Calvary University

The information on this page was last updated 1/3/2024. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]


Summary

We are an accredited college, graduate school, and seminary, offering degree programs on campus and online in Bible and theology, ministry studies, biblical counseling, intercultural studies, education, theatre arts, music, business administration, and professional directed studies.

Calvary is located centrally in the Midwest, less than thirty minutes from downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and has an extension site in Warrenton, Missouri.


Contact information

Mailing address:
Calvary University
15800 Calvary Rd
Kansas City, MO 64147

Website: calvary.edu

Phone: 816-322-0110

Email: [email protected]


Organization details

EIN: 436052681

CEO/President: Dr. Alexander Granados

Chairman: Dr. Clay Bowlin

Board size: 14

Founder: Dr. W. Wilson, Rev D. Buckley, & Rev R. Jaudon

Ruling year: 1962

Tax deductible: Yes

Fiscal year end: 06/30

Member of ECFA: Yes

Member of ECFA since: 2010


Purpose

The purpose of every program at Calvary is to teach students Bible and theology, and to prepare them for Christian ministry. Calvary's educational programs emphasize biblical studies, complemented by general and professional education as well as practical field experience.


Mission statement

Calvary University is an independent, nondenominational institution, providing undergraduate, graduate and post graduate education which prepares Christians to live and serve in the church and the world according to the biblical worldview. This is accomplished by providing appropriate educational curricula and a climate that fosters the development of intellectual and spiritual maturity, leadership potential, servanthood, and a sense of mission.


Statement of faith

Doctrinal Statement (from Article 8 of the Calvary University Bylaws)

8.1 The Scriptures

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally and plenarily inspired Word of God (Matt 5:18; 2 Tim 3:16-17).

We hold the Bible to be inerrant in the original writings, infallible, God-breathed, and the complete and final authority for faith and practice (2 Pet 1:20-21).

We believe that the Scriptures, interpreted in their normal, literal sense, reveal divinely distinguishable economies in the outworking of God's purposes. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purposes. Three of these - the age of law, the age of the church, and the age of the millennial kingdom - are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture (Gen 12:1-3; John 1:17; Rom 4:1-5; 2 Cor 3:7-18; Gal 3:13-25; Eph 1:10; Col 1:24-25; Heb 7:19; Rev 20:2-6).

8.2 The Godhead

We believe in one Triune God, Creator of all (Gen 1:2; Deut 6:4; 1 Cor 8:6; Col 1:16), eternally existing in three distinct persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (2 Cor 13:14), yet one in being, essence, power, and glory, having the same attributes and perfections (John 10:30).

8.3 The Person and Work of Christ

We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is very God, the express image of the Father, who, without ceasing to be God, became man in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man (Matt 1:21; John 1:18; Col 1:15).

We believe that God the Son became incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ; that He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and was born of the virgin Mary; that He is truly God and truly man; that He lived a perfect, sinless life; that all His teachings and utterances are true (Isa 7:14; Matt 1:23).

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for all mankind (1 John 2:2) as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice (Isa 53:5-6). We hold that His death is efficacious for all who believe (John 1:12; Acts 16:31); that our justification is grounded in the shedding of His blood (Rom 5:9; Eph 1:7); and that it is attested by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Matt 28:6; 1 Pet 1:3).

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven in His glorified body (Acts 1:9-10) and is now seated at the right hand of God as our High Priest and Advocate (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25).

8.4 The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

We believe in the deity (Acts 5:3-4) and the personality of the Holy Spirit.

We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11). He regenerates sinners (Titus 3:5) and indwells believers (Rom 8:9). He is the agent by whom Christ baptizes all believers into His body (1 Cor 12:12-14). He is the seal by whom the Father seals believers unto the day of redemption (Eph 1:13-14). He is the Divine Teacher who illumines believers' hearts and minds as they study the Holy Scriptures (1 Cor 2:9-12).

We believe it is the duty and privilege of all the saved to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:31). This filling is commanded (Eph 5:18). Conditions for being filled are yieldedness to the Spirit's control (Rom 8:14) and a dependent life (Gal 5:16). The results of filling are victory over sin, Christlike character, worship, submissiveness, and service (Gal 5:22-23).

