Welcome to PVCA
Penn View provides a setting and an atmosphere where young people can grow and strengthen spiritually, train and advance academically, as well as develop and network socially.
The faculty and staff would love to pray with you as you seek God’s direction for your life. We want you to understand more fully the mission of the Church…and the mission of every Christian!
At Penn View, we want you to find healing and wholeness for your life so that you in turn can help others find completeness in Christ. We are serious about our mission of training Christian workers! You need to join us and discover how you can make a meaningful difference in the lives of others as Christ works in you and through you!
Campus
The Cooley Academic Center stands at the highest point on the fifty-acre campus and functions as the center of academic life at Penn View. The second level contains PVCA classroom facilities and the main library, while the first level houses a bookstore, administrative offices, and classrooms for Penn View Bible Institute.
The Elementary Building includes an all-purpose auditorium used for elementary chapel services, physical education, PTF events, and other school functions. Also, there is a state of the art playground enclosed by a fence.
The G. I. Straub Memorial Tabernacle seats over 1,000 people and is used on a regular basis for the daily chapel services and other school functions. This fully enclosed and heated auditorium is the home of the annual Penns Creek Camp Meeting which is held each summer. The Cooley Memorial Prayer and Music Studios provide facilities for instruction and practice of students taking applied music lessons, as well as office space for the music faculty.
The Miller Dining Center is a beautiful and spacious air conditioned dining area.
The Mason/McIntire Student Life Center is a beautiful 25,000 sq. ft., 2-story building located on the lower campus, adjacent to the Miller Dining Center. The first floor includes an activity room, fitness room, the café, study area, and a full size gymnasium with two full size volleyball courts and a full size basketball court. The second floor is the home to a beautiful banquet room and The Bradley Spitler Memorial Music Hall. The music hall includes practice rooms, faculty offices, a piano lab classroom, Hetrick Choir and Orchestra room, music library, student lounge, and two music classrooms.
Zechman Hall (the ladies’ dormitory) and Walter Hall provide living accommodations for upper high school and institute students.
The Hallam Memorial Building is a two-story brick structure which provides faculty housing.
Also located on the campus are twenty-two staff residences and a large athletic playing field, including an outdoor basketball/volleyball court
Philosophy
Penn View Bible Institute is committed to the historic Christian faith and a philosophy of education based on that faith as it is revealed in the sacred Scriptures.
At Penn View we attempt not to dichotomize knowledge into the mutually exclusive categories “sacred” and “secular,” but rather to recognize that “all knowledge comes from God, and all knowledge points to God.” The Christian lives in a world which may (and ought to) be explored through serious study which has as its primary goal the glorification of the Creator through a life which reflects subjection to His will and devotion to His service.
The Word of God is the necessary foundation of a proper understanding of man and his world. Hence, there is an emphasis on Biblical studies at Penn View.
The opposite side of the coin is, however, that the Christian needs to be well rounded in his education. Since he is to minister in the real world, he cannot afford to be ignorant of that world in which he lives. Hence, there are general education courses in each program curriculum to provide the future Christian worker the awareness he will need to minister effectively.
Finally, professional courses are included to complete the program of study. These courses are designed to give the Christian worker the expertise he will need to minister in the position God has called him to fill.
Mission
Penn View Bible Institute offers Christian education from Kindergarten through postsecondary level in the conservative Wesleyan-Arminian persuasion. The school stresses academic excellence in the context of total devotion and dedicated service to the Lord Jesus Christ. All of the programs and courses are framed and undergirded by a solid, Biblical philosophy of education.
The Institute department prepares men and women, at the postsecondary level, for the pastoral ministry, missions, the Christian music ministry, Christian school teaching, Bible teaching, and other church ministries.
The Institute awards postsecondary level, four-year Advanced Diplomas in several areas of specialization as well as a general one-year Certificate in Biblical Studies. Students orient themselves spiritually and mentally through Bible/Theology Studies, understand the world in which we live through General Studies, and prepare for specific ministries through Professional Studies.
The Academy department acts as a preparation school for the Institute, but it also prepares young people to pursue academic and non-academic careers other than the ministries mentioned above.
Our official mission statement:
to prepare Christlike Servant Leaders
through spiritual transformation,
academic excellence, social integrity,
and practical experience,
in the conservative Wesleyan-Arminian tradition
to fulfill our Lord’s Great Commission.
