“I became challenged and convicted to see the world as Christ sees the world.”

A senior this year, Dillingham now knows that being a Christian is more than just wearing a label.

“A Christian worldview is a part of who you are,” says Dillingham. “It’s how you live your life and because of that our understanding of it must constantly grow. During my time here at Union, I’ve been challenged by faculty and staff alike to think Christianly within every aspect of my life. I know that God should not only be God of my heart but also the center of my mind and my strength.”

This year more than 2600 students like Dan are enrolled at Union. Many of these students come specifically because of its reputation for strong emphasis on the Christian faith. Students frequently hear that Union is unapologetically Christian which has become a major selling point the university has used to establish a community of students, faculty and staff who are constantly seeking Christ in all areas of their lives.

But what exactly does that mean? What is Union trying to impart to its students as a Christian institution of higher education? The answer is a simple one but not one simply defined – a Christian worldview. Union seeks to help students understand and develop a worldview that does not stop in the rhetoric of classroom theory but that is an active part of students’ everyday life.

“Union is encouraging and supportive of the development of a Christian worldview,” says Dillingham. “The people at Union show love to students as Christ loves. It ministers to students in time of change in their lives and challenges us to think biblically, realizing that God has given us a purpose to know and please Him.”

Dillingham has had opportunity to apply and expand his Christian worldview and increase his global view as well by participating in GO Trips, sponsored by Campus Ministries. In his travels to Uruguay and Morocco, he’s enjoyed being able to share his faith with those who have never heard the gospel.

Autumn Alcott, a senior Christian ethics major from Murray, Ky., was quick to put what she was learning in the classroom to the test.

“I learned in one of my classes that everything is influenced by a reflection of one’s worldview and that everything we do comes out of a framework of our beliefs,” explains Alcott. Together with a friend, Kristin Wicker (’01), she helped organize Klemata, a campus-wide all women’s Bible study.

Originally beginning with a Bible study that took place in their campus apartment, as the semester continued the girls began to see a need for accountability for the women on Union’s campus. The duo contacted Jay Ridenour in Campus Ministries with their idea of beginning an all women’s Bible study and he encouraged the girls to pray about what God would have them do. By the spring of 2000 more than 200 women were involved in small group style Bible study. Using the model of Titus 2 where the older women taught the younger women, Klemata continues to disciple, teach and train women on Union’s campus.

But a Christian worldview is not meant only for Bible study. This past summer, Alcott learned first hand the importance of taking her worldview and using it for good within the contexts of society. Serving as one of three interns at the Wilberforce Forum in Reston, Va., Alcott was able to work within the public policy division and helped lobby on Capitol Hill against a cloning bill.

The Forum is a division of Prison Fellowship Ministries founded by Chuck Colson, a widely read Christian author whose books, particularly one of his most recent, How Now Shall We Live, are very popular and explore the issues of having a Christian worldview. “The purpose of the forum is to bring a Christian worldview to all public arenas,” says Alcott, “to bring about change in public policy, academics, the arts, the media and social culture.”

While interning, Alcott helped to encourage members of the House of Representatives to vote for the Weldon Bill. A bill that later passed in the House, it banned the cloning of human embryos for any purpose, either for research or for human development and a project that Alcott says was “exciting to be a part of something so big.”

It is that excitement that Union hopes to continue to pass on as thousands of students pass through the doors and halls each year. Through classroom education from strong and committed Christians to programs such as GO Trips, chapel speakers and Bible studies, Union encourages and cultivates an environment where Christian worldview is taught, developed and applied in its students’ lives.