We believe that the Holy Spirit gives gifts to each member of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:11). The Son of God sovereignly assigns the place of the ministry of the gifts in the body, and the Father provides the energy in the outworking of the gifts (1 Cor 12:4-6). Each believer is to exercise his spiritual gift(s) for the common good to the building up of the body of Christ (Eph 4:11-16).

We believe that the gift of speaking in tongues, which was a sign to the nation of Israel, and the other sign gifts gradually ceased as the New Testament was completed and its authority was established (1 Cor 13:8; 14:21-22; 2 Cor 12:12; Heb 2:4).

8.5 Angels, Good and Evil

We believe in the reality and personality of angels. We believe that God created an innumerable company of these sinless, spiritual beings who were to be His messengers (Neh 9:6; Ps 148:2; Matt 24:31; Luke 1:19; Heb 1:14).

We believe in the personality of Satan. He is a fallen angel who led a great company of angels into rebellion against God (Isa 14:12-17; Ezek 28:12-15). He is the great enemy of God and man, and his angels are his agents in the prosecution of his unholy purposes. He shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Matt 25:41; Rev 20:10).

8.6 Man

We believe that man came into being by direct creation of God and that man is made in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26-27; 2:7).

8.7 Sin

We believe that the human race sinned in Adam (Rom 5:12), that sin is universal in man (Rom 3:23), and that it is exceedingly heinous to God (Ps 5:5). We believe that man inherited a sinful nature (Ps 51:5), that he became alienated from God (Col 1:21), that he became totally depraved, and that of himself, he is utterly unable to remedy his lost estate (Eph 2:1-5, 12). We believe that all men are guilty and in a lost condition apart from Christ (Rom 2:1; 3:10-18).

8.8 Salvation

We believe that salvation is a gift of God's grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross (Eph 2:8-9). Christ shed His blood to accomplish justification through faith, propitiation to God, redemption from sin, and reconciliation of man. "Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8-9) and "bore our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Pet 2:24). We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power and are secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom 8:1, 38-39; 1 Pet 1:5; Jude 24).

We believe that it is the privilege of all who are born again to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word (Rom 8:16; 1 John 5:13). We also believe that Christian liberty should never serve as an occasion to the flesh (Gal 5:13).

We believe that the Scriptures disclose several aspects of sanctification. In addition to God's work of bringing a sinner to Christ, he is set apart to God. This is positional sanctification and refers to his standing. He then undergoes a process whereby the Holy Spirit quickens his affections, desires, and attitudes, enabling him to respond in faith to live a life of victory over sin. This is progressive sanctification and refers to his state (2 Cor 3:18; 7:1; Gal 5:16-25; Eph 4:22-29; 5:25-27; Col 3:10). Someday his standing and his state will be brought into perfect accord. This is prospective, or ultimate sanctification (1 Thess 5:23; 1 John 3:2).

8.9 The Church

We believe that the church, which is the body and espoused bride of Christ, began at Pentecost and is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age (Acts 2:1-42; 11:15; 1 Cor 12:12-14; 2 Cor 11:2; Eph 1:22-23; 5:25-27). We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17; 1 Tim 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).

We believe in the autonomy of the local church, free of any external authority or control (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 28:28; Rom 16:1, 4; 1 Cor 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Pet 5:1-4).

We believe in the ordinances of believer's water baptism by immersion as a testimony and the Lord's Supper as a remembrance in this age of Christ's death for the church (Matt 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 18:8; 1 Cor 11:23-26).

We believe that the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord, and that separation from religious apostasy, sinful pleasures, practices, and associations is commanded by God (Rom 12: 1-2; 2 Cor 6:14-7:1; 2 Tim 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11).

We believe in the Great Commission as the primary mission of the church. It is the obligation of the saved to witness, by word and life, to the truths of Holy Scripture. The gospel of the grace of God is to be preached to all the world (Matt 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor 5:19-20). Converts are to be taught to obey the Lord, to testify concerning their faith in Christ as Savior in water baptism, and to honor Christ by holy living and observance of the Lord's Supper (Matt 28:19-20; 1 Cor 11:23-29).

