The King's College and Seminary Becomes a University; Prepares to Expand Global Reach

School officials said they met accreditation requirements to achieve university status several years ago, but proceeded with the name change this year to enable what is now known as The King's University to expand its international outreach.

"The increasing possibilities for international influence are flowering around us all the time," said Jack W. Hayford, D.Litt., a former president of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel and founding pastor of The Church on the Way in Van Nuys, Calif. "In many nations, the term seminary is just not understood or known. ... The communications clarity that comes through the use of the term university is rather pivotal at the international level."

The King's University currently offers modules in Hong Kong and conferred its first degrees there this year. The school also has specialized programs in Messianic Jewish studies, and hosts a two-week summer session at England's Oxford University, with the next course scheduled for Aug. 9-21.

That international outreach could grow further with recent opportunities for the university to host courses in Israel and develop educational partnerships in South Africa. "There are increasing open doors, notably with the spread of Internet studies today," Hayford said.

Housing what may be the first Pentecostal-charismatic seminary on the West Coast, The King's University exists to prepare leaders to make disciples who will "penetrate" the marketplace, their homes and their cities, Hayford said.

"If you don't shape new believers into disciples, then that's all you get is believers," he said. "The penetration of the church comes through disciples. Not just merely people who claim faith, but people who learn to live and to grow in the power of the Spirit and the stability of a discipled life."