Wednesday 25 February 2015

Go to Nik Ansell's Book Launch!

Toronto area readers, you are invited to attend the launch of Senior Member Nik Ansell’s new book, The Annihilation of Hell: Universal Salvation and the Redemption of Time in the Eschatology of Jürgen Moltmann. This event will be held at 7 pm on Thursday March 5 here at ICS. Nik will be speaking, as well as Jim Olthuis and doctoral student Jon Stanley. All are welcome! Please RSVP to CPRSE@icscanada.edu.

Invitation to teach a course

ICS is seeking to increase greatly the reach of our Master of Worldview Studies. This would be primarily through online and hybrid courses (the latter involving some face to face time). If you hold a Master's degree, and have an idea for a course, please contact Doug Blomberg (dblomberg@icscanada.edu). For more information about the MWS program, see http://www.icscanada.edu/academics/master-of-worldview-studies.

ICS welcomes Jeffrey Hocking as new Registrar

ICS is happy to transform Jeffrey Hocking’s temporary employment as Acting Registrar into permanent employment as Registrar. Jeffrey has a long history with ICS, first as a Junior Member in our MA program, then as a PhD candidate, and for the last number of years working under the supervision of his predecessor, Shawn Stovell, in Student Services. In that capacity, he handled ICS's ongoing efforts to attract students into ICS's three degree programs. In both his academic and administrative work at ICS, Jeffrey has displayed care and competence.

Did you know Calvin could be ‘Hegelianized’? Go to Rebekah Smick’s TST Liturgy Seminar to Find out How

Senior Member Rebekah Smick will be giving a talk on “The Hegelianized Calvin: Re-Examining Calvin’s Place in the Separation of Art from Religion.”

This talk will take place at on Wednesday February 25 at 3:15 PM in Boardroom 1 at the Toronto School of Theology, 47 Queen’s Park Crescent East. It is open to the public.

Critical Faith is coming to Vancouver!

Senior Member Ronald A. Kuipers will be speaking at Fleetwood CRC, 9165 160 Street, Surrey BC on at 7 pm on Saturday March 21. His talk is titled "What's So Critical About Faith?" Touching on the issues raised by the New Atheists, Ron challenges the unowned spiritual ideology informing their materialist worldview, and concludes with a challenge to Christians to recall the radicality of the promise of redemption we have inherited and are called to. On March 24, Ron will also be leading a workshop on postsecularism at the Our Whole Society conference in Vancouver.

Junior Member News

In May, Junior Member Ethan Vanderleek will be starting his new job as a campus chaplain. He will be moving to Surrey, BC to start as the CRC campus chaplain at the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Surrey Campus. Ethan plans to finish his ICS MA thesis through the summer and then continue his graduate studies at Regent College seminary starting in September. Congratulations Ethan!

Junior Member Rachel McGuire has submitted her ICS-only PhD Thesis offering a biblically grounded interdisciplinary account of power and the call of Christian existence to those of us who live as middle agents in our world economy and politics. What is remarkable is that she has managed to take on such an ambitious project while serving as very active full-time Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Rochester, N.Y. Her defense committee is being assembled and a time for the thesis defense negotiated over the next couple of weeks.

On March 12, Junior Member Dan Rudisill will be giving a talk titled, "The Young Educated Christian Professional" to the Christian Legal Fellowship at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law in Windsor, Ontario

Later this month, Junior Members Dan Rudisill and Joshua Harris will be presenting papers at the "Re-Imagining the Intersection of Evolution and the Fall" conference which will be held at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. Dan’s paper is titled, "Let us Make Man in Our Image: Emergent Evolution and the Imago Dei” and Josh’s paper is titled "Augustine’s Christological Understanding of Death in John 8".

Clockwise from top left: Ethan, Rachel, Dan, Joshua.

Prayer Letter: March 2015

Monday, March 2:  Last month we held an information night for our upcoming Art in Orvieto course. This event went very well, and we offer prayers of gratitude.

Tuesday March 3:  The debut performance of the one-act play Just Faith? took place last month in Toronto. We offer prayers of thanks for a very enjoyable and successful evening.

Wednesday, March 4:  We ask God to bless Senior Member Ron Kuipers, Director, and Allyson Carr, Associate Director of our Centre for Philosophy, Religion and Social Ethics as they continue their work.

