TKC Letters Project - Kingdom Building

People unfamiliar with our school

often believe they’ve heard of King’s when you tell them you attend, graduated from, or work for The King’s College. You may play along, even though you’re pretty sure they are really thinking of King’s College in PA or King’s College London. But for those of us blessed enough to know THE King’s College, we understand we are not to be mistaken with those other institutions. The awesome marketing campaign that ran a few years ago really sums up that distinction well: “Don’t just go to college, come to King’s.” It’s deeply understood by faculty, staff, students and alumni that King’s isn’t merely a higher-ed institution, in the business of providing an education and issuing diplomas.

Many other TKC Letters describe the ways in which the Kingsian experience is different, and each one rings with truth and resonates with my own experience. However, I’d like to pull on that thread, down to the very first stitch. Why is King’s different? What makes it a special, much-beloved institution? I submit the difference simply comes down to our non-unique name and the identity we derive from it. Who are we? We are The King’s College. This institution exists because Christ, our King, has established it as a tool to accomplish the work of His Kingdom. He gets all the credit. It all belongs to Him. The faculty, staff, students, alumni, and every donor has been a part of this Kingdom building.

What grace that Christ allowed me to participate in this! First as a student, learning to glean wisdom from Socrates and Anselm. Then as a staff member serving former President Gibson, having a front row seat to God’s provision for this beloved institution. My life, like many others, was so fundamentally altered by these experiences. Since 1938, imperfect people have built an imperfect institution, and the product of that has been a holy output. That simply doesn’t compute without a Divine component. Where imperfections left the college wanting, God picked up the slack. When Briarcliff Manor fell into bankruptcy and The King’s College seemed destined for extinction, God allowed the charter to remain intact and paved the way for King’s 2.0 (NYC campus). Everything King’s has been, is, and will be stands as a testament to His faithfulness, His ability to intervene in human affairs to effectuate His redemptive plan.

Even though we are witnessing another dark hour in TKC history, I pray God will continue to surprise us with His goodness. I’m encouraged by the fact that we can pray, “Do it again!” He’s been faithful before, so we can trust Him to be faithful again!