No Requirement: How Faith Flourishes on Hillsdale’s Campus
Written by Ashley Luke
I could already smell the tang of yesterday’s incense filtering through the mammoth doors of the Christ Chapel. Heels echoing against the marble, I walked down the aisle and found a spot in the second pew. Always the second pew. My eyes lifted to the cross at the center of the altar. There is something particularly alluring about the baby pink marble set behind the gold cross. Perhaps it’s the splendor. Perhaps it’s the cross itself, and what it means to me as a person. Eyes still fixed on the cross and its halo of pink stone, I knelt to pray.
I love going to the chapel because it brings me so much peace to pray there. I am not required by my faith nor by Hillsdale to pray there, yet I still choose to. I’m not even required to attend a traditional chapel service at Hillsdale, unlike many other Christian colleges. Yet I still choose to go to church.
Although Hillsdale College was founded by Freewill Baptists and is deeply rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition, Hillsdale doesn’t require its students to sign a statement of faith. Even so, we have one of the most vibrant and genuine faith cultures I have ever seen.
Why is this? It’s because Hillsdale both expects and draws students who have a high view of self-governance. But let me back up.
You might be asking, what is self-governance, and what does it have to do with faith? Self-governance is ordering one’s free will in accordance with right wisdom. This has to do with faith because we can choose to follow God through our free will in pursuit of well-ordered lives.
“Christian faith cannot, by definition, be mandated,” says Hillsdale’s Chaplain Rev. Adam Rick. “It needs to be assented to, chosen freely. The baptismal liturgies of Christian churches all recognize this. Christ himself compelled no one. At Hillsdale, faith is encouraged but not mandated. We want students to choose their faith, precisely because true faith is free, and that means our chapel program is alive and well, but not required.”
The vitality of faith is evident through various ministries on campus and Bible studies hosted in dorms, all of which are completely student-run and organized. Almost every flavor of Western religious tradition is represented through the ministries on campus, including the Jewish Mishpacha; Orthodox Christian, InterVarsity Christian, and Reformed Student Fellowships; the Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran Societies; Equip Ministries; and the LDS Student Association.
The results of these student-run organizations are weekly events such as Soma, a 30-minute ecumenical worship service; Compline, a prayer service held by various groups; and Convivium, a faith-based lecture and fellowship hour.
The Chaplain’s office holds a weekly ecumenical service on Sunday evenings called Evensong, which is sung by the Choral Scholars choir. The office also holds a daily noon prayer. Both events are open to anyone, but neither is required.
Another student body operation is the Student Ministry Board, which runs ecumenical events and helps promote the endeavors of the other ministries on campus. They begin each semester with a prayer and worship night on the first days of classes and encourage students to pray for professors, classes, students, and the work God will do that semester. Throughout the year, they run other events that promote deep praise and gratitude toward God.
“The greatest way I have seen faith life grow among the student body is directly through the work of the ministry board and their encouragement of a more ecumenical community on campus,” says head of promotions for the Student Ministry Board, Caitlyn Haggstrom, ’26. “Through this, students can learn more about other traditions, better understand their own beliefs, and share a thanksgiving for Christ regardless of denominational differences.”
The excitement of understanding other traditions is something I have experienced firsthand. As a Protestant, I wanted to learn more about the nuances of other traditions when I came to Hillsdale. A close friend of mine is Greek Orthodox, and she invited me to a service with her one Sunday. The members of her church helped me understand the different elements of the service and the importance of certain prayers and symbols. They enthusiastically answered my questions and, in turn, asked me questions about my faith without making me feel uncomfortable for having a different tradition.
This is a bit of the beauty of Hillsdale’s faith culture. We are more interested in seeking the truth and understanding the spiritual foundations of our friends than arguing about who is right and who is wrong.
Although faith at Hillsdale is not a requirement, it seems that at every turn in my academic journey, I have encountered spiritual conversations. Perhaps it’s discussing the expansion of the universe in physics, or the shape of the human face in drawing, or the twists of the Enlightenment period in history. Whatever the topic, my friends and I will rush from class, bubbling over with thoughts about how the topic connects to different aspects of God’s creation and formation of faith. Hillsdale gently guides its students down the right path and lets them decide whether they wish to walk it.
“The strong academic culture alongside the intentional community of students is an indicator of a prominent faith culture,” says Haggstrom. “Our pursuit of the ‘Good, True, and Beautiful’ is truly a pursuit of divine contemplation.”
Put another way, “All education, therefore, is in service to making more worthy worshipers,” says Rev. Rick.
All that we do, through all the vibrant campus ministries, academics, and everyday life, is in service and worship of God through our own free will and self-governance, which I firmly believe is the most beautiful kind.
Students are encouraged to take their vivacity for faith and invest it in local churches. Most of my friends are part of community small groups, volunteer in youth groups, and are even members at surrounding congregations. I cannot say this wouldn’t happen if we were required to attend weekly chapel service. But I can say that through Hillsdale refraining from it, they are teaching us to “sow bountifully [and thus] reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” 2 Corinthians 9:6-7. As students, we must sow our faith bountifully and give to both our college and local community cheerfully, not under compulsion, but out of the fruit of the faith God has fostered within us.
Back at the chapel, I finished my prayers and made my way out of the sanctuary. As I put on my coat, I thought about how I would be back in just a few hours for my favorite weekly worship event, Soma. At Soma, we always end the same way, with an a cappella version of the Doxology. The mingling harmony of voices praising God is something powerful I cannot quite explain. But I think the words are a true representation of Hillsdale’s attitude toward praising God in all that they do:
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
Ashley Luke, ’28, plans to study humanities with a special interest in languages and writing. In her spare time, she loves tending to her sourdough starter, perusing art museums, and reading poetry.
Published in February 2026