| Community life
at Columbia is a vital mixture of the ordinary and the extraordinary.
Together we seek to live out our faith as members of the one body
of Christ. It is often in the ordinary experiences of campus life
that the grace of God is revealed in extraordinary ways.
Life at Columbia involves the whole person. We encourage an uncloistered
mentality that balances the need for personal reflection and growth
with the activities of the wider community. We affirm the value
of a rich inner life, recognizing that every student must chart
his or her own spiritual course through a variety of opportunities
available at the seminary and in the community.
Worship
Worship is central to our life together. We hold chapel four times
each week and celebrate communion each Friday when classes are in
session. Students frequently lead vespers and prayer services, and
a number of small groups meet to address spiritual concerns.
The Spirituality Program offers several spiritual enrichment retreats
and events each year, providing nurture, Bible study, worship, and
the practice of spiritual disciplines.
Forums
Wednesday forums offer the Columbia community opportunities to
consider significant issues for the church in the world, to be exposed
to persons from other traditions and parts of the earth, or to be
directed in spiritual formation. Most of the forums are designed
and led by student organizations under the direction of the Student
Coordinating Council, Columbia’s student government association.
Recreation
Throughout the week, Columbia offers recreation opportunities such
as volleyball, aerobics, and intramural team sports, including football,
softball, and basketball. Tennis courts are available on campus,
and students have access to basketball courts nearby. Community
leagues provide opportunities for children and adults who wish to
participate in organized sports or recreation. The local state-of-the-art
YMCA offers student memberships as well.
Student groups organize picnics, parties, and study-breakers throughout
the year. These events are opportunities for the community to gather
for fun and relaxation. In addition to these organized events, students
frequently get together for movies, dinners, music, or ballgames.
Outreach
Our location in metropolitan Atlanta also provides numerous opportunities
for acts of service and mercy. In recent years Columbia students have worked as volunteers
with Central Presbyterian Church’s Night Shelter and other ministries
offering sanctuary and support for homeless men, women, and children;
Common Ground, a ministry with persons suffering from AIDS; and
prison ministries. In addition, students have the opportunity to
live in The Villages of East Lake,
a model redevelopment community, where they lead a student-initiated
outreach program for the children of the neighborhood. The Faith
and the City program offers many opportunities for students
to explore and exercise a ministry of public leadership, including
legislative and social service internships.
Residential
Life
Columbia is a campus—and a neighborhood. The
Columbia community is distinctive in that many faculty and staff
members live in 21 seminary-owned houses on streets encircling the
campus. The warmth of community life is one of the seminary’s great
strengths.
Housing
We maintain a variety of comfortable, affordable apartment units
and residence halls on campus.
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Florida Hall
offers efficiencies, suites, and individual rooms, all with
private baths.
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Simons-Law
Hall offers single rooms with connecting baths and suites
with private baths.
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The Village
Apartments range in size from one- to four-bedrooms and
are available for married students and students with families.
- Click here
to view the cost of on-campus housing.
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For students who prefer to live off campus,
there are a variety of housing options within easy commuting
distance.
Family Life
Columbia emphasizes the value of family to give students a sense
of "home." Children are an integral part of community
life and participate in many activities held throughout the year.
The seminary provides a playscape and picnic area in the Village
apartment community where children make friends among those with
whom they live, play, and go to school. Many excellent day care
programs are available in the Decatur area. Frequently, spouses
of Columbia students offer child-care services in their homes on
campus.
Area
Schools
Children living on campus attend Decatur schools, whose students
score above the national average at the third, fifth, and eighth-grade
levels. Decatur annually spends more money per student than any
other school system in the state. Children in kindergarten through
third grade attend newly renovated Winnona Park Elementary School,
a block and a half walk from the Village. Fourth and fifth graders
attend Glennwood Academy, which is also close to the seminary. These
neighborhood schoos have wonderful reputations and are noted for
parental involvement. Children in grades six through twelve attend
nearby Renfroe Middle School and Decatur High School. The high school
offers a broad curriculum with many advanced placement courses;
its average SAT scores are well above the national average.
Opportunities
for Spouses
Spouses of Seminarians (SOS), one of our student organizations,
helps support wives and husbands of seminarians through regular
social events and group study. Those spouses who choose to work
off campus find that employment opportunities abound in Atlanta.
In addition, spouses may participate free-of-charge in seminary
courses and offerings of the Lay
Institute of Faith and Life and the continuing
education program.
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