A PRESSING AND URGENT NEED Since building its new campus on Santa Fe Drive in Littleton, Colorado, just six short years ago, Denver Seminary has experienced explosive growth. The stresses of a growth rate exceeding 20% have begun to show themselves in three critical ways:
The lack of adequate classroom space to accommodate larger class sizes
The lack of adequate meeting space to facilitate spiritual mentoring—a hallmark of Denver Seminary
The lack of adequate online courses to meet the demands of our growing student body
These concerns compromise our ability to fulfill our mission—to prepare men and women to engage the needs of the world with the redemptive power of the gospel and the life-changing truth of Scripture.
At Denver Seminary we are committed to offering students a life-changing education that includes classroom experiences taught by world class professors and mandatory mentoring relationships that stimulate personal spiritual growth. But without adequate space and technology our ability to deliver that kind of powerful education is at risk.
A STRATEGIC SOLUTION Leaving these issues unaddressed will ultimately limit the Seminary in fulfilling its mission. The Board of Trustees and the executive leadership of the Seminary are committed to the following three initiatives to meet our current needs and to keep us growing into the future.
Construction of the 9,400 ft. Vernon and Ann Grounds Student Center.
Construction of two 100 seat tiered lecture halls and two 70 seat classrooms.
Installation of needed technology and equipment to expand and upgrade our online courses.
No one saw the power of personal relationships to change lives more than Vernon and Ann Grounds. That's why the Vernon and Ann Grounds Student Center will not simply be a place for students to hang out. It will be a place where lives are changed. With plenty of comfortable seating in an inviting atmosphere, this will be a place where students will learn from one another, challenge one another to grow spiritually, encourage one another to pursue their calling, and develop relationships that will last through a lifetime of ministry. Even more, faculty members and seminary mentors will be able to deepen their relationships with students through meaningful interaction in an informal setting. In this place we will also be able to host coffee house style concerts, academic debates, film discussions, and other student events.
Denver Seminary has a wonderful problem-- our classes are getting larger because more and more students want to study with us. Unfortunately, we don't have classrooms that adequately accommodate these larger class sizes. Therefore, we will build two tiered lecture halls that will each seat approximately one hundred students. Just as theatres and concert halls have demonstrated how tiered seating creates a better field of vision for large audiences, so tiered lecture halls create a much more effective learning environment for large class sizes. With tiered seating and adequate AV equipment, even students in the back rows can experience a personal connection with the professor. In addition, this type of seating allows students to engage one another better in class discussions.
The single most frequently asked question we get from prospective students is, "What do you offer online?" Online education is no passing fad; it has reshaped the character of higher education in North America by making it accessible to students that previously could have never attended. Each year we talk with dozens of qualified students who want to study with us but cannot relocate to Denver. We must expand our online course offerings in order to reach these students. Furthermore, with web-based technologies we will be able to "bring" world-class scholars from all over the globe into our classrooms. Adding the technology and equipment needed to expand our online courses in the new classrooms will greatly expand our reach for the sake of the Kingdom. We dare not miss this opportunity.
The Denver Seminary Board of Trustees believes so strongly in this project that its members have personally committed over $600,000 to begin funding it. We believe that the Lord will raise up many others who would like to join them in expanding the Seminary's ability to prepare men and women to engage the needs of the world with the redemptive power of the gospel and the life-changing truth of Scripture.
Our goal is to receive gifts and pledges totally $2,400,000 by the end of 2011 for this project. Pledges will be payable until the end of 2012.
If you would like to make a pledge or need any other information, please contact Chris Johnson at 303.762.6924 or email him at .
If you would like to donate online, please follow the link below and fill out the form. To insure the funds are allocated to the correct fund, please enter the dollar amount in the ""box.
