Who We Are

We believe the revelation given by God in Christian Scripture. We embrace the faith set forth in it as summarized in the historic creeds of the Church. We are rooted in the Protestant Evangelical tradition and celebrate its international and ecumenical diversity. We affirm the following beliefs as essential to the gospel and to Christian living:

• There is one living and true God, creator and sustainer of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in the communion of three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• God the Father is the ground of all truth, the standard of all goodness, the measure of all beauty who supplies providential care for all that He has made and loved.
• Jesus Christ is Lord, God incarnate, fully human and fully divine, one person forever, the truth whom and adore. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, Jesus lived a sinless and obedient life, atoned for sin by his death on the cross, rose bodily for our justification, and ascended to glory where he now mediates on behalf of his people.
• The Holy Spirit enables believers to live holy lives by God’s regenerating, sanctifying and illuminating power.
• Holy Scripture is divinely inspired, complete, entirely trustworthy and authoritative for faith and life. It is to be believed as God’s instruction, obeyed as God’s command and trusted as God’s pledge.
• Human beings are created male and female in the image of God. They are called to glorify God, to live in communion with God and one another, and to be stewards of God’s creation. All people fail to live up to this calling. They are sinners by nature and by choice. Sinners are justified and renewed only by accepting the grace and mercy of God, poured out in the crucified and risen Son, who is received by faith alone.
• The Church, the body of Christ, is composed of all true believers. Local churches, as the visible presence of Christ’s body, are called to declare the good news of salvation through worship, discipleship and witness among the nations.
• Through the cross God triumphs over the evil powers that violently oppose God’s plan and people. Jesus will visibly return to reign over all creation in power and glory. The righteous in Christ will rise to eternal life and the unrighteous to eternal separation from God.

Understanding that Jesus Christ is sovereign over every aspect of corporate and individual life, that God's will is revealed in Holy Scripture, that the Holy Spirit interprets such to the church and empowers it to live accordingly, and that everything we have comes from God, we do covenant:

• To practice a vital and vibrant life of individual and corporate worship of the one true God;
• To pursue moral excellence in every aspect of our life and relationships;
• To steward our time, talent, treasure, body and the environment to the glory of God;
• To exemplify the gospel of grace by upholding the dignity of, showing respect to, and serving all people regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or culture;
• To maintain an living and verbal witness to the grace of God;
• To practice love, grace, truth and generosity and eschew offensive, manipulative, harmful and deceptive behavior;
• To sacrifice our own selves for the good of the community and for the sake of the gospel; and
• When we sin, to forgive and be reconciled to one another and to seek forgiveness and reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ.

Additional Information on these Covenant Policies

This Covenant of Community Life states the general principles by which the Providence community (employees, Board of Governors and students) agrees to live. The Cabinet and Senate of Providence reserve the right to establish policies and procedures at any time that uphold the Covenant and allow for the orderly and efficient administration of the institution. Such policies and procedures are set forth in our various handbooks (Student, Employee, Board of Governors).

At Providence, we care deeply about the spiritual development and faith formation of our community. Because you are a member of the Providence community, we assume that you also care about your spiritual life. The term “formative spirituality” refers to how our spiritual lives are shaped and how our faith is lived out in our lives. We are spiritually formed in all sorts of ways and at Providence we seek to provide various avenues for the integration of our faith with course work, critical thought, community living, and the wider world.

Foundation

The truth that God exists and is revealed in the Bible is the basis of all of our pursuits. More specifically, the incarnational reality of Jesus – God who became a human and lived on this earth – forms the foundation upon which we build our lives. A strong foundation of faith in the Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit, and a commitment to community is essential in becoming people of God who make meaningful contributions to their communities and the wider world.

Integration

Our spiritual life is not lived separately from our “real life”. Spiritual growth happens in church and Bible study, but it also happens in class, in seemingly casual conversations, in rehearsals, and on road trips. This sometimes means that spiritual growth can seem uncontained, but we believe that there is beauty in what is sometimes called messy spirituality. In fact, we believe that real life is spiritual life, and vice versa and so we see the integration of faith and learning as essential for a Providence student.

Participation

We all contribute to the life and growth of our community. We want to encourage all members of the Providence community to be involved in each other’s lives. It is our commitment to creating a community that supports and encourages one another which shapes all of our programs. You are expected to take part in this process in your own way, but in a way that contributes to the growth of our community. (Further below you will find a list of activities in which you can participate.

Imagination

Activities and events at Providence are designed to enable you to participate in the spiritual growth of the community. But we are always seeking creative ways to encounter and experience God. Grounded in God and the truth of Scripture, we want imagination to be a cornerstone of our spiritual formation. This means that sometimes we may ask you to try something new, or encourage you to think in categories that you are not used to. We may even ask you to participate in an activity that you have never heard of before. All of this points to the reality that our God is a creative God and God has made us to be a creative people.

