APU Articles
Summer Reflection Brings Connection
June 23, 2011
School is out for the summer and students are focused on relaxation rather than studying for exams and writing final papers. Both educators and students alike struggle to ensure that classroom learning is not lost during summer break, but what about the spiritual growth students experienced last semester? With chapel, D–groups, outreach ministries, and fellowship with other believers to keep students engaged throughout the school year, how do they continue the renewing of their relationship with God over the summer?
Best Places for Student Prayer
June 03, 2011
Since 1899, Azusa Pacific University has held tightly to it's God First motto, encouraging students to grow in their relationship with God and offering quiet places on campus to enable students to spend time in prayer and worship. Some of these places are designated for prayer, and others are somewhat unknown. Here are some of the best places on campus to pray or just reflect.
Storytelling Brings Literature to Life
June 01, 2011
Adrien Lowery, Ph.D., associate professor of English, believes that storytelling in the classroom helps stimulate the student’s mind to comprehend and dive deeper into the literary world. “Storytelling makes the story come alive. Students hear the characters and can envision their actions, ultimately having a little fun enjoying stories while we are discussing them,” she said.
Missions Teams: Being the Hands and Feet of Jesus
April 22, 2011
On Saturday, April 9, Azusa Pacific University’s Office of World Missions (OWM) held their annual Commissioning Service for the 32 Focus International missions teams traveling this spring and summer. Approximately 220 participants will go to 20 different countries to spread God’s Word. The evening included worship, celebration, communion, and prayer for the teams, their family, and friends.
Eight Ways APU Stays Green
April 19, 2011
April 22. Earth Day. One day out of the year to serve as a reminder of the steps each person can take to help steward and protect Earth's resources.
APU Mobile Honored By Webby Awards
April 19, 2011
Azusa Pacific Mobile was recently recognized as an official honoree in the 15th Annual Webby Awards. The Webby Awards is the Internet's most respected symbol of success.
Under the Influence: California's Intoxicating Spiritual, Cultural Influence on America
March 28, 2011
When I was a graduate student in Kentucky, I met a toddler at church who confided to me that he wanted to be a missionary to Mars or California. Although I smiled at this, in a way, he’d confirmed my suspicions that I had grown up in some image of “outer space,” and this before the nationwide diffusion of the Planet Hollywood franchise. Picturing the toxic gasses surrounding Mars, I sensed that much of California, especially Southern California, was in need of rescue—not so that it could align itself with the well-behaved Midwest, but so that it could be revived from a sort of mass-produced stupor, one that I now realize, after much research and analysis, seeks to anesthetize people to actual human experience, relationships, environment, and, I fear, the true God.
The Girl Next Door: A Christian Response to Human Trafficking
March 14, 2011
She rises before dawn to begin her work, preparing for her employer’s day. She packs lunches, cleans rooms, scrubs floors, washes clothes, cooks meals. She’s grown accustomed to hunger; her meals consist of quickly eaten bites in the solitude of her quarters. She labors dutifully and silently for upwards of 16–18 hours a day with little to no contact with the outside world. She’s long since given up hope of earning her family’s financial freedom. In all her years here, she’s never once seen evidence that her family even knows where she is, much less receives payment for her services. She feels lost, forgotten, and as she collapses onto her cot after another exhausting day, she listens to the sounds of the city outside her window and knows she is utterly alone.
The Love of the Run
March 07, 2011
It’s often not about the time it takes to finish, or about winning. Most marathon runners participate as recreational athletes, testing their mental and physical strength as they run and walk 26.1 miles.
WASC Update: Faith Integration
March 01, 2011
“Our goal is to advance our students’ understanding of these central concepts of the academic vision and how to incorporate them into their personal, academic, and professional lives,” said Vicky Bowden, DNSc, RN, professor of nursing and WASC accreditation liaison officer. After much prayer, research, and approval from the Faculty Senate, APU defines faith integration as: “Informed reflection on the discovery of Christian faith within the academic disciplines, professional programs, and lived practice, resulting in the articulation of Christian perspectives on truth and life in order to advance the work of God in the world.” This definition aligns with APU’s vision and mission statements and provides a framework upon which to build a solid structure of faith integration across disciplines. Faith integration develops the relationship between Christian faith and human knowledge as expressed in various academic disciplines (faith and learning) and through cocurricular programs. At APU, faith integration finds especially fertile ground in the Student Life division (faith and living). Through the Offices of the Campus Pastors and Chapel Programs, and the Center for Student Action, students learn to incorporate their faith into every aspect of their lives, from participation in chapel and spiritual mentoring relationships, to local community service and world missions opportunities. “St. Augustine defined the purpose of education as teaching students ‘to love well,’” said Rev. Chris Adams, Ph.D., associate campus pastor for community care. “Students will not be interested in integrating a Christian worldview into any given discipline if they do not first have a commitment to the Christian life in a fundamentally personal sense that includes learning to love God with their minds and hearts.”
Nursing Simulation Labs Come to Regional Centers
February 10, 2011
Human patient simulation provides interactive, life-sized mannequins that replicate real human functions, allowing nursing students to gain experience before they work in a hospital setting. Students put their classroom learning into action while dealing with the psychosocial elements of nurse-patient interaction. They are able to experiment on the simulator before implementing their ideas and theories on a human patient. Then students watch a recording of the session in order to better understand what they did right and what needs to be fixed.
What Does it Mean to Embody God’s love?
February 07, 2011
“Justice Week is not just one week out of the year where we pay attention to God’s call to live justly, but it is a reminder that we have been called to live God’s Kingdom justice daily,” said Azusa Pacific Pastor Woody Moorwood, who introduced Justice Week at chapel on January 24.
Apple Challenges Faculty to “Think Different”
February 04, 2011
On Thursday, February 3, more than 60 Azusa Pacific faculty from across university disciplines gathered in the School of Education’s Emerging Technology Center to be challenged by Apple to “think different.”
Values and Ethos
January 18, 2011
Since its founding 111 years ago, Azusa Pacific University has periodically taken time to examine the university’s core values in substantive ways, and this 2010–11 academic year marks the launch of an important season of reaffirmation. As cultural trends and social values evolve, we must intentionally think about how APU fulfills its mission and maintains its strong position as an evangelical Christian university.
The Historical Jesus as a Defense for the Christian Faith
January 14, 2011
On January 11, William Lane Craig, Ph.D., a current research professor at the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, presented at APU as the kickoff speaker in the Spring 2011 Science, Faith, and Culture lecture series hosted by APU's Center for Research in Science (CRIS). More than 100 students and faculty members gathered in Munson Chapel to hear Craig speak about the historical Jesus in his lecture: Historical Texts, Historical Savior: Answering Bart Ehrman’s Critique of the Historical Jesus.