College of Theology

Students in the University’s new Center for Worship Arts have had a memorable first year — and so have the center’s director, Bart Millard, and worship coordinator, John Frederick. “There is a deeper spiritual governance to this,” Frederick said. “That’s the cool thing about teaching theology — you’re on the journey yourself.”

As part of its Homecoming/Canyon Day festivities, GCU will induct eight new members into its Alumni Hall of Fame during a ceremony Saturday on campus. The alumni, who were selected from each of the University’s colleges and athletics department, have dedicated their lives to helping others through education, nursing, counseling, science, coaching and the law, while reflecting GCU’s spirit and Christian ideals. Saturday’s ceremony, at 3:30 p.m. in the Student Union, second floor, is open to the GCU community and their guests and also will be live streamed here. GCU Today has a story about the inductees and what makes them tick.

When prominent Christian songwriter Mark Harris lectured Center for Worship Arts students Monday night about his craft, they got an inside look from someone who isn’t just good at it, he loves it, too. Harris shared some tricks he uses to put songs together and then make them better.

Saturday’s celebration of the eight newest members of the GCU Alumni Hall of Fame featured passionate speeches, none more emotional than that of Michael Kary, who teaches in the College of Fine Arts and Production. But all eight had something important to say.

New blog sites for Spiritual Life and the College of Theology debuted this week, giving faculty and staff another way to connect with students. Blogs for other colleges at the University are in the works.

Fall semester at GCU was a time of great growth — in students, courses, programs and learning — and as GCU hosts its first winter commencement this afternoon for about 700 traditional graduates, GCU Today takes the opportunity to celebrate the University’s stellar faculty. They have gone beyond the call of duty to assist students inside their classrooms and outside of them, too, dedicating many extra hours, evenings and weekends to student success. Click here to read stories about several of them.

So many things happened at Grand Canyon University in 2014, it’s hard to pick the 10 most important.

By GCU News Bureau On a day when 530 Grand Canyon University traditional graduates were on cloud nine as they paraded up to receive their diplomas, numbers were the name of the game — and there were two ways about it. First, this was a first. GCU had never before held a winter commencement until Friday afternoon at the Arena, but the University’s ever expanding student population made it obvious a year and a half ago that it would become necessary. First-semester graduates previously had to wait until spring commencement if they wanted to participate in the ceremony. Second, there was the numerical magic of Justin Willman, who wowed the crowd in his entertaining commencement address, just as he had in the October ceremony for online graduates. His closing trick, in which the random numbers he got from four students equaled, when multiplied, the date and exact time (121,214,437, or 12/12/14 at 4:37 p.m.), is impossible to figure. But in between jokes and other tricks, Willman, host of “Cupcake Wars,” had a simple message for the graduates: “No matter how you do the math, the past and the future always wind up adding up to the present.” Three cheers for that. —Rick […]

The first Worship Arts Showcase was Monday night in Thunderground, and if it’s a portent of things to come in the new Center for Worship Arts, it will be something to see. Students performed, for the first time, songs they had written, and even Bart Millard, the director of the Center and the front man for MercyMe, was amazed.

Photos by Darryl Webb GCU News Bureau The 40 students in the new Center for Worship Arts at Grand Canyon University put on quite a performance Monday night in Thunderground. All of the 20 songs were originals written by the students this semester.