Student Life
At New College Franklin, we recognize that life is far more than academic learning. We are spiritual, emotional, and physical beings, and we seek to mirror that in our communal life. In daily prayer service, we join corporately to worship Christ our Lord. We encourage one another to be involved and serve in the local church. Every student is a member of a student house and select students serve on the student guild. In our Collegium Series, we invite guest speakers to lecture on intellectual, artistic, and cultural topics. And we regularly enjoy fellowship together with events outside the classroom.
Watch glimpses of student life filmed by one of our students, Jenna Thompson:
Worship
New College is a Christian college, engaged in a common endeavor for the glorification of God and the furthering of His kingdom. As we worship God we are formed into God’s people. As we strive together to see God, we are acquiring, as a kind of by-product, a vision of who we are and who we are meant to be. As an integral part of our communal worship, we hold daily prayer services in the chapel. Every morning we gather as a corporate body to pray and sing.
Because of our mission to serve the Church Universal, the local church in Franklin is essential to New College Franklin, and the New College Franklin experience is incomplete without close ties with local church bodies. While it is natural to think about reading lists and course charts as the curricular core of a college, at New College we place great emphasis on the “invisible curriculum” of community life. Worship is a central part of life in community and all students, faculty, and staff are required to be members of local Christian congregations. Franklin is blessed with a number of vibrant churches.
At this time New College Franklin shares campus facilities with Cornerstone Presbyterian Church. Many families at Cornerstone have opened their homes for hospitality and fellowship, and a number of the host families in Franklin offering room and board are members at these churches.
Naturally, students are not expected to attend Cornerstone; a number of our students and faculty represent churches (including several different denominations) in the surrounding area.
Mentorship
At NCF, we believe that our spiritual walk encompasses far more than just attendance in a Sunday church service. In the classroom, after school, and throughout the terms, we seek to provide mentorship that strengthens the faith of our students, imparting the wisdom of our faculty. On a regular basis, our faculty engage students one-on-one to encourage and teach them in their walk with the Lord. In this, we seek not just well-educated individuals, but true worshippers of the Lord.