serve Christ’s Church by being committed to a local congregation and to the Church’s global mission to welcome and announce the Kingdom of God. top
Our Institutional Objectives
ONE Foster an atmosphere of joyful obedience to the revealed will and word of the Triune God, whereby faculty, staff and students alike, whether studying or serving, do all things to the glory of God. TWO Provide academically qualified faculty dedicated to the Lordship of Christ, to practicing spiritual disciplines, to serving the Church, and to being invested in the development of every student they teach. THREE Support churches of various denominations through programs that help students discern and respond to God's direction for their lives and that prepare them for Christian service as volunteer or full‐time leaders in their churches. FOUR Provide programs that are intellectually exciting, spiritually nourishing, character forming, biblically orthodox, theologically sound, and ministry focused. FIVE Provide programs that are grounded in the faith of the historic universal Church, yet provoke students to wrestle with contemporary issues with a view to integrating life and faith. SIX Cultivate a multi‐ethnic, multi‐denominational environment that broadens the horizons of our student’s views of the Christian Church and Christian thought. SEVEN Establish an environment where study takes place within the context of corporate worship and prayer and where intellectual inquiry and encounters with the living God converge. top
Our History
Christ For The Nations co-founders, evangelists Gordon and Freda Lindsay, participated in the spiritual renewal that swept across North America following World War II. In ensuing years, the Lindsay's ministry expanded throughout the world with mission projects such as church building in third-world countries and massive Christian literature distribution. In 1970, Gordon had a dream to build an inter-denominational Bible School. Christ For The Nations Institute began that September, fulfilling Gordon’s vision of training thousands of believers filled with the Spirit, formed in the character of Christ, and trained in Biblical Studies with an emphasis on practical ministry training. Since that time 44 affiliate schools have been opened around the world. In 1989, Christ For The Nations (Canada), Inc., opened in Surrey, British Columbia with 13 students. In the years since, many changes have taken place. We moved into larger facilities in 1997, gained affiliate status with the Association of Biblical Higher Education in 2005, and through the province of British Columbia, earned the ability to grant undergraduate degrees in 2006. At this time, we formally adopted the name Christ For The Nations Bible College. In 2012, the college was awarded applicant status with the Association of Biblical Higher Education. Throughout these advances, CFN Bible College has always maintained a intra-denominational and strong international atmosphere, drawing students from many different churches and nations. As the college has grown and advanced, the Board and faculty sensed the need to further define who we have become. In 2012, the name of the college was officially changed to Christ College, a name reflecting our commitment both to Christ and to higher education. top