Vocational Formation

for ACU Online Students

At ACU, we believe the work we do matters. It matters to the world. It matters to God. God longs for the world to be a place of human flourishing – a place of wholeness, peace, joy, rest, and hope. Whether you are a teacher, therapist, business person, non-profit leader, healthcare professional or find your work in another profession, your work is not disconnected from the life of God, but the very place that God longs for you, your colleagues, your clients, and your community to experience human flourishing.

At ACU, we believe the work we do matters. It matters to the world. It matters to God. God longs for the world to be a place of human flourishing – a place of wholeness, peace, joy, rest, and hope. Whether you are a teacher, therapist, business person, non-profit leader, healthcare professional or find your work in another profession, your work is not disconnected from the life of God, but the very place that God longs for you, your colleagues, your clients, and your community to experience human flourishing.

Main Content

HOW ACU HELPS WITH VOCATIONAL FORMATION

Vocational formation is all about finding your life’s calling, learning how God is shaping you into the person you were born to be. You likely have a career goal or the spark of an idea of what you’d like to do professionally. Vocational formation takes this a step further by helping you understand your deeper desire to serve others, no matter what the job title or duties entail.

In addition to offering innovative and industry-leading undergraduate and graduate degrees, ACU Online is committed to the vocational formation of every student helping them understand and experience their work as meaningful, life-giving, and significant.

This includes:

  • Curriculum that focuses on the formation of students’ vocational identity
  • Co-curricular opportunities that deepen students’ capacity to experience meaningful work
  • Faculty and staff committed and willing to help students understand and experience the many ways that their work contributes to the common good.

 

Vocatio Talks

ACU Online began offering a webinar series called Vocatio Talks in March 2017. These online meetings allow students to gather for lively conversations about what it means to find your authentic self. The webinars offer plenty of time for audience questions, and the webinars are recorded and posted online for later viewing.

What is Vocational Formation?

We believe the work you do matters, and that this world is a better place because of it. One of the things we want to help you do in your time at ACU is nurture practices and postures that help you continually attend to your own life, the world around you, and the ways that your work matters. We call this work “vocational formation.”

Throughout your educational experience with us you will have opportunity to participate in webinars that explore further how we might experience our work in more meaningful ways. You’ll have opportunity to engage in resources that might serve as an encouragement or inspire you to pursue longings or passions that you hold deep inside. You’ll be invited during the off-weeks between terms -when you don’t have any school work – to truly rest, be still, and hopefully find the renewal you need to jump back into the next term. We want to provide multiple opportunities, through different kinds of mediums to do what we think is really important work, that is, attend to your own vocational identity. To discover or re-discover the ways in which your work brings joy, hope, and possibility into your life. 

Vocational Formation News

Big Tex at ACU

Bringing Big Tex to campus in 1955 was no small feat

Visitors to the State Fair of Texas this month will find it hard to miss Big Tex, the 55-foot-tall cowboy who has stood sentinel over the nation’s largest state fair since 1952. Millions of fairgoers each year experience his towering presence, friendly wave and iconic “Howdy” greeting. His legacy, however, is not confined to the … Continued

Kayla

Student Spotlight: Kayla Perez

Three words can be used to describe Kayla Perez: bright, young, and full of life. As a self-proclaimed Houston, Texas native and proud Latina, Kayla Perez is the perfect example of a go-getter. From studying around the clock to taking care of her horses to spending time with her boyfriend and family, Kayla doesn’t let … Continued

2024 U.S. News & World Report badges

U.S. News highlights ACU’s nationally ranked student experience for fifth year in a row

For the fifth consecutive year, the student experience at Abilene Christian University, both in and out of the classroom, was ranked as one of the nation’s best in the 2024 U.S. News & World Report rankings released today – in the categories of Study Abroad, Learning Communities, Service Learning, First-Year Experience and Senior Capstone. Overall, … Continued

Read More ACU News