Students who enroll at MNU are not required to identify as a follower of Jesus.  Our community is led by faculty, staff, administrations, and coaches who love God and whose lives have been transformed by Jesus Christ.  Further, MNU is a university that is sponsored by the Church of the Nazarene.  For these reasons, individuals attending MNU should know that we are a community of people working to become more like Christ, and we’d love to invite you to join us in this process.  That said, students who do not profess faith in Jesus are welcome amongst us!  We look forward to living out our passion for Christ with those who are new to the Christian faith, unfamiliar with the story of God, or those who are skeptical of God.

For more information about who we are and what we believe click here: What We Believe

Despite students not having to profess faith in Christ, we do require that students participate in the rhythms of our community.  Our rhythms include chapel services, small groups, student ministries, mission trips, and retreats.  MNU is an institution of learning and faith.  For these reasons, spiritual formation is a co-curricular part of your experience at this university.  There are a variety of events on campus that are extracurricular, such as intramural sports, social life activities, and campus clubs.  Spiritual formation is a part of the DNA of our campus community and is a part of what it means to attend MNU.

Traditional undergraduate students at MNU need to earn 20 Spiritual Formation Credits (SFC) each semester. 10 of a student’s 20 Spiritual Formation Credits must come from our Gathering Chapels, held on Tuesday mornings. The remaining 10 Spiritual formation credits can be earned from any other Spiritual Formation events, including additional Gathering Chapels.

A calendar with the dates, times, locations, and a brief description of the event is located on the spiritual life tab of the portal. 

To access this calendar, see the following link: Spiritual Life Calendar

Students attending one of our spiritual life events can record their attendance by downloading the iAttended App on their smartphone or tablet.  At each event, students will be provided with a QR code to scan in and out of the event.  

Once this has been completed, their attendance at the event will be immediately recorded within their iAttended App. In order to receive credit for attending an event, a student must arrive within 5 minutes of the beginning of the event and stay for the duration of the event.

Reductions in spiritual formation requirements are not based on individual circumstances or preferences. Instead, reductions in spiritual formation requirements are based on a student’s academic requirements.  Being of a different faith, living off campus, work schedules, or other extracurricular involvement do not qualify a student for a reduction in their requirement.  From time to time, academic requirements prohibit students from being able to attend enough of the Gathering Chapels.  In this instance, students may qualify for a reduction in their spiritual formation credits for a semester.  Students who have a spiritual formation reduction for an academic circumstance do not have to apply for this reduction.  The reduction will be made within the two weeks of the first day of the semester.  

To see details about reductions in spiritual formation credits, please see our webpage describing Spiritual Formation Reductions

Students can check how many spiritual formation credits they have by accessing their iAttended app on their smartphone or by going to the iAttended Web Site.

We encourage MNU students to join a local church, but participating in a church service doesn’t count toward meeting your spiritual formation requirements.  Our spiritual formation rhythm is intended to gather our whole community together and is a unique aspect of what it means to attend MidAmerica.

Students who fail to earn all of their spiritual formation requirements will receive a fine.  Each missed spiritual formation credit garners a $25 fine. (For example, if an individual got 15 out of 20 SFC for the semester, they would receive an $125 fine).

Is there any way to have my fine reduced or eliminated?

Yes, there is a one-time fine reduction/removal program that is available to students who are returning in the following semester.

To see an overview of this opportunity, or sign up for the program, click on Spiritual Formation Fine Program and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Students who fail to meet a minimum of half of their required spiritual formation credits in a given semester will garner the appropriate fine and may also be placed on probation.  In the following semester, the student must meet their full spiritual formation requirement to be removed from probation.  Students on probation who fail to meet their full spiritual formation requirement will receive a fine and may be suspended in the upcoming semester.