Tuesday 1 October 2013

Prayer Letter: October 2013

Tuesday, October 1: As the second month of the fall semester begins, we ask God's guidance and wisdom for all our Junior Members who are working hard in their courses and for a sense of balance as they deal with families and jobs as well. We pray too that student jobs will be found where they are needed.

Wednesday, October 2: The Leadership Team meets today. We pray for God’s guidance for this meeting.

Thursday, October 3: We offer prayers of praise for the talents of Senior Member Bob Sweetman, who presented a paper in Montreal last week.
Citizens for Public Justice celebrates 50 years in Toronto this evening! We offer prayers for blessings for this event.

Friday, October 4: ICS Presidents Tom and Dawn Wolthuis will be in Edmonton at The King’s University College for the inauguration of Dr. Melanie Humphreys. We pray for safe travel and blessings for all who attend this event.

Monday, October 7: We offer prayers of praise for the talent of ICS alumna Janet Read, who is showing her latest paintings in Peterborough this month.

Tuesday, October 8: Today Junior Member Bryan Richard will defend his MA thesis. We pray for energy and insight as he prepares for his defense.

Wednesday, October 9: Today we ask for God's help for those who are struggling with cancer and other illnesses. We pray for strength, patience and for good results from treatment.

Thursday, October 10: ICS’s Centre for Philosophy, Religion and Social Ethics (CPRSE), together with the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto, is hosting the annual conference of the Canadian Society for Continental Philosophy (CSCP) this year. We pray for blessings on everyone who is attending.

Friday, October 11: Senior Member Shannon Hoff will be going to the Institute for Cultural Inquiry in Berlin. We pray for safe travel and blessings on Shannon while she is there.

Sunday, October 13: Tom Wolthuis will be preaching at Fellowship CRC, 204 Main Street in Brighton.

Monday, October 14: Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. As we celebrate and give thanks for the bounty of the harvest, may we reflect on the grace of God and the rewards of our labour. We are grateful that ICS is sustained by both God's grace and the dedicated work of its support community, administrative staff, and Senior and Junior Members.

Tuesday, October 15: As the Thanksgiving weekend ends, we offer prayers of gratitude for the many people who have given ICS gifts of prayers, money, concern and appreciation. It is truly a blessing to have the interest and support of so many people.
The Finance and Fundraising Committee meets today. We pray for God's wisdom to guide their discussions and decisions.

Wednesday, October 16: The Leadership Team and Academic Council meet today. We pray for God’s wisdom to guide these meetings.

Thursday, October 17: We are now fully into our new academic year! Give thanks for the insightful, talented, and hard working ICS faculty and staff, and pray for energy and enthusiasm to sustain with their workloads.

Friday, October 18: We ask for God's blessing on those who are planning the Annual General Meeting to be held next month. We pray for energy and enthusiasm for all who are involved. Also please pray today for the ICS Board recruitment process, that committed and able candidates for Board vacancies will be offered to the ICS membership for approval.

Saturday, October 19: Jim Olthuis is presenting a paper in Seoul, Korea. We pray for safe travel and blessings on everyone attending.

Sunday, October 20: Tom Wolthuis will be preaching at Covenant CRC, 278 Parnell Road in St Catharines.

Monday, October 21: Reading Week begins today! Please pray that our Senior and Junior Members will be able to use this break from classes to catch up, get ahead, or use the week for whatever they may need to help them in their studies.
We offer prayers for the launch of the Institutional Repository on October 21 (during the International Open Access Week).
The Executive will be meeting this evening. We pray for God’s wisdom to guide their discussions.

Tuesday, October 22: Many of our Junior Members are working on their their Masters and PhD thesis projects. We pray for our Junior Members and ask that they will have time, focus and wisdom.

Wednesday, October 23: As Reading Week continues, please pray that it will be a fruitful week for the academic body at ICS as many Senior and Junior Members have projects they are working on beyond normal class work. Whether these are publications, papers for conferences, or other scholarly activities, pray that this week will afford extra time to make progress in these areas.

Thursday, October 24: Please pray for the Institute and the continued mission of ICS. To be even more specific, we ask that you pray with us that we have good responses to our donor appeals in the remaining months of 2013.

Friday, October 25: Reading Week is over! We ask God for insight, energy and enthusiasm for everyone who is returning to classes next week.

Sunday, October 27: Tom Wolthuis will be preaching at the evening Reformation service at Ebenezer CRC,18 Fourth Avenue in Trenton.

Monday, October 28: The first Scripture Faith and Scholarship Seminar will be held this afternoon. Please pray for a stimulating exchange that will help everyone think further about their calling as Christian scholars.

Tuesday, October 29: The Leadership Team meets today. We pray for God's wisdom to guide their discussions and decisions.

Wednesday, October 30: Today we offer prayers of celebration. Forty-five years ago today Senior Member Emeritus Jim Olthuis began his work at ICS!.

Thursday, October 31: We ask God's help and guidance for all those who are doing advancement work for ICS. Please pray that support for the vision and mission of ICS continues to grow.