Church of Christ enrollment at Oklahoma Christian declining

The religious demographics at Oklahoma Christian University and other Church of Christ-affiliated schools are undoubtedly changing. 

According to a report by Trace Hebert, Associate Dean of Education for the College of Education at Lipscomb University, 49% of Oklahoma Christian freshmen indicated a Church of Christ affiliation for fall 2019. The overall Church of Christ population undergraduates at Oklahoma Christian is 51%.

The study, “Report to the Presidents of the Church of Christ Affiliated Colleges and Universities,” includes statistics from 13 Church of Christ-affiliated colleges and universities. Between these schools, 37% of the freshmen identified with the Church of Christ. All of these institutions have witnessed declines in Church of Christ enrollment since 2000.

Oklahoma Christian President John deSteiguer said he wants the university to be a place where everyone can grow closer to Jesus. 

“I love OC’s Church of Christ roots and connections,” deSteiguer said. “This is my fellowship from birth and will be for life. I am thrilled that OC is appealing to students of faith from inside and outside our historic church fellowship. We all have a lot to learn from others—people who see things similarly and people who see things differently.”

According to last year’s demographic book, the proportion of Church of Christ students to non-Church of Christ students has declined19% since 2014.

Director of Admissions Elizabeth Henderson said many students visit Oklahoma Christian for athletics and academics rather than the faith-based aspects of the institution. 

“I usually tell them that we are a Church of Christ heritage school. That’s who we are traditionally affiliated with,” Henderson said. “We honor that in a cappella worship. But then I also let them know about half of our student body comes from all different church backgrounds, and they can continue worshipping at whatever church they feel comfortable in.”

Additionally, Henderson said she makes sure to emphasize the flexibility of the Ethos program and the scholarly perspective taught in Bible classes. Henderson attributes the shift in religious affiliation at Oklahoma Christian to reflect the general trends of the Church of Christ.

“A lot of families are starting to move toward non-denominational churches, and you maybe have seen that trend in Churches of Christ themselves moving more toward the middle,” Henderson said. “I also think Oklahoma Christian is a really great place for a lot of families of Christian backgrounds that maybe don’t find what they’re looking for in other schools and want a faith-based school. Oklahoma Christian offers that.”

In his ninth year of teaching at Oklahoma Christian, Bible professor Ben Langford has helped to navigate students unfamiliar with the Churches of Christ through understanding the history of the fellowship. He said many students are unaware they are attending a school shaped by a particular history.

“Everybody comes from some place,” Langford said. “[All students] come from a particular church background that has history long before they were there, ways of reading Scripture, ways of thinking about the Christian life and what it needs to be. Sometimes you learn more about yourself when you encounter someone very different.”

Senior Olivia Raff grew up in California and had only briefly heard about the Church of Christ because of her proximity to Pepperdine University. Growing up attending both Catholic and non-denominational congregations, the move to Oklahoma Christian challenged her faith.

“When I first started going to [Life Church], I would come back into the dorms freshman year on Sundays and people would be like, ‘Oh, you went to that church again,’” Raff said. “It would be very condemning in their tone. Since I grew up going to different churches all the time, I don’t want to say I’m kind of immune to it, because it did kind of bother and offend me and hurt at times.”

Still, Raff said she would recommend Oklahoma Christian to a prospective student unfamiliar with the Church of Christ heritage. 

“I’m learning about Jesus, and I’m growing in my faith,” Raff said. “Just because it doesn’t look like yours doesn’t mean it has to be bad or wrong or anything like that. [Oklahoma Christian] is still a great place to grow, and there are professors here who are willing to talk with you through your questions. I probably wouldn’t have experienced all the doubts that I had if I hadn’t come here.”

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