Faith & Settlement Partnerships Case Study Resources

The results of a long-term SSHRC-funded case study conducted by the CPRSE in partnership with the Centre for Community Based Research, World Renew, the Peel Newcomer Strategy Group, and other organizations have been published. The study was conducted in and around the GTA: in Toronto, Peel, the Waterloo region, and London. Its intent was to explore existing partnerships between faith-based and government-funded settlement organizations in Ontario. The study's results have been made available in a number of formats:

1) Resource Packet (including Facilitator's Guide and webinar)
2) Peel Case Study Report
3) World Renew Case Study Report

In particular, the CPRSE's involvement in co-authoring the Facilitator's Guide and co-conducting the webinar on the use of this Guide are both products of this study that are worthy of note. Since a major outcome of this study was to highlight strategies and practices these settlement organizations employed, and to consider both their impact and potential moving forward, these resources in particular are intended to be shared widely among community leaders (both faith-based and public) and to enable community discussions and shape best practices.

The Facilitator's Guide, the webinar, the full case reports, and other resources are all available via the links in the image above.

Register for Winter 2019 ICS Courses Today!

Want to study subjects such as feminist theology and the religious left? Contact Elizabet Aras, Academic Registrar, to register for ICS courses. You can find course descriptions for Winter 2019 courses here. Scroll down on this page to view the course schedule.


Click on images to enlarge posters.

Essays in Reformational Philosophy

Clarence Joldersma, Professor of Education at Calvin College, has published an extended review of Religion, Truth, and Social Transformation (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2016) and Art, Education, and Cultural Renewal (McGill-Queen’s UP, 2017), Lambert Zuidervaart’s recent volumes of essays in reformational philosophy. Clarence shows that Lambert’s work takes what Bob Sweetman’s Tracing the Lines (Wipf & Stock, 2016) calls the “holistic” approach to how faith relates to education and scholarship. He concludes: “Anyone interested not only in the reformational tradition, but also in seeing an excellent example of a holistic approach to Christian scholarship in action, would do well to look at these volumes. In the process, they would also come away with a thoughtful … critique of … contemporary society.” For the complete review, see Clarence Joldersma, “Essays in Reformational Philosophy—An Extended Review,” Christian Scholar’s Review 48, no. 1 (Fall 2018): 69-75.

Truth in a Post-Truth Society

Do we live in a “post-truth” era? Are appeals to emotion really replacing factual truth? Has truth become irrelevant? In “Philosophy, Truth, and the Wisdom of Love,” Senior Member emeritus Lambert Zuidervaart shows why standard philosophical notions of factual truth cannot do justice to the broader meaning of truth in the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Truth in this broader sense must be lived out, not simply asserted, and it requires us to seek the good, to resist evil, and to live in hope. This essay stems from the exaugural address Lambert gave in May 2017 after he retired from being a professor of philosophy at ICS and the University of Toronto; it appears in Christian Scholar’s Review 48, no. 1 (Fall 2018): 31-43.

Prayer Letter: December 2018

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen….

By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God,

So that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

Hebrews 11:1-2 NRSV

Advent is a time of waiting and preparing for the coming of the Christ-child; a time of newness, of looking forward with hope, and of trying to make space to welcome (again) Christ into hearts. In terms of using the liturgical calendar as a way to experience various forms of spiritual disciplines, Advent also stands in a place of “not yet understanding,” of “not yet knowing,” of mystery. Of course we “know” that Christmas is coming. We know that we will celebrate the birth of Christ, and we already have the stories of his life. We know the adult before meeting the baby. The gift that Advent brings us, however, is a chance to practice, to some extent “not knowing” -- to practice a sense of hope and wonder, and fitful, even nervous, preparation for the birth of a long-awaited child. It is a time to prepare ourselves for a new year, where, when we start out by standing in a place of “not knowing” and mystery, we open ourselves to learning more about the Word we hear. In opening ourselves to really contemplating the mystery of the Incarnation, Advent becomes a time of listening and discovery along with its preparations of joy and wonder.

From Bob Sweetman’s book Changing to Stay the Same, Advent.

Monday, December 3 - Friday, December 7

On Saturday, December 1st, ICS hosted its 2018 Open House and Advent Concert. This evening of music, food, and fellowship was an opportunity for the larger ICS community to come together at our new location. We pray in thanksgiving for the success of this gathering and, in a special way, for the numerous ICS supporters and friends that visited us from far and wide..

Please take the opportunity this week to give thanks for our Board of Trustees as they continue to serve in their oversight of the mission and vision of ICS. Please pray for John Kamphof who takes over for John Valk as Chair, and for John Joosse as he takes on the position of Vice Chair. We give thanks for John Valk and his faithful service to ICS over his two terms on the Board.

On December 6th, ICS/CPRSE will host Dr. Esther Acolatse, Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and Intercultural Studies at Knox College, for the Fall Term Scripture, Faith, and Scholarship seminar. Please pray that this event will be a time of fruitful exchange and reflection on the intersection of biblical scholarship and a life of faith.

As we begin this month which celebrates Christmas by the giving and receiving of gifts, we thank God for our committed and faithful friends for their gifts to us of prayer and financial support. We pray each one of you will receive the amazing gifts of love, joy and peace this Christmas season and are filled with hope with what God will do in the future.

Monday, December 10 - Friday, December 14

Please pray this week for students joining us at ICS in the next term. In particular, we ask for your prayers for those students planning to take our new MWS online course, Organized Religion, Christianity & Capitalism