8.10 Things to Come

We believe in that "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13), the personal, imminent (Matt 24:42, 44; 1 Cor 15:51-52; Phil 3:20; 4:5), pretribulational, and premillennial (Rev 19:11-20:10) coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to rapture His saints and receive His Church unto Himself (1 Thess 4:13-18).

We believe in the subsequent, visible return of Christ to the earth (Matt 24:29-31), with His saints, to establish His promised millennial kingdom (Zech 14:4-11; 1 Thess 1:10; Rev 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6).

We believe in the physical resurrection of all men, the saints to everlasting joy and bliss, the wicked to conscious and eternal torment (Matt 25:46; John 5:28-29; 11:25-26; Rev 20:5-6, 12-13).

We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thess 4:16-17; Rev 20:4-6).

We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until the second resurrection when, with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne judgment and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting, conscious punishment (Matt 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thess 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev 20:11-15).

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Transparency grade

A

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Financial efficiency ratings

Sector: Colleges/Universities

CategoryRatingOverall rankSector rank
Overall efficiency rating990 of 1101122 of 129
Fund acquisition rating1030 of 1102121 of 129
Resource allocation rating969 of 1102113 of 129
Asset utilization rating562 of 110177 of 129

Financial ratios

Funding ratiosSector median20222020201920182017
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts =
Fundraising expense /
Total contributions
9%17%81%18%4%35%
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio =
Fundraising expense /
Total revenue
2%7%10%7%3%5%
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance =
Total contributions /
Total revenue
22%39%12%37%70%15%
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio =
Fundraising expense /
Total expenses
2%7%7%7%5%5%
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance =
Total other revenue /
Total revenue
78%61%88%63%30%85%
 
Operating ratiosSector median20222020201920182017
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio =
Program services /
Total expenses
84%73%75%73%84%82%
Spending ratio Spending ratio =
Total expenses /
Total revenue
95%97%142%97%50%101%
Program output ratio Program output ratio =
Program services /
Total revenue
77%70%106%71%42%84%
Savings ratio Savings ratio =
Surplus (deficit) /
Total revenue
5%3%-42%3%50%-1%
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate =
Surplus (deficit) /
Net assets
5%2%-15%1%37%-1%
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio =
Management and general expense /
Total expenses
13%21%18%20%11%12%
 
Investing ratiosSector median20222020201920182017
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover =
Total expenses /
Total assets
0.510.490.430.410.350.45
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment =
Total assets /
Total current assets
2.614.189.447.804.551.84
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover =
Total expenses /
Total current assets
1.402.044.033.201.610.83
 
Liquidity ratiosSector median20222020201920182017
Current ratio Current ratio =
Total current assets /
Total current liabilities
8.633.579.7110.8312.7251.53
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio =
Total current liabilities /
Total current assets
0.120.280.100.090.080.02
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level =
(Total current assets -
Total current liabilities) /
(Total expenses / 12)
7.374.232.673.406.8714.25
 
Solvency ratiosSector median20222020201920182017
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio =
Total liabilities /
Total assets
24%16%14%6%5%5%
Debt ratio Debt ratio =
Debt /
Total assets
11%7%6%3%1%2%
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio =
Net assets /
Total expenses
151%171%202%228%269%212%

Financials

Balance sheet
 
Assets20222020201920182017
Cash$1,423,446$604,935$794,955$1,287,399$686,221
Receivables, inventories, prepaids$77,569$75,411$171,669$167,204$124,567
Short-term investments$1,263,714$1,001,562$1,194,595$2,217,874$4,874,173
Other current assets$0$0$0$0$0
Total current assets$2,764,729$1,681,908$2,161,219$3,672,477$5,684,961
Long-term investments$0$0$0$0$0
Fixed assets$8,635,616$14,095,932$14,678,071$12,273,133$4,277,390
Other long-term assets$148,123$93,474$7,674$757,674$494,434
Total long-term assets$8,783,739$14,189,406$14,685,745$13,030,807$4,771,824
Total assets$11,548,468$15,871,314$16,846,964$16,703,284$10,456,785
 
