About Us

Our History

Ben Lippen in AshevilleA Scottish phrase meaning “Mountain of Trust,” Ben Lippen School was founded in 1940 by the Columbia International University (CIU) board of trustees under the guidance of CIU’s first president, Robert C. McQuilkin. The evangelical boarding school for boys was located at CIU’s Ben Lippen Conference Center on a mountain near Asheville, NC. The school became co-educational in 1952 and flourished as a school for missionary children. After a fire destroyed the main building in 1980, Ben Lippen moved its high school program to its current location in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1988 to be on the campus of CIU.  An elementary program was begun in 1990 and currently boasts three campuses, one at the Monticello Road location and another on St. Andrews Road in Columbia. The third campus, located in Northeast Columbia, opened in the Fall of 2021. All upper school students attend the Monticello Road campus.

Today Ben Lippen School has more than 1100 students in grades Pre-K3 through 12, with approximately 30 of them being international students who live on campus and attend our high school. Ben Lippen School is accredited by the Council on Educational Standards and Accountability (CESA), Cognia (formerly AdvancED), the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), and the Small Boarding School Association (SBSA).n (SCISA).

Mission Statement

Ben Lippen School seeks to glorify God by educating students from a biblical worldview to impact the nations with the message of Christ and by assisting the family and church in equipping students spiritually, academically, socially, and physically under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Vision Statement

Ben Lippen School’s vision is to be the premier Christian school in the Southeast identified by its intentional discipleship of students, varied college preparatory academic offerings, dynamic fine arts department, and competitive athletic program.

Statement of Faith

The following, together with other Christian principles of doctrine and practice, including the affirmation of the full trustworthiness of Scripture, which in its original writing was verbally inspired and without error, shall be the basis of the faith and doctrine of Ben Lippen School:

  1. The Bible is the inspired Word of God, the written record of His supernatural revelation of Himself to man, absolute in its authority, complete in its revelation, final in its content, and without any errors in its teachings;
  2. All men in their natural state are lost, alienated from God, spiritually dead: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23);
  3. Salvation is only by grace, a free gift of God, through faith in the Lord Jesus, who died for our sins according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3); Those who thus receive Christ by faith have their sins forgiven (Eph. 1:7), their hearts cleansed (Acts 15:9), are born of the Spirit, become children of God (Jn. 1:12,13), and are made new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17);
  4. God is One God, Who reveals Himself in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ, as the Scriptures affirm, is the Son of God and Son of man, was born of a virgin, and is Himself very God. The Scriptures also declare the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit;
  5. Our Lord Jesus rose from the dead in the same body that was laid to rest in the tomb (Jn. 20:25-27); The bodies of all believers who die will be raised from the dead, and they will receive an incorruptible body like unto His glorious body (1 Cor. 15:53; Phil. 3:21). All other men shall be raised unto “the resurrection of judgment” (Jn. 5:28,29);
  6. Christians, born of the Spirit, are to live the new life in the present power of the Spirit. “If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk” (Gal. 5:16-25; Col. 2:6). The Christian’s responsibility and his normal attitude of life is to yield himself to God (Rom. 6:13), trusting God to keep him;
  7. Christian “living” includes Christian service, the winning of souls around us, and the preaching of the Gospel in the uttermost parts of the earth. In carrying on this work there is needed the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit which is granted to every believer as he yields and trusts (Acts 1:8; 1 Cor. 12:7; Eph. 3:20; Acts 5:32). And in all of this service, prayer is to have the central place (Jn. 14:12-14; Eph. 6:18-19);
  8. Jesus Christ will come again to earth a second time (Heb. 9:28), personally (Acts 1:11; 1 Thess. 4:16), bodily (Acts 1:11; Col. 2:9), visibly (Mt. 26:64; Rev. 1:7). His coming will precede the age of universal peace and righteousness, foretold in the Scriptures (Mt. 24:29,30,42; 1 Thess. 2:7,8; Rev. 20:1-6)