Grace College & Grace Theological Seminary is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

college in

Winona Lake, Indiana Winona Lake is a town in Wayne Township, Kosciusko County, in the U.S. state of Indiana, and the major suburb of Warsaw. Its population was 4,908 at the 2010 census. Geography Winona Lake is now contiguous to Warsaw, the two towns having merged ...

. It comprises seven schools: The School of Ministry Studies, The School of Arts and Humanities, The School of Science and Engineering, The School of Behavioral Sciences, The School of Business, The School of Education, and The School of Professional & Online Education (SPOE).

Grace Theological Seminary Grace Theological Seminary (GTS) is a conservative evangelical Christian seminary located in Winona Lake, Indiana. GTS is now part of Grace College & Seminary and is associated with Charis Fellowship, before 2018 known as the Fellowship of Grace ...

, which began as the parent institution, now exists as part of the School of Ministry Studies and is also located on the Winona Lake campus. Since 2011, several commuter campuses have also started. While the college and seminary are historically affiliated with the

Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches Charis Alliance is a Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition of Anabaptism. The word ''charis'' is Greek in origin, meaning "grace." The Charis Alliance differs from traditional Schwarzenau Brethren groups in that it does ...

, known as Charis Fellowship since 2018, the student body and faculty of both institutions have diverse denominational backgrounds.

History

Foundation

The institution began with the organization of Grace Theological Seminary under the leadership of Alva J. McClain in 1937. A two-year "undergraduate division" of the seminary was added in 1948 and has since transitioned into a four-year college.

Presidents

Alva J. McClain served as president until 1962, when he was succeeded by his colleague and fellow co-founder Herman A. Hoyt. He remained in this position until he retired in 1976, and was followed by then Dean of Grace Theological Seminary Homer Kent, Jr., who retained this position until his own retirement in 1986. John J. Davis then served in the position from 1986 to 1993. Ronald E. Manahan replaced Davis and led the institution until 2013 at which time William J. Katip, who had been Provost since 2007, replaced Manahan. In January 2022, John Teevan replaced Katip as interim president and served until July 2022 when Drew Flamm became the seventh president. Flamm previously served as Vice President of Advancement at Grace College, a position he held since 2013. New initiatives implemented in the fall of 2013 included an adjusted calendar in which each of the semesters were divided into two 8-week sessions.

Secondary locations

Prison program

For many years Grace College maintained a ministry to the incarcerated in Indiana at various correctional facilities throughout the state directed by John Teevan. However, due to legal changes in the state of Indiana, this ministry has transitioned to a GED program. The institution now manages the GED program for five correction facilities in northern Indiana.

Commuter Schools

Since 2011, Grace College has added a satellite location in Indianapolis that offered associates and bachelor's degree completion. It was located at 96th and Meridian on the North side of Indianapolis. They have since closed down that location, but have opened and been developing their location in Akron, Ohio.

Accreditation

In 1994, the

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It ...

accredited Grace College and Seminary, thereby joining the two previously individually accredited institutions. Its counseling program is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and the School of Business has accreditation by the

International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education The International Accreditation Council for Business Education (IACBE), formerly the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education, is an educational accreditation agency for college and university business programs founded in 1997. It ...

(IACBE). It is also approved by the

Association of Christian Schools International The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), founded in 1978, is an international organization of evangelical Christian schools. Its headquarters are in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It offers tiers of oversight, from school accredit ...

. Grace College's School of Education also holds separate accreditation from the

National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) was a professional accreditor focused on accrediting teacher education programs in U.S. colleges and universities. It was founded in 1954 and was recognized as an accreditor by ...

(NCATE) and is recognized as a REPA Approved Teacher Preparation Program by the Indiana Department of Education Grace Theological Seminary has separately been awarded accreditation by the

Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) is an organization of seminaries and other graduate schools of theology. ATS has its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. History The ATS was found ...

. In August 2022, the Grace Department of Engineering was accredited by the

ABET ABET (pronounced A-bet), formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc., is a non-governmental accreditation organization for post-secondary programs in engineering, engineering technology, computing, and applied ...

Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC). Since May 2021, the Grace program has granted the Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) degree. Grace Engineering operates in East Hall.

Campus

There are a total of 21 buildings on Grace College's campus. Eleven of these buildings are residence halls, with the Lancer lofts, the Lodge and Omega Hall being as the most recent additions.

Student life

College newspaper

The student-led college newspaper, ''The Sounding Board'', is published biweekly.

Chapel

Grace College students attend chapel sessions Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings in the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center on campus.

Intramurals

Grace College offers intramural sports in both the fall and spring semesters, with their most popular being the "Beanie Bowl", an 11-on-11 flag football event between grade levels.

Athletics

The Grace athletic teams are the Lancers. The college is a member of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA), primarily competing in the

Crossroads League The Crossroads League (formerly the Mid-Central College Conference) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Its members are private Christian colleges in Indiana, Michigan, a ...

(formerly known as the Mid-Central College Conference (MCCC) until after the 2011–12 school year) since the 1981–82 academic year; which they were a member on a previous stint from 1959–60 to 1978–79. They are also a member of the

National Christian College Athletic Association The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) is an association of Christian universities, colleges, and Bible colleges in the United States and Canada whose mission is "the promotion and enhancement of intercollegiate athletic c ...

(NCCAA), primarily competing as an independent in the Midwest Region of the Division I level. Across all sports, Grace has won one NAIA national championship (men's basketball), 10 NCCAA national championships, and 44 conference championships. Grace competes in 19 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading and eSports. In August 2024, Grace become the first college in the nation, across all levels of collegiate athletics, to announce a uniform sponsorship deal. The college signed a three year deal for

Zimmer Biomet Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. is a publicly traded American medical device company. It was founded in 1927 to produce aluminum splints. The firm is headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, where it is part of the medical devices business cluster. In 200 ...

to have their logo on all of the colleges athletic uniforms.

Mascot

Their mascot is Sir Red.

Basketball

Grace's men's basketball program was coached by Jim Kessler for 42 seasons from 1977-2019 and won the NAIA Division II men's championship in 1992 with a 85-79 OT victory over Northwestern IA, and in 2013, advanced to the Final Four. On 31 October 2014, Coach Kessler achieved his 700th career coaching win. Since 2019, Grace has been led by Coach Scott Moore, a former Grace player and long time assistant coach. The 2021-2022 began a run of great success for the program as Grace captured the Crossroads League tournament title and made a run to the Sweet 16 of the NAIA tournament, which included an upset of #2 seed Olivet Nazarene. The 2022-2023 men's basketball team got off to the best start in program history and captured the Crossroads League regular season and conference tournament title and ended the season with a 31-4 record and an appearance in the quarterfinals of the NAIA tournament. The women's basketball team has been led by Coach Dan Davis since 2018 and the 2022-23 season produced the best season in program history.

References

External links

*
Official athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grace College and Seminary Seminaries and theological colleges in Indiana Evangelical seminaries and theological colleges in the United States Private universities and colleges in Indiana Universities and colleges established in 1948 Buildings and structures in Kosciusko County, Indiana Education in Kosciusko County, Indiana 1948 establishments in Indiana Evangelicalism in Indiana Council for Christian Colleges and Universities