Liabilities20222020201920182017
Payables and accrued expenses$394,511$173,190$199,570$288,680$110,323
Other current liabilities$379,807$0$0$0$0
Total current liabilities$774,318$173,190$199,570$288,680$110,323
Debt$811,322$1,006,974$575,378$142,384$196,749
Due to (from) affiliates$0$0$0$0$0
Other long-term liabilities$295,028$1,024,446$292,886$342,214$185,483
Total long-term liabilities$1,106,350$2,031,420$868,264$484,598$382,232
Total liabilities$1,880,668$2,204,610$1,067,834$773,278$492,555
 
Net assets20222020201920182017
Without donor restrictions$6,852,838$10,591,757$12,626,483$12,715,143$6,656,426
With donor restrictions$2,814,962$3,074,947$3,152,647$3,214,863$3,307,804
Net assets$9,667,800$13,666,704$15,779,130$15,930,006$9,964,230
 
Revenues and expenses
 
Revenue20222020201920182017
Total contributions$2,254,967$565,227$2,614,406$8,248,231$680,829
Program service revenue$3,217,530$3,677,539$3,851,997$3,279,616$3,119,654
Membership dues$0$0$0$0$0
Investment income$71,292$480,764$619,233$153,616$285,947
Other revenue$280,362$53,889$21,912$69,718$546,378
Total other revenue$3,569,184$4,212,192$4,493,142$3,502,950$3,951,979
Total revenue$5,824,151$4,777,419$7,107,548$11,751,181$4,632,808
 
Expenses20222020201920182017
Program services$4,091,912$5,079,734$5,058,283$4,974,775$3,872,274
Management and general$1,158,327$1,235,127$1,379,110$631,091$582,849
Fundraising$392,880$457,355$476,142$308,788$240,683
Total expenses$5,643,119$6,772,216$6,913,535$5,914,654$4,695,806
 
Change in net assets20222020201920182017
Surplus (deficit)$181,032($1,994,797)$194,013$5,836,527($62,998)
Other changes in net assets$0$0$0$0$0
Total change in net assets$181,032($1,994,797)$194,013$5,836,527($62,998)

Compensation

NameTitleCompensation
Alexander GranadosPresident$89,320
Dr Teddy BitnerChief Academic Officer$56,717
Jeff CampaChief Operating Officer$48,059

Compensation data as of: 6/30/2022


Response from ministry

No response has been provided by this ministry.


The information below was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 1/3/2024. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]


History

Calvary University is the successful result of a merger in 1961 between two small and struggling Bible colleges - Kansas City Bible College (KCBC) and Midwest Bible College (MBC) in St. Louis. A second merger took place in 1987 when Citadel Bible College of Ozark, Arkansas, joined Calvary. These mergers represented a blending of institutional objectives, assets and liabilities, alumni associations, and doctrinal goals, as well as values that were held in common by all of the institutions.

In the early 1930s, Christian work throughout the Midwest needed experienced, well-trained pastors and teachers. The economic depression had the country in its grip, many churches were without pastors, and there were no evangelical schools in this area of the heartland. Several Christian leaders had been praying for a decade about the need for such a school, and the God-selected leaders for the original venture included Dr. Walter L. Wilson, medical doctor, theologian, and author; Rev. David Bulkley, Superintendent of the City Union Mission; and Rev. R. Fuller Jaudon, pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church.

Kansas City Bible Institute first opened its doors in 1932 with Dr. Wilson as the first president. In 1935 it became Kansas City Bible College with Dr. F. William May as President. In 1938 Dr. May left Kansas City Bible College to assist with the founding of Midwest Bible and Missionary Institute in Salina, Kansas. Also assisting was Rev. Nye J. Langmade, who served as its first President until 1954. Dr. May served as President from 1954 until 1956 when Dr. Roger Andrus was appointed President. In 1946 Midwest moved to St. Louis, Missouri. It became Midwest Bible College in 1959. In the early 1960s Dr. Al Metsker, acting President of KCBC, met with Dr. Roger Andrus, President of MBC, to explore the possibility of merging the two small colleges into one stronger institution.

