Mission & Beliefs

We embrace the revelation given by God in the Christian Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. We likewise appreciate the faith that is taught in the Scriptures and summarized in such orthodox statements of the whole Christian church as the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. We understand our own faith in continuity with the Protestant confessions of the Reformation and the Evangelical awakenings in subsequent centuries. We affirm our own heritage since the 1930s within the global, interdenominational Evangelical movement. Our own community therefore reflects a range of Evangelical traditions, denominations, mission societies, and other associations. In continuity with our previous statements of faith and with the beliefs of Evangelical Christians throughout the world, we affirm and have based the statements to follow on national and international Evangelical movements such as the World Evangelical Alliance and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. We regard the doctrines to follow as essential to the understanding and proclamation of the Gospel and to Christian life and practice. We believe in:

• The Holy Scriptures as originally given by God, divinely inspired, infallible, entirely trustworthy, and the supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
• One God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• Our Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, His virgin birth, His sinless human life, His divine miracles, His vicarious and atoning death, His bodily resurrection, His ascension, His mediatorial work, and His personal return in power and glory.
• The Salvation of lost and sinful humanity possible only through the merits of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ received by faith apart from works, and as characterized by regeneration by the Holy Spirit.
• The Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the believer is enabled to live a holy life, to witness and work for the Lord Jesus Christ.
• The Unity of the Spirit of all true believers, the Church, the Body of Christ.
• The Resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life, they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.

Moreover, we strive to reflect this Gospel in our life together. We share the ideals of movements such as the Lausanne Covenant (1974) regarding the authority of Scripture, the priority of evangelism, the need for Christian social responsibility and personal holiness, the costliness and urgency of world mission, and the importance of theological education.

Briercrest Guiding Principles

Moreover, because of our commitment to Christ and our particular identity as an educational community, we affirm the following guiding principles as central to our life together:

• We view learning and the pursuit of truth as a Christian calling.
• We believe that life is sacred; people have worth because they are created in God’s image, male and female.*
• We believe that our relationships should reflect our connection in the body of Christ.
• We believe our minds and bodies should be used in God-honouring ways.
• We believe that marriage is a covenant instituted by God to be marked by a loving, lifelong union of one man and one woman for the purpose of bringing glory to God.*
• We view sexual intimacy as one of God’s good gifts, to be enjoyed exclusively in the context of the covenant of marriage to the exclusion of all others.*
• We value the wise stewardship of resources.
• We believe that maturity calls for us to exercise discretion in our behaviours.
• We believe that everyone should be treated with equal respect and care.

• We view learning and the pursuit of truth as a Christian calling.
• We believe that life is sacred; people have worth because they are created in God’s image, male and female.*
• We believe that our relationships should reflect our connection in the body of Christ.
• We believe our minds and bodies should be used in God-honouring ways.
• We believe that marriage is a covenant instituted by God to be marked by a loving, lifelong
• union of one man and one woman for the purpose of bringing glory to God.*
• We view sexual intimacy as one of God’s good gifts, to be enjoyed exclusively in the context of
• the covenant of marriage to the exclusion of all others.*
• We value the wise stewardship of resources.
• We believe that maturity calls for us to exercise discretion in our behaviours.
• We believe that everyone should be treated with equal respect and care.

Briercrest is a community of learning that calls students to seek the kingdom of God, to be shaped profoundly by the scriptures, and to be formed spiritually and intellectually for lives of service.

We are educating disciples to equip the Church and engage our world.

Boldly Christian: Christ-centred, Bible-anchored, and ministry-focused

Purposely developing leaders: educating, inspiring, and empowering

Conscientiously serving: observant, active, and caring

Intentionally collaborating: cooperative, communicative, and synergistic

Continuously innovating: creative, adaptive, and responsive

Briercrest is the partnership of three Christ-centred, Bible-anchored, ministry-focused schools that thrive in the context of a vibrant spiritual community.

Briercrest Christian Academy: Providing outstanding secondary school education, which prepares students in a growth-focused, holistic way for lives of service.

Briercrest College: A Christian college built on three pillars: a biblical/theological foundation, the formation of Christian life and service competencies, and reflection of these in arts, science, and marketplace learning.

