Community development a top priority for Cape Town college

Cornerstone Christian College (CCC) in Cape Town, South Africa, was founded in 1970 in the back room of a small church and offered mostly night classes. Since then, the interdenominational college has grown into one of the largest evangelical Christian colleges in the country. With 670 graduates, CCC defines itself as “a community of learning committed to a Christ-centered, biblically-shaped worldview, preparing leaders for service in churches and communities.”

Some of the greatest challenges facing South Africa today include racism, family crisis, poverty, unemployment, corruption, HIV/AIDS, lack of leadership and crime/violence. CCC’s curriculum is designed to address these issues in the various modules it offers. The entire curriculum is practically-oriented and rooted in the South African context, but CCC’s community development department is particularly focused on addressing the macro-level issues with which their communities struggle. For example, students and faculty are actively involved in project called HIV911, a national call center that refers those affected and infected with HIV/AIDS to services they need.

Students can enroll in courses for Certificate, Bachelor or Diploma-level degrees in fields such as Community Counseling, Community Leadership, Christian Ministries and Theology. Future plans include developing a post-graduate center to provide leadership training to a wide range of Christian professionals who want to be more effective in organizational leadership.

OC Faculty scholar Rev. Marius Brand is an ordained minister in the Uniting Presbyterian Church in South Africa and is the head of the Christian Ministry Department at CCC. In the midst of his doctoral studies, Marius says his studies “are tremendously useful in gaining a deeper understanding of what it means to be truly human and Christ-centered and practically applying that in preaching, writing and counseling.”