Spiritual Life

 Students who enroll at MNU are not required to identify as a follower of Jesus. Our community is led by faculty, staff, administrations, and coaches who love God and whose lives have been transformed by Jesus Christ. Further, MNU is a university that is sponsored by the Church of the Nazarene. For these reasons, individuals attending MNU should know that we are a community of people working to become more like Christ and we’d love to invite you to join us in this process. That said, students who do not profess faith in Jesus are welcome amongst us! We look forward to living out our passion for Christ with those who are new to the Christian faith, unfamiliar with the story of God, or those who are skeptical of God.

Despite students not having to profess faith in Christ, we do require that student participate in the rhythms of our community. Our rhythms includes chapel services, small groups, student ministries, mission trips, and retreats. MNU is an institution of learning and faith. For these reasons, spiritual formation is a co-curricular part of your experience at this university. There are a variety of events on campus that are extra-curricular in nature, such as intramural sports, social life activities, and campus clubs. Spiritual formation is a part of the DNA of our campus community and is a part of what it means to attend MNU.

Traditional undergraduate students at MNU need to earn 16 Spiritual Formation Credits (SFC) each semester. This requirement can be fulfilled as student attend events and services put on by the Spiritual Life Office.

• The Gathering: The Gathering chapel is a time where the entire campus community gets together for a time of prayer, worship through singing, listening to a message, and celebrating the Lord’s Supper. As students, faculty, and staff all assemble, it is our hope that God would use this time to shape us into the image of Jesus, as individuals and as a community. The Gathering Chapel takes place on Tuesdays from 9:30 AM-10:30 AM at College Church of the Nazarene. Each Gathering Chapel is worth 1 SFC and there are 14 Gathering Chapels each semester.
• The Growing: The Growing Chapels focus on helping us develop our faith by creating space for intentional times of discipleship and dialog. Growing Chapels include our Prof. Talk series, where we interview a faculty member, a staff member, or coach from the MNU community. Growing Chapels also include our Christ and Culture series where we wrestle with how our Christian faith is lived out in the world. Growing Chapels also include 6 weeks where we will have small groups that students can be a part of to explore and deepen their faith in Christ. Growing Chapels take place Thursdays from 9:30-10:30 AM in the Bell Cultural Events Center. Growing Chapels are each worth 1 SFC and there are roughly 20 Growing Chapels each semester.
• The Going: Our Going ministries are opportunities for students to go serve in a variety of places around the Olathe and Kansas City area. MNU students visit the elderly, help serve meals to those in need, and mentor children and teens. These ministries take place on a variety of days and times throughout the week. Sign-ups to be a part of these ministries take place at the beginning of each semester. Going ministries are worth 1 SFC each time a student attends a ministry and there are roughly 12 Going opportunities available in a semester.
• Kingdom Come: Kingdom Come is a service where we gather to sing our prayers and praises to God and hear from MNU students. Once a month we’ll gather from 9:30PM-10:30 PM in the Bell Cultural Events Center.
• Spiritual Life Retreat: Each year, students are invited to be a part of our weekend-long spiritual life retreat. These retreats offer an opportunity to get off campus, spend time in prayer, worship through singing, reflect and recharging with friends. Spiritual life retreats typically cost between $25-$50 and include transportation, food, lodging, and a time to step away from campus. Students who attend a spiritual life retreat will earn 3 SFC. For more information, see our spiritual life retreat page:
• Mission Trips: Each year MNU offers several opportunities for students to participate in a 1 to 2 week long mission trip. The locations of trips changes each year, but students have recently traveled to India, Haiti, Guatemala, Africa, and Arizona. Students who complete the pre-trip training and participate on the mission trip will receive 6 SFC. Do to the global pandemic, International and domestic mission trips are currently suspended.

There are typically around 45 spiritual formation credits available in the course of a semester.

A calendar with the dates, times, locations and a brief description of the event is located on the spiritual life tab of the portal. To access this calendar, see the following link:http://mnuspirituallife.com/calendar-of-events/

Likewise, using your iAttended App, you can see a list of all the upcoming chapel services.

Students attending one of our spiritual life events or service by downloading the iAttended App on their smart phone or tablet. At each event/service or event students will be provided with a QR code to scan into the event/service and a QR code to scan out. Once this has been completed, their attendance at the event will be immediately be recorded with their iAttended App on their smart phone. In order to receive credit for attending a event/service a student must arrive within 5 minutes of the beginning of the event/service and stay for the duration of the event/service.

Reductions in spiritual formation requirements are not based on individual circumstances, but are based on a student’s academic requirements. Being of a different faith, living off campus, work schedules, or other extra-curricular involvement do not qualify a student for a reduction in their requirement. From time to time, academic requirements prohibit students from being able to attend enough of the Gathering Chapels. In this instance, students may qualify for a reduction in their spiritual formation credits for a semester. Students who have a reduction for academic reasons do not have to apply for this reduction. The reduction will be made in the 2nd week of the semester, based on the specific courses a student is enrolled in. To see details about reductions in spiritual formation credits, please see our requirements.

Students can check how many spiritual formation credits they have by accessing iAttended app on their smart phone or by going to www.iAttended.com

We encourage MNU students to join a local church, but participating in a church service doesn’t count toward meeting your spiritual formation requirements. Our spiritual formation rhythm is intended to gather our whole community together and is a unique aspect of what it means to attend MidAmerica.

Students who fail to earn all of their spiritual formation requirements will receive a fine. The first missed SFC is a $50 fine and $10 for each additional SFC they fail to complete. (For example, if an individual got 12 out of 16 SFC for the semester, they would receive an $80 fine.). Consecutive spiritual formation fines will result in a student receiving a progressively higher fine each semester. Spiritual formation fines are intended to hold students accountable to the commitment they made to be a part of the MNU community.

Yes, there is a one-time fine reduction/removal program that is available to students who are returning in the following semester.

1. Here are the details:
   Once a student has signed-up for the program. there fine will be reduced or removed from their account.
2. An email with a link to a chapel service will be sent to them at the beginning of the following semester. Over the next couple of weeks the student should watch the sermon.
3. Later in the semester, a Student Chaplain will contact them (via the information the fined student provided when they signed-up for the program) to schedule a lunch with them in Campus Center. The Student Chaplain will ask the individual about their experience at MNU, what they thought of the sermon, and simply get to know them.
4. If the fined students completes the above requirement, the fine will remain waived/reduced. If the student does not complete the above requirement, the fine will be place back on the students account at the end of the semester.

Here is an overview of the fine reductions:

• $50-$100 Fine: Completely waived
• $110-$50 Fine: Reduced by half
• $160-$190 Fine: Reduced by one-fourth