Thursday, March 5:  The Advancement Committee meets today. We pray for God to guide this meeting.
Nik Ansell’s book launch is this evening. We ask for blessings on everyone who attends.

Friday, March 6:  Today we pray for blessings for the Friends of ICS Board and all those who are doing advancement work in the US.

Monday, March 9:  We offer prayers of gratitude for the generous spirit that is always shown by you, our many supporters, who have encouraged ICS with gifts of prayer, money, and expressions of appreciation. We are constantly blessed with your interest and support.

Tuesday, March 10:  Junior Member Joe Kirby will be taking his oral exam today. We pray for energy and insight as he prepares for this exam.

Wednesday, March 11:  Professor Jack Caputo is visiting ICS today for dialogue and conversation in connection with his two recent books, The Weakness of God and The Insistence of God. We pray for blessings on all who attend.

Thursday, March 12:  Today we offer prayers of praise for the talents of Junior Member Ethan Vanderleek who will be starting his new job as a campus chaplain in Surrey BC later this year.

Friday, March 13:  Junior Member Rachel McGuire would like to offer a prayer of thanksgiving for Bob Sweetman for patiently and expertly guiding her to completion of her dissertation. We offer prayers of gratitude and God's blessing for all who so generously share the gift of teaching.

Monday, March 16:  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.

Tuesday, March 17:  Today a meeting of Board co-chairs and the Leadership Team is scheduled. We ask for God’s wisdom to guide this meeting.

Wednesday, March 18:  The Academic Council meets today. We ask God to guide them in their discussions and decisions.

Thursday, March 19:  We pray for blessings for Senior Member Doug Blomberg as he continues in his role as ICS President.

Friday, March 20:  Tomorrow evening Senior Member Ron Kuipers will be speaking at Fleetwood CRC in Surrey. We pray for blessings on all who attend.

Monday, March 23:  We thank God for all the applicants to our programs. We pray that the successful applicants will be able to join us in our mission.

Tuesday, March 24:  Today Senior Member Ron Kuipers will be leading a workshop on postsecularism at the Our Whole Society conference in Vancouver. We pray for blessings on all who attend.

Wednesday, March 25:   We pray for blessings for Jeff Hocking as he assumes the role of ICS Registrar.

Thursday, March 26:  Today we pray for those who are struggling with illnesses. We ask God for strength, patience and for good results from treatment.

Friday, March 27:  Junior Members Dan Rudisill and Joshua Harris will both be presenting papers at a conference in Illinois. We pray for blessings for all who are involved in this event.

Monday, March 30:  Our Librarian Isabella Guthrie-McNaughton is attending the TST Librarians Meeting today. We pray for blessings and a fruitful session.

Tuesday, March 31:  Work continues to prepare the next edition of Perspective. We ask God's blessing and guidance for all those involved.

Friday 13 February 2015

Just Faith? Evening a Great Success

The debut performance of the one-act play Just Faith? took place on Friday February 6 at the Koffler House in the University of Toronto. Attendance was excellent and the play sparked a great discussion afterwards. This event marked the start of the "connection" phase of ICS/CPRSE's partnered research project, Justice and Faith: Individual Spirituality and Social Responsibility in the Christian Reformed Church in Canada. Plans are underway to hold several more similar community forums throughout Canada this spring and summer. For more information on the project, visit www.icscanada.edu/cprse/justice-and-faith.

Joseph Kirby in Montreal

Junior Member Joseph Kirby will be presenting his paper "Nihilism, Rhetoric, and the Rationality of Religious Tradition" at the Annual Concordia interdisciplinary graduate conference on March 5th in Montreal.

Joonyong Um in Winnipeg


On January 31 Junior Member Joonyong Um was leading seminar sessions for ministers and teachers of Korean churches in Winnipeg, MB. The seminar was hosted by Korean Diaspora Christian Education Institute (KODIA). Joonyong's focus was on youth ministry curriculum planning and small group pedagogies, based on his learning of wisdom in ICS.

Jeffrey Hocking Publishes Paper

Jeffrey Hocking recently had a paper published in Theopoetics: A Journal of Theological Imagination, Literature, Embodiment, and Aesthetics, vol. 1 no. 2. The article, titled "Risking Idolatry?: Theopoetics and the Promise of Embodiment" can be accessed electronically at the following link: journal.theopoetics.net/index.php/test/article/view/64.