Barclay College

Barclay College was founded by Quaker settlers in Haviland, Kansas in 1917 as the Kansas Central Bible Training School and was formally known as Friends Bible College from 1925 to 1990. The college's main campus is located in south-central Kansas on US Highway 54/400 between Dodge City and Pratt. This location combines the advantages of a very friendly, safe, small-town environment with easy access to larger-town services about ten to twenty minutes from campus. The campus itself is an attractive, open campus of twenty acres and eight major buildings. Plans are in place for the future development of the Ross Center for the Fine Arts.

Barclay College welcomes students from all evangelical faith traditions who seek a rigorous academic setting with a solid biblical foundation. Our mission is to prepare students in a Bible-centered environment for effective Christian life, service, and leadership. Our undergraduate programs include Bachelor degrees in Youth Ministry, Pastoral Ministry, Worship Arts, Bible/Theology, Missions, Psychology and Family Studies, Sports and Recreational Leadership, Elementary Education, and Business Administration. Our graduate programs include a Master degree in Transformational Leadership. Barclay College transforms students into effective servants with an increasingly coherent Christian world view that is developed through a vital faith community. Our professors are gifted practitioners and scholars in their field of study, and genuinely care about each student. We believe that these aspects make Barclay College a model of academic excellence. A uniquely transforming encounter with God is inevitable in the vibrant faith community of Haviland. Distractions associated with college life are not as prevalent at Barclay College. Spiritual growth comes through the collective interplay of classes, chapels, Christian service, deep personal relationships, and the larger community. There is time to seek God at Barclay College in preparation for carrying out the mission of Christ. Jesus said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). As Bernard of Clairvaux said, "There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; that is curiosity. There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others; that is vanity. There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve; that is love." Barclay College exists to equip students to serve God.

Barclay College bases its existence in a rich history of evangelical Friends tradition. Barclay College is an evangelical Friends school which accepts and embraces persons with evangelical Christian beliefs from a variety of denominational backgrounds.

The mission of Barclay College is to prepare students in a Bible-centered environment for effective Christian life, service and leadership. Barclay College is a Christian institution of higher education that challenges students to explore, understand, and acquire the skills necessary to respond to the call of God upon their lives. To help accomplish this, Barclay College strives for academic and spiritual excellence by providing an environment that encourages higher levels of inquiry and learning. Critical thinking, the exchange of ideas, and disciplined Bible-based study are emphasized to assist each student in developing a personalized Christian world view and equipping them to serve effectively in the areas of service in which they feel God's direction for their lives.

Barclay College actively recruits all Christians who desire to prepare for their vocations in a climate that is rigorously academic and committed to serving Jesus Christ. The College believes that spiritual growth is accelerated when one lives and studies in a community that includes a diversity of theological and cultural perspectives.

As a four-year institution of higher learning, Barclay College's mission is broader than that of a trade school or training institute. Students broaden their cultural understanding by studying a wide range of general studies in addition to their specific areas of interest. Since Barclay is a Bible college, students learn to study the Bible and to integrate biblical truth into every discipline.

Barclay College offers students preparation for several careers through its bachelor's programs. In some fields, the bachelor's degree has been designed to prepare one for graduate study. The College also offers Associate degrees designed to give students a basic introduction to college education, the Bible, and general studies.

All resident students automatically receive a $15,000 full-tuition scholarshipupon acceptance. College supporters fund the full-tuition scholarship so students may graduate with an excellent Christian education without the weight of a debt mountain.

Barclay College traces its beginnings to 1917 when the Friends Haviland Academy founded the Kansas Central Bible Training School in a new building near the academy. The academy had opened in 1892 and was the first secondary school in Kiowa County, Kansas. Born out of a desire for a strong evangelistic emphasis, the college immediately became a center for the training and preparation of pastors and missionaries.

In 1925, a two-year junior college course was added, and the name was changed in 1930 to Friends Bible College to more fully reflect the growing mission of the institution.

By 1968, supporters felt the purposes of the college would best be served by emphasizing the four-year institution. They consequently closed the academy and junior-college programs and embarked on a vigorous effort to secure necessary faculty and facilities. This effort resulted in widespread support from the community and the college constituency and received general recognition in 1975 with the granting of full accreditation by the American Association of Bible Colleges (now the Association for Biblical Higher Education).

In the Spring of 1990, the college adopted its current name in honor of the first Quaker theologian, Robert Barclay. For a more detailed description of Barclay's rich history, contact the college to receive a copy of "Lighthouse on the Prairie", written by Haviland resident and former president Sheldon Jackson.