In the summer of 1961 the blueprint was complete; the two schools merged, moved to a campus in the Kansas City suburban community of Prairie Village, Kansas, and became Calvary Bible College. The Board of Trustees of the newly formed school named Dr. Roger Andrus as its first President. In addition to the individuals named above who were instrumental in the early years, Calvary and its predecessor schools were blessed with a number of others who had a desire to see Bible institutes begun in the Midwest and had an active part in these beginnings - Mr. Dwight Johnson, Dr. Charles R. Rolls, Dr. Robert Belton, Dr. Clifford Lewis, and Mr. Stanley Cook, to name a few.

In 1966 Calvary moved to 1111 West 39th Street in Kansas City, where it remained until the move in 1980 to the current campus at the former Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base. In 2012 the campus expanded across the street to 13 acres vacated by the US Marines and awarded to the school by the US Department of Education, 9 which included a move-in ready dorm and three other buildings for new offices, classrooms, and space for chapel.

Dr. Andrus served as President of Calvary until the early 1970s, and in 1974 Dr. Leslie Madison was called as President. Citadel Bible College, originally named Ozark Bible Institute, began in the heart of Rev. A. H. Levin. Under his leadership, the school was organized by a group of pastors and businessmen and incorporated in the state of Arkansas in 1947, with classes beginning in 1949. Rev. Levin served as Citadel's first President until his death in 1970, at which time his son, Rev. Robert Levin, was appointed Interim President. Dr. Paul Brownback served as President from 1976 until the merger with Calvary in 1987.

In 1991 Dr. Madison was appointed Chancellor, and Dr. Donald Urey, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Calvary, was named President. Dr. Jim Anderson, an alumnus of Kansas City Bible College and former faculty member at Calvary, was called as President in 1996. After Dr. Anderson's return to full-time evangelistic work, the Board of Trustees named Dr. Elwood H. Chipchase as President in 1999. In 2009, Dr. Chipchase retired, and Dr. James L. Clark, Vice President and Academic Dean of the College, was named President. Dr. Clark was the first President of Calvary to have graduated from Calvary.

In 2014 Dr. Clark announced he would retire after 2015-2016 academic year, and in late 2015, Dr. Christopher Cone was appointed to serve as President beginning in Summer, 2016. Dr. Cone appointed Dr. Clark to the office of President Emeritus. In mid-2016, Calvary rebranded as Calvary University, and added bylaws reaffirming and deepening Calvary's commitment to the Bible as foundational and to the biblical worldview.

The Board of Trustees ended the presidency of Dr. Cone in May of 2020 and appointed CU Chief Operations Officer, Jeff Campa, as interim president. In 2021, Dr. Alexander Granados was named as President and has focused on a vision for growth that includes an affirmation and commitment to the historical values and teachings of the institution.


Program accomplishments

Calvary is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and the Association for Biblical Higher Education's Commission on Accreditation. Read more about our accreditation and credentials.

Awards (Recent)

Calvary University has been ranked by TheBestSchools.org, as having one of the top 3 "Best Online Master's in Biblical and Pastoral Counseling Programs."

Calvary University has been ranked in the Top 25 of "Best Online Colleges for History Degrees" by SR Education.

Calvary University has been ranked #3 on the Top 20 Affordable Private Schools in the United States.

Based on multiple data points within the three major criteria of academic quality, accessibility, and affordability, College Atlas has ranked Calvary University as #26 out of the top 150 campus Christian colleges in the United States.

Calvary University has been awarded Military Friendly Institution status

Calvary University has been ranked as the #6 most affordable online theology and Christian studies degree program by bestschools.com.

Calvary University has been ranked as a top 50 Bible college by christianuniversitiesonline.org.

Calvary University has been ranked the 11th most affordable Christian Counseling Bachelor's Degree Program by Counseling Degree Hub.

Calvary University has been ranked #2 in Missouri, and #26 out of 1300 colleges and universities for lowest student loan debt at graduation by LendEDU.com.

Calvary University has been named to Knowledge Review's list of The 50 Admirable Educational Institutions, 2017.


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