Faith and values

An authentic faith community

Messiah University is an educational community profoundly committed to worshipping, loving and serving God. The University’s motto, “Christ Preeminent,” points to our community’s full, rich shared understanding of Jesus Christ and how the Christian faith is relevant to every dimension of life. At Messiah we’re committed to personal faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sin and to pursuing the exemplary nature of Christ's life as a model for our own lives. This common Christian conviction shapes every aspect of students’ experiences in the Messiah community.

Unlike many other Christian universities, Messiah embraces students from a wide variety of Christian faith traditions. It’s not uncommon for a residence hall floor to be comprised of students from a dozen or more church denominations and traditions. Not only do we accept this broad evangelical representation among our students and faculty, we celebrate it! We believe that learning from each other is part of what it means to be an authentic Christian community.

Find out more about spiritual growth opportunities at Messiah University