Center for Christian Thought and Action ®
Regent's Center for Christian Thought & Action (CCTA) aims to serve the faculty and staff by encouraging and supporting a Christ-centered and Spirit-guided approach to our calling. We are a community of Christians committed to developing high-impact leaders who will bring change to the world. We work to ensure that the university remains centered on Christ and Biblical doctrines by delivering the following three services.
Support and strengthen the integration of faith and learning. CCTA works with all of Regent's schools to ensure we are leading the way in the integration of faith and learning. Regent's commitment to a distinctively "Christian" approach to higher education requires us to cultivate an intentional, creative and holistic integration of faith and learning, of faith and living, and faith and culture.
"Is there something distinctive about a Christian point of view? Are there explicitly Christian contours of thinking and Christian purposes of knowing? In what ways do Christians think differently or see things differently? Is there a uniquely Christian perspective of [a] major or academic discipline?
The Bible is clear that the mind matters and that we are called to develop certain patterns and priorities in our thinking. Each of us is responsible to "renew our minds" (Romans 12:2), to "take every thought captive" (2 Corinthians 10:5), to do everything "in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Colossians 3:17) and to "seek first His kingdom" (Matt. 6:33).
A thorough theology of the Christian mind or a Christian perspective on academics would not only interrogate these texts in some depths, but it would also explore pervasive Biblical themes of wisdom, stewardship and discipleship. In such a theology we would discover that knowing and the Christian mind are not divorced from other aspects of Christian faithfulness. The fullness of knowing includes the "doing" response. In other words, the Christian mind is connected to Christian character and Christian action. This more thorough-going theology might also reveal to us the close connections between knowing and loving. We are, after all, to love the Lord our God with all our minds (Mark 12:30)."
Donald Opitz and Derek Melleby, The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness, Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, p. 71-72.
Enhance and encourage the spiritual vitality of Regent's faculty and staff. Since spiritual vitality is central to Regent University, efforts are being made to focus on our foundations. Regent's "official" definition for spiritual vitality provides us guidance for these efforts reflecting our ethos and rich heritage:
"Spiritual vitality at Regent University is the demonstration of living as followers of Jesus Christ, individually and in community through obedience to the Scriptures, as the Holy Spirit empowers and transforms us to increasingly bear fruit that glorifies the Father."
Establish a global repository to serve the body of Christ. CCTA will provide information on relevant spiritual topics to equip, aid and promote research and scholarship. This will be a growing collection available to the global community of Christ-centered learners, teachers and scholars.
Our highest call is to love God and love people. We will do all we can to serve as a resource to both Regent and Christians around the world, and we invite you to explore with us the high call of Christ-centered leadership and scholarship.
