{"id":9074,"date":"2012-03-30T10:18:47","date_gmt":"2012-03-30T14:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=9074"},"modified":"2026-07-19T20:34:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T03:34:48","slug":"lancaster-bible-college-pa-makes-contemplative-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/lancaster-bible-college-pa-makes-contemplative-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Lancaster Bible College (PA) Makes Contemplative List"},"content":{"rendered":"

2020 Update:<\/strong> Lancaster Bible College continues down the contemplative\/emergent path. For a strong convincing example, their Formational Leadership Master of Arts Degree program<\/a> is taught largely by contemplative\/emergent\/Replacement Theology\/New Missiology leader Wayne Cordiero.<\/a> (More information on this program)<\/p>\n

After receiving an e-mail from a concerned woman regarding Lancaster Bible College, we checked it out ourselves and have now added Lancaster Bible College to our continually growing list of Christian\u00a0colleges and seminaries <\/a>that promote Spiritual Formation (i.e., contemplative spirituality). \u00a0The school, located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has a statement of faith<\/a> that would line up with a Bible-believing viewpoint. It’s mission statement sounds OK: “to educate Christian students to think and live a biblical worldview and to proclaim Christ by serving him in the Church and society.” But as with so many other Bible schools today, Lancaster has\u00a0accepted the “New Spirituality” that embraces contemplative spirituality and facets of the emerging church (new missiology, globalism, ecumenism, servant leadership, etc).<\/p>\n

Part of the reason this happened at Lancaster is no doubt its accreditation relationship with The Association for Biblical Higher Education Commission on Accreditation (ABHE). As you may remember, last year Lighthouse Trails wrote an article “An Epidemic of Apostasy \u2013 Christian Seminaries Must Incorporate \u201cSpiritual Formation\u201d to Become Accredited”\u00a0<\/a> showing that ABHE was requiring accrediting schools to incorporate a Spiritual Formation program into their schools. So, with Lancaster Bible College as one of the schools accredited with ABHE, it isn’t a surprise to see the school falling into step with contemplative spirituality. Be that as it may, however the incorporation of contemplative came into play at Lancaster, the point is it did, and those looking for a solid Bible-based, non-contemplative Bible college may need to look elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Below we are listing\u00a0three significant\u00a0instances where you will find the contemplative\/new spirituality\u00a0influence at Lancaster. As you will see, there are many indications that this spirituality has deeply permeated Lancaster Bible College.<\/p>\n

1. Lancaster offers a Spiritual Formation & Discipleship major<\/a>: Once a school offers a major in Spiritual Formation, that school has usually past the point of no return.<\/p>\n

2. LBC offers something called Project Renovation<\/a>. This\u00a0provides a contemplative retreat for youth workers “for the purpose of soul care.” On the Project Renovation website, which LCB links to and is directly connected to, many resources are listed to develop one’s focus on contemplative spirituality, including a link to Hearts & Minds Book Review that offers a large selection of mystical and emerging promoting authors and books. Project Renovation also provides a link to Ruth Haley Barton’s The Transforming Center and Kyle Strobel’s Metamorpha (both places are ardently contemplative). The director of Project Renovation is Lancaster Bible College’s Director of the Student Ministry Majors, Rick Rhoads.<\/p>\n

3. The Lancaster Bible College online bookstore shows that\u00a0a great number\u00a0of the textbooks being used have a contemplative and\/or emerging emphasis. Here are some of those:<\/p>\n

a. course: WPA101; textbook: Heart of the Artist by Rory Noland<\/p>\n

b. course: WOR402; textbook: Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell<\/p>\n

d. course: THE480; textbook: Celtic Spirituality by Oliver Davies<\/p>\n

e. course: STM102; textbook: Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture by Walt Mueller<\/p>\n

f. course: THE105; textbook: The New Global Mission by Samuel Escobar<\/p>\n

g. course: STM311; textbook: Youth Minstry by Mark Ostreicher (Youth Specialties)<\/p>\n

h. course: STM315; textbook: Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Pete Scazzero<\/p>\n

i. course: STM402; textbook: Understanding Prayer: a fresh approach by Kyle Lake<\/p>\n

j. course: STM480; textbook: Speaking to Teenagers by Doug Fields and Duffy Robbins<\/p>\n

k. course:SPF210; textbooks: Surrender to Love by David Benner, Devotional Classics by Richard Foster<\/p>\n

l. course: SPF310; textbooks: Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard, Cultivating a Life for God by Neil Cole<\/p>\n

m. course: ICS104; textbook: Prayer by Philip Yancey<\/p>\n

n. course: CML102; textbook: Shaped By God’s Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches by Milfred Minatrea<\/p>\n

o. course: CML201; textbook:\u00a0Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley<\/p>\n

p. course: CML210; textbook: Leadership Next by Eddie Gibbs<\/p>\n

q. course: CFM332; textbook: Perspectives on Children’s Spiritual Formation by Awana leaders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2020 Update: Lancaster Bible College…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,29],"tags":[30,2916,72,115,175,234,1223,1224,26],"class_list":["post-9074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contemplative-colleges","category-contemplative-spirituality","tag-contemplative-prayer","tag-contemplative-spirituality","tag-christian-colleges","tag-contemplative","tag-soul-care","tag-new-spirituality","tag-lancaster-bible-college","tag-project-renovation","tag-emerging-church","wpcat-71-id","wpcat-29-id"],"yoast_head":"\nLancaster Bible College (PA) Makes Contemplative List - From the Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/lancaster-bible-college-pa-makes-contemplative-list\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lancaster Bible College (PA) Makes Contemplative List\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"2020 Update: Lancaster Bible College...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/lancaster-bible-college-pa-makes-contemplative-list\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"From the Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-03-30T14:18:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-20T03:34:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/lancaster-bible-college-pa-makes-contemplative-list\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/lancaster-bible-college-pa-makes-contemplative-list\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a36b703d7722ce85599858df8bacc0a5\"},\"headline\":\"Lancaster Bible College (PA) Makes Contemplative List\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-03-30T14:18:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-20T03:34:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/lancaster-bible-college-pa-makes-contemplative-list\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":685,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"contemplative prayer\",\"Contemplative Spirituality\",\"Christian colleges\",\"contemplative\",\"soul care\",\"new spirituality\",\"lancaster bible college\",\"project renovation\",\"emerging church\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Contemplative Colleges\",\"CONTEMPLATIVE\\\/SPIRITUAL FORMATION\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/lancaster-bible-college-pa-makes-contemplative-list\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/lancaster-bible-college-pa-makes-contemplative-list\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/lancaster-bible-college-pa-makes-contemplative-list\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lancaster Bible College (PA) Makes Contemplative List - 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