<p>On any given Sunday a person can walk into a Christian church and have a completely different experience than he or she could have at another church down the street. In some churches people speak in tongues and lift their hands in the air. At others, noses stay in hymnals. Some churches are quite accepting of a variety of stances on the "issues" while others say that there is only one correct opinion and if one doesn't believe as they do, then they aren't a true Christian. So, what is the atmosphere like at Wheaton College? </p>
<p>sigh. Nobody knows?? We did visit recently on our own - just walking around campus and eating in the cafeteria. We liked it very much, but we never got to talk to students or anyone else for that matter, so it was hard to get a feeling for what the school is like. Clearly, we'll have to go back when school is in session, but I was hoping someone with experience could tell me about it.</p>
<p>Well, I was waiting to see if any current students posted, but since they aren't...
I am an incoming freshman at Wheaton, and visited it four times over the last couple years. Wheaton is a nondenominational school, and as such draws kids from many different scopes of Christianity. In chapel, some kids raise their hands in worship. Some don't. They sung both old hymns and popular worship choruses.
But in all the students I spoke with, and from what I observed in chapel, Wheaton students seem very alive in their faith. There was no apathy, no attitude of "Oh, believe what you want and I'll believe what I want." They seemed interested in getting to the heart of their beliefs.
I would suggest that, if you haven't already, you should read Wheaton's community covenent here: <a href="http://www.wheaton.edu/welcome/cov/comcov.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.wheaton.edu/welcome/cov/comcov.html</a>
That should give you a feel for for is specifically "forbidden" in terms of morals. But I think it is important to realize that, although Wheaton is a Christian college, it is not a church, and should not be treated as one. They stress the importance of not just going to chapel three times a week, but also getting involved with local churches and ministries.
Hope that helped answer your question!</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. It helped a lot! I hope you have a great experience there and if you get the chance to post more information down the road, I'd be eager to read it.</p>
<p>I was also waiting for current students to post, as I'm an incoming freshman. Though I can't say I've visited as many times as Jlee88, I think I got a pretty good feel for the college's sense of faith.</p>
<p>Wheaton College students would be in strong agreement on the basic tenets of the faith. However, due to the number of denominations represented, students due not hold to a specific overall theology, like Calvinism They also do not agree on approaches to contemporary social issues. Basically, Wheaton follows the path of people like Billy Graham or C.S. Lewis, being strong on basic principles but content to disagree on issues beyond "Mere Christianity."</p>
<p>Also, go onto the student life section of the website and explore all the different types of ministry available. From prayer and evangelism, to tutoring and hospital visitation, your bound to find something interesting, at least I did. Hope that helped.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply - it was quite helpful to learn that students at Wheaton can and do disagree on social issues. Critical thinking is so...well... critical...to develop in a college setting. It would be sad if students were not encouraged to explore different viewpoints on issues, etc.</p>