Spurgeon College announces new affinity cohorts
By Brett Fredenberg/MBTS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP) – Spurgeon College, the undergraduate institution of Midwestern Seminary, announced this week a new cohort model for residential education called Spurgeon College Cohorts.
Spurgeon College Cohorts exists to expand and strengthen the residential culture for undergraduate students in Kansas City. Beginning in the fall of 2023, each undergraduate student will engage in intentional and formative community through one of five cohorts: Fusion, Accelerate, Athletics, Marketplace, and Ministry.
“I am thrilled to announce our new Spurgeon College Cohorts,” said President Jason Allen. “We have been developing these cohorts for a couple of years now, and it is exciting to see all of that work come to fruition. More importantly, I am excited to see how God will use these cohorts to further equip our Spurgeon College students for the future ministry that God calls them to. I also want to thank Dean Sam Bierig and his team for all of their work in this regard.”
All five cohorts are designed to strengthen students’ on-campus experience through enhanced discipleship, focused study, and intentional community. Cohort participants will gather regularly for fellowship, discussion related to their field, and to grow in their respective disciplines. While cohorts will have distinctive goals and rhythms specific to their disciplines, each cohort will be led by a staff coordinator and a male and female cohort captain.
Additionally, each cohort will participate in a year-long competition to win the Cohort Cup. Throughout the year, cohort members can earn points toward the Cohort Cup through academic achievement, engagement in campus events, community service, participation in intramural sports, and performance at the annual Cohort Olympics events.
Dean of Spurgeon College Sam Bierig said of the recent announcement, “The addition of cohorts at Spurgeon College is nothing short of the dawning of a new era in Spurgeon College student culture.”
He added, “With an intentional and engaging structure, we pray God will grant us an even stronger spirit of camaraderie, friendly competition, and sticky campus culture. The net result will of course be that we more helpfully and enjoyably prepare students for their unique post God has called them to in His Kingdom.”
Each cohort is uniquely designed to prepare students for the Kingdom.
Boyce College graduates declare commitment to ministry, service
By Jacob Percy/SBTS
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) – “As graduates of Boyce College, we hereby declare to the watching world that we are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ who are called to ministry and service by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
On Thursday, May 11, the 2023 graduating class of Boyce College recited that line as part of the Boyce College Graduate Pledge during the school’s 25th commencement ceremony.
Faculty, family, and friends witnessed as 167 students graduated, with 139 participating in the ceremony and 28 receiving their degrees in absentia
The ceremony, according to President R. Albert Mohler, Jr., is more than just a ceremony to honor graduates. It is a worship service for the God who called them and prepared them for all that they are commissioned to go do in the name of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Scripture readings, prayers for the church and for the nations, the singing of hymns, and recitation of the Apostles’ Creed marked this distinctly Christian commencement ceremony and reminded graduates that whatever their vocation, they stand on the Word of God and are commissioned in service of the Lord Jesus Christ and for the building up of his church.
Drawing from 2 Timothy 3:10-27, Mohler charged the students to continue in what they have learned from parents, pastors, and their education at Boyce. He emphasized that it is God’s plan that the eternal truths of His Word would be transferred through relationships with others, highlighting that at Boyce College, students have not only received Gospel knowledge from their professors but also Gospel passion and are commissioned to go out as the people of that passion.
“Continue in what you have learned,” Mohler said. “We firmly believe that the Gospel, the Scripture, the truth infused in you in the curriculum of this college will be invaluable for you to your faithfulness for the decades to come. … We believe that God has called you for this time, to this purpose, and will give you all things necessary in order to be faithful. …”
