General Information (2011-2012)

The University Mission

Mid-Atlantic Christian University is an undergraduate institution of Christian higher education whose mission is to impact the world by transforming ordinary people into extraordinary Christian leaders. 

The University Vision

To be a growing community of superior biblical higher education. 

Characteristics of the University

Mid-Atlantic Christian University is a private, coeducational university founded in 1948 and supported by independent Churches of Christ and Christian Churches. These congregations are part of the Restoration Movement, which seeks to restore the church to its New Testament model and promote Christian unity solely on the basis of the Bible. Following the pattern of the New Testament church, the Churches of Christ and Christian Churches are united only by ties of fellowship, not by any denominational structure, each congregation being under the authority of its own elders.

To achieve its mission, Mid-Atlantic Christian University focuses on preparing graduates to serve effectively in a Christian service career. The University recognizes the primacy of the preaching ministry in the New Testament. Since its inception, therefore, Mid-Atlantic Christian University has emphasized educating preachers for the cause of Christ. The University also realizes the need for leaders and servants in other types of ministry and thus educates graduates for a number of additional careers where graduates may influence the culture for Christ.

The University also welcomes students who intend to engage in Christian service on a volunteer basis while earning their livelihood in a secular field. Mid-Atlantic Christian University provides such students a foundation in Biblical and theological studies before they continue their studies at another University or enter the workforce. 

Accreditation and Recognition

Mid-Atlantic Christian University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award certificates, associate, and baccalaureate degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Mid Atlantic Christian University.

Inquiries to the accrediting association should relate to accreditation status. All other inquiries should be directed to the MACU Admissions Department at 1-866-996-6228.

Accreditation assures parents, students, and employers that Mid-Atlantic Christian University has been evaluated and meets the standards of quality determined by the higher education community.

Mid-Atlantic Christian University is also approved by the State of North Carolina to train veterans and dependents.

Degree program(s) of study offered by Mid-Atlantic Christian University have been declared exempt from the requirements for licensure under provisions of North Carolina General Statutes (G.S.) 116-15(d) for exemption from licensure with respect to religious education…Exemption from licensure is not based upon any assessment of program quality under established licensing standards.

Rates of Graduation

The graduation rate after six years for Mid-Atlantic Christian University 2004 fall cohort of first-time, degree-seeking students was 36.6%. College graduation rates are typically related to the selectivity of the institution and whether students are full time or part time, resident or commuter. Highly selective residential institutions have higher rates of graduation; open admissions nonresidential schools have lower rates.

Philosophy of Education

The educational philosophy of Mid-Atlantic Christian University rests upon the conviction that all truth comes from God. Only the Bible, God’s Word, enables us to integrate all fields of knowledge into a meaningful unity; it alone answers the deep questions of the human mind and spirit. Hence, all courses at Mid-Atlantic are taught from the perspective of the Christian worldview. Mid-Atlantic provides a Christian education based on a threefold program of undergraduate instruction: Biblical and theological studies, general studies, and professional studies.

Mid-Atlantic believes that an educational program should cultivate development in all areas of a student’s life. The College seeks to accomplish this through its academic curriculum and its extracurricular activities. Academic work is designed to provide intellectual growth and maturity. Extracurricular activities are designed to promote spiritual, physical, and social growth.

Statement of Faith

The basic doctrinal position that underlies the educational program of Mid-Atlantic Christian University, stated when the school was founded in 1948 and unchanged today, is that:

1. Jesus Christ is the uniquely divine and only begotten Son of God, conceived without human father.
2. The Holy Scriptures are the inspired Word of God, infallibly recorded by men who were supernaturally guided by the Holy Spirit, inerrant in the originals in all the facts they attest and in all communications concerning salvation.
3. Every miracle recorded in the Bible happened truly and literally by the power of Almighty God.
4. There is salvation only in the blood of Jesus Christ, shed by grace upon the cross of Calvary, and applied to the heart of the sinner by his own faith in accordance with the terms of the Gospel.
5. There is an imperative necessity to restore the church of Christ, described in the New Testament, in order to remove division and to attain the unity of all believers, for which Christ prayed as the means of winning the world to Him.

Every officer, administrator, teacher, and staff member at Mid-Atlantic is required to reaffirm annually his belief, without mental reservation, in the above stated position.

Church Identification

Mid-Atlantic Christian University is a private university from congregations and individuals of the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. The educational program of the University is in harmony with the faith and practice of these churches. While a significant number of students also come from this fellowship, the student body includes people from a variety of churches.

History of the University

Churches of Christ in Eastern North Carolina in 1948 were so short of ministers that most had preaching only one or two Lord’s days each month. It was not unusual for one minister to serve four or even six churches, preaching for each church once per month, whether on the Lord's Day morning, afternoon, or evening, or on Saturday night. A sizable proportion of the men, although dedicated, had no Bible college preparation.

To answer this need, Roanoke Bible College was conceived during early 1948. The motto chosen was “A New Testament School—Set for the Defense of the Gospel” (Phil. 1:16 ASV). Leading this effort was George W. BonDurant, employed as evangelist of the Roanoke District Churches of Christ. Mr. BonDurant and his wife, the former Sarah Presley, had been instrumental in 1937 in organizing Atlanta Christian College in Georgia, where he had served as president and she as dietician and both had taught until moving to North Carolina. Mr. BonDurant became the president of Roanoke Bible College. A Certificate of Incorporation was received on September 10, 1948.

In 1979, Roanoke was accredited by the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges (now renamed the Association for Biblical Higher Education). President BonDurant retired in April 1986, and William A. Griffin was appointed the second president. In 1999, Roanoke was accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). In 2005 Eastern Christian College in Bel Air, Maryland, closed. RBC received some funds, students, trustees, staff, library holdings, and equipment from ECC. MACU holds the academic transcripts of ECC students, and they are invited to participate in the activities of the University.

President Griffin concluded 20 years as Roanoke's president on June 30, 2006, and D. Clay Perkins, Ph.D., became the third president on July 1, 2006. After two years of deliberation and research, and in consideration of the desired vision and future for the College in March of 2009 the Board of Trustees decided to change the name to Mid-Atlantic Christian University. In Fall of 2010 the university reorganized its academic structure into two schools: School of Undergraduate Studies and the School of Professional Studies. 

Location

Mid-Atlantic Christian University is located in historic Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The twenty-acre campus is on the banks of the Pasquotank River, five blocks from the US 17/158 bypass and three blocks from the downtown business district and waterfront (see map in Directory section of this catalog). The city of 17,000 provides opportunities for employment, recreation, and shopping. The College is less than two miles from Albemarle Hospital, College of the Albemarle, Elizabeth City State University, and The Museum of the Albemarle. In addition, Mid-Atlantic is within an hour’s drive of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and the beaches of North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

The College is located in perhaps the thickest concentration of Churches of Christ on the Atlantic coast, from the metropolitan area of Norfolk, Virginia, 50 miles northward, to the rural counties of North Carolina, 100 miles southward. This strategic location affords many opportunities for involvement in church activities, student ministries, youth ministries, supply preaching, field education, and other Christian service.

(Page last updated July 5, 2011)