Briercrest Seminary: An innovative graduate community of learning, preparing students to serve God’s kingdom in diverse settings with virtue, spiritual integrity, vocational sensitivity, and academic rigour.

This statement defines and explains Briercrest’s doctrinal position on the nature and sanctity of monogamous, heterosexual, covenant marriage. We seek to model the disposition of Jesus as he came “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). We pose this humbly, yet with conviction, knowing that we have all sinned but aspire to the purity and holiness to which Jesus and the Scriptures call us. As an evangelical organization, we believe that the gospel is preeminent in our work and that Jesus came to save sinners; sexual sin being no less forgivable. We repent of sin, receive forgiveness, strive towards holiness, and are reconciled in the church.

As educators, we know that all our students may not have arrived at fully formed convictions regarding the matters addressed here and will need to study further. Nonetheless, this represents Briercrest’s position on these contemporary topics. This clarifying statement does not intend to be exhaustive, nor cover other topics that may emerge in the future.

As Christians, we believe that God is the originator and designer of marriage, that He has communicated His design through the Bible, and that His design is binding on how we define and practice marriage.

Therefore, notwithstanding the broader sense in which marriage may be defined, we adopt the following definition of marriage for the belief, doctrine, and religious practice of Briercrest College & Seminary (“Briercrest”):

Marriage is reserved for the formalized covenant relationship between one man and one woman who commit themselves through legal declaration to exclusive, intimate companionship and sexual union with the intention of permanence. Divorce is not part of God’s design for marriage; however, the Scriptures do acknowledge that certain conditions sadly can lead to divorce. While divorce is not to be taken lightly, forgiveness, healing, and restoration are available for those who journey through divorce.

Biblical Marriage — We affirm:

• Marriage is of divine design and origin.

• Marriage is designed to take place between one man and one woman (heterosexual and monogamous).

• Marriage is designed to be permanent and enduring until the death of one or both spouses.

• Marriage is spiritually and symbolically sealed through sexual union.

• Marriage is a covenant (promise) before God and in the presence of the community.

• Marriage is a symbol of God’s covenant relationship with his people.

Scriptural references: Genesis 1:27–28; 2:24–25; Malachi 2:14; Matthew 19:6; 1 Corinthians 7:2–4; Ephesians 5:21–33.

The heterosexual nature of marriage is revealed in Scripture in two ways. First, in the creation narrative (Genesis 1:28), God commands the man and woman to produce offspring. In Genesis 2:23–25, God mandates marriage and intends sexual relations to occur in the context of this marital relationship.

While the Old Testament condemns same-sex intimate relations (Genesis 19; Leviticus 18:22; 20:13), as Christians, we affirm that Jesus Christ “fulfills” (rather than abolishes) the Old Testament “Law and Prophets” (Matthew 5:17–20). Acknowledging the continuity with the Old Testament, we align ourselves with various New Testament texts.

In Romans 1:26–27, the apostle Paul describes same-sex relations of both men and women as examples of rebellion against the Creator and the created order (cf. Jude 7). In 1 Corinthians 6:9, he describes same-sex relations as a sign of exclusion from God’s Kingdom. In 1 Timothy 1:10, such activity is listed among violations of God’s basic moral law. In consideration of these biblical texts, the historical church’s position is that same-sex relations are not consistent with God’s design for human marriage and sexuality.

We believe that the witness of Scripture calls us to accept our biological identity as given by God (sex assigned at birth). The Bible affirms that our essential identity is to be found in our relationship with God, not in our biological sex, gender identity, or our own sexual understanding.

The creation account emphasizes that God created humankind in the “male and female” binary condition. Various biblical texts speak negatively of any attempt to portray oneself as the opposite sex (Deuteronomy 22:5). In the Romans 1 text noted above, Paul argues that the right response to God’s general revelation as Creator includes the grateful acceptance of His created order for male and female.

Nonetheless, our essential worth is not found in our sex or sexuality but in the fact that we were created in the image of God, made for relationship with Him, and merit salvation by the death of His Son, Jesus.

For further reading:

See the Association of Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) “Statement on Religious Freedom and Human Sexuality”:

ABHE Tenets on Human Sexuality