Objectives
For an institution to be effective in achieving its goals, those goals must be clearly stated and must be capable of measurement. At Penn View Bible Institute an earnest effort is made to assist each student to realize each of the following objectives in his life. We seek to help the student:
Spiritually
- to know Christ as personal Savior; to develop an ever more intimate relationship with Him,
- to cultivate a love for the Bible, the Word of God, as the source of our knowledge of salvation and as a
- guide for our living a holy life in this present world,
- to realize the value of total commitment of one’s life to Christ and to make that commitment,
- to develop a Christian character consistent with New Testament teaching,
- to learn how to discover the will of God for his life, and
- to discover an area of service in the church that will give purpose and direction to his life.
Socially
- to develop the social graces which are becoming to those who profess Christ as Savior and Lord,
- to become skillful in the cultivation of interpersonal relationships, and
- to become aware that he does not stand alone, but is a responsible member of several social structures: family, church, nation, and world.
Intellectually
- to obtain such knowledge in the area of general education as will prepare him for ministry in contemporary society,
- to achieve an understanding of basic Bible content and to develop an appreciation of the completeness and the adequacy of the written revelation,
- to arrive at an understanding of the basic doctrinal teachings of Scripture, and
- to achieve a level of proficiency in professional studies consonant with the beginning Christian worker.
Official Statement
Penn View is a quality school that trains pastors, missionaries, musicians, school teachers, children’s workers, and other Christian workers. Please note that Penn View does not offer degrees. The school is not a degree-granting institution in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Penn View Bible Institute does offer post-secondary education in a spiritual atmosphere, all in obedience to the commands of Scripture. The programs culminate in a Certificate for the one-year, and an Advanced Diploma for the four-year program. Our four-year Advanced Diploma is high quality postsecondary education, similar to that of other Bible schools. Whatever the nature of the award conferred upon the completion of studies, the objective remains academic excellence in the context of total devotion to God and dedicated service to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Doctrine
Penn View Christian Academy adheres to the historic Christian faith as expressed in the Wesleyan-Arminian position.
- The Bible, consisting of the sixty-six canonical books of the Old and New Testaments, is the plenarily inspired Word of God and is inerrant and infallible in the autographs.
- There is one God, eternally coexistent in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, died on the cross for the sins of mankind, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day following. He ascended to heaven where He is presently seated at the right hand of God to make intercession for the believer. At a time known only to the Father, He will return in power and glory to receive His disciples and to judge the world.
- The Holy Spirit, third Person of the Trinity, is the operative Agent in the redemption of mankind. Likewise, He enables men to understand truth, imparts life to those who repent and believe, and abides as the Comforter of the children of God.
- Man was created by God in His own image. Through willful disobedience the first man fell from his original righteousness, incurring both physical and spiritual death. Thus sin came upon the whole human race.
- Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ, whose death alone was meritorious in securing salvation for men. Full salvation is received in two crisis experiences. Initially the one who truly repents of his sins and exercises faith in Christ is justified, thus being restored to a right relationship with God through Christ; regenerated, thus receiving new life and the ability to live above willful sin; and adopted, thus becoming a true child of God. Subsequently, the believer may by faith receive the fullness of the Spirit through which the heart is cleansed from all sin and the believer is empowered for effective service. This is sometimes termed entire sanctification. These relationships with God can only be maintained by a consistent walk of obedience and faith.
- At the second coming of Christ to the earth, there will be a resurrection of all men; of the saved to everlasting bliss in the presence of God, and of the unsaved to everlasting punishment.
Denominational Affiliation
Penn View Christian Academy is a division of God’s Missionary Church, Inc. In attitude, however, the school is non-sectarian, open to qualified young men and women of any denomination.
Board of Directors
Rev. Jacob Martin Conference President, God’s Missionary Church |
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Rev. Daniel Durkee President, Penn View Bible Institute |
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Rev. Solomon Shaffer Associate Pastor, God’s Missionary Church, Beavertown, PA |
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Rev. Andrew Cooley Pastor, God’s Missionary Church, Penns Valley, PA |
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Rev. Harry Plank General Evangelist, God’s Missionary Church |
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Rev. Brian Spangler Pastor, God’s Missionary Church, New Columbia, PA |
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Mr. Leonard Raub Member, God’s Missionary Church, Lebanon, PA |
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Mr. Neil Zimmerman Member, God’s Missionary Church, New Columbia, PA |
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Mr. Larry Shuey Member, God’s Missionary Church, Lebanon, PA |