As a private, academically rigorous, liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church, we believe that spiritual growth is not only essential, it is also integrally related to the other components of the transformation process. Based on the Wesleyan vision that education is a union of “knowledge and vital piety,” the College provides students an academic program and co-curricular activities that nurture a strong and active faith and lead them to see how a historically grounded religion is viable in contemporary cultures both at home and around the world.

The College sees a special connection between service and spiritual growth; redemption is a social as well as an inner, personal experience. While these Wesleyan emphases define the tradition in which the College stands, the College also recognizes that Christian and other religious traditions see the same or similar connections between intellectual development and spiritual growth. Union College thus seeks to cultivate a learning community in which students, faculty, and staff explore together the intellectual and social dimensions of Christian faith.