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Messiah University is a private interdenominational evangelical Christian university in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

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History

The school was founded as Messiah Bible School and Missionary Training Home in 1909 by the Brethren in Christ Church. Originally located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the home of Messiah’s first president, Samuel Rogers (S.R.) Smith, a local businessman and leader in the Brethren in Christ Church, the school was moved to the village of Grantham in 1911, following the construction of the campus’ first building, Old Main. (The university now uses a Mechanicsburg mailing address, but its main campus is still located in Grantham.) The building was constructed on land donated by S.R. Smith, who had moved his home and various business interests outside of the city to allow for growth in the farmlands surrounding Grantham. In the early years, the school offered a high school curriculum and several Bible programs. By 1921, it had also become a junior college, making it the second junior college in Pennsylvania, and changed its name to Messiah Bible School.

By the 1950s, the school offered four-year college programs and accordingly in 1951 it changed its name to Messiah College. Messiah discontinued its high school program in 1959 and added liberal arts programs during this period. It was accredited as a four-year college in 1963, and continued to expand its liberal arts programs.

In 1964, Messiah College took over the operations of Upland College in Upland, California, a Brethren in Christ Church college that had been operating since the 1920s. The Upland campus was closed and all operations were consolidated to Pennsylvania. Four years later, Messiah College opened its Philadelphia Campus in a partnership with Temple University. This campus closed at the end of the Spring 2014 semester.

In 2002, Messiah College’s Harrisburg Institute was founded in downtown Harrisburg. Its purpose is to serve as an academic and research center and connect students with the unique needs of an urban environment. The institute also provides housing for up to 25 students.

Following the US Justice Department Scandal involving alumna Monica Goodling in 2007, several members of the media ridiculed Messiah College. Jon Stewart on The Daily Show referred to Messiah as a school “where people have faith that they’ll receive a quality education, and yet somehow it never arrives,” and “that everyone in the God business knows (Messiah) is a ‘savior school’.” Bill Maher also mocked Messiah, calling it “the home of the Fighting Christies.”

Even though it is no longer owned by the Brethren in Christ Church, Messiah continues to be influenced by its traditions, primarily in the Anabaptist, but also the Radical Pietist and Wesleyan holiness movements. Today, it is a nondenominational Christian college, with a faith base that is broadly evangelical and includes students and employees from a variety of denominations and Christian faith traditions.

In July 2020, Messiah College became Messiah University.

2008 Compassion Forum

The Compassion Forum was a question-and-answer session hosted by Messiah in which CNN commentators Jon Meacham and Campbell Brown as well as select members of the audience posed questions about Faith and Politics to Democratic political candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The forum took place on April 13, 2008, and was given live national coverage by CNN. The event was organized by the religious organization Faith in Public Life. John McCain was offered an invitation to participate in the event but declined the invitation, citing a schedule conflict.

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