Transformation

All of this points to an ongoing process of transformation. In short, we want your lives to be radically changed! Providence University College is a place for you to learn and grow. Your time here is a time of discovery of who God is, who you are, and how you fit in the community and kingdom of God. You will be transformed through your courses and assignments, through residence life and Field Education, and through chapel, prayer meetings, missions and social concerns events and in a whole host of other ways.

Transformation is what we are after . . . transformation of self and of the world around us. Your time spent at Providence will assist in the formation of your Christian character, which will in turn enable you to influence the world around you.

Student Life Mission:

To create a Christ-centered learning environment that fosters a community defined by character and knowledge for leadership and service.

To track our effectiveness in implementing this vision, each event will be evaluated on this form: https://forms.office.com/r/707BHqnerW

Student Life Vision:

That all students would learn within the community of Providence, both inside and outside of the classroom. We envision a school where all students grow holistically in their faith, knowledge, wisdom, personal wellness, participation in healthy community, and service to the world around them.

As part of this vision, we want all students to learn:

To Embody A Christ-Centred Life

As part of Providence’s Christ-First value, we want to invite all students to embody a Christ-centred life. We recognize that many of our students are not Christian, but we believe in the value of teaching them about Christ. We seek the following learning outcomes for each of our students:

• Growing Personal Character: we seek the growth of each person’s character. We define good character as the characteristics outlined in Galatians 5 (the Fruit of the Spirit).
• Knowledge of the Gospel: recognizing that not all students will believe the good news of Jesus, we want to ensure that every student at Providence learns the story of the gospel through word and deed.
• Glorify God: whether through song, service, or other work in the kingdom, we desire that each of our students bring glory to God.

To Live and Learn in Community

As part of Providence’s Community value and our living and learning curriculum, we want all our students to be part of a thriving community that supports them and where they support others as well. We seek the following learning outcomes for each of our students:

• Thriving Relationships: we want all students to learn how to create and maintain relationships that are healthy, thriving, and mutually beneficial. We seek to create a community that loves one another and cares for each other whether they are strangers, acquaintances, friends, partners, or family.
• Hospitality: we want students to learn how to create spaces that are generous to others around them and that give room for listening, bringing one another into our homes (physically and metaphorically).
• Cultural Empowerment and Integrity: We want all students to be empowered within their culture and keep their cultural integrity intact while also creating spaces for diverse ways of knowing and being. For some students, this will mean humbling themselves to learn that their dominant culture is not the only valid way to be human or Christian.

To Think Critically and Creatively

As part of our goal of academic excellence, we want our students to learn how to think, not what to think. Both inside and outside of the classroom, we want students to be creative in the ways they approach problems that they encounter and to think deeply about the world around them, examining diverse perspectives. We seek the following learning outcomes for each of our students:

• Creative Problem Solving: All people encounter problems in life, and we want to teach our students how to be creative in their approach to solving those problems, recognizing that they will continue to face problems when they leave here.
• Inquiry and Analysis: We want students to examine their lives and be curious about the world around them, ask questions, and analyze what they see.
• Diversity of Thought: We all bring a distinct perspective to Providence, and we want our students to learn to understand the diversity of the voices around them with a humble, teachable attitude and to be gracious in disagreement.

To Have Personal Wellness

We desire all students to have healthy, balanced, thriving internal lives within their wider community. This means caring for themselves as they care about those around them and receive care themselves. We want our students to understand how their actions affect the personal wellness of those around them, both positively and negatively. We seek the following learning outcomes for each of our students:

• Thriving Internal Life (Self Care): We want all students to develop the skills necessary to thrive in body, mind, and spirit, learning how best to care for themselves and receive care from God and from others.
• Emotional Resilience: All people will encounter stress in their lives. We want to teach our students the skills to adapt to stress and recover from it effectively.
• Accountability: We hold our students accountable to the expectations set for them to teach responsibility and integrity. We want our students to understand that their actions may negatively impact the thriving of the people around them.
• Academic Well-Being: As an academic institution, we want all our students to grow in their academic skills as part of a thriving, balanced life.

To Lead and Serve in the World

At Providence, our learning is intended to be for leadership and service in the world around us, not as an end in itself. Therefore, we want our students to learn how to use their skills and their knowledge to bring about the Kingdom of God in this world. We seek the following learning outcomes for each of our students:

• Social and Humanitarian Engagement: We want to teach our students to serve the world as Christ has taught us, helping the widow and orphan and other marginalized communities, both in serving immediate needs and through structural change.
• Environmental Stewardship: We believe that God entrusted humanity with the stewardship of God’s creation, and we want to teach our students to care for God’s creation.
• Leadership: We want to teach servant leadership to our students. We hope that they will learn to lead from in front and from behind, leading by example and by word and deed. This means empowering those around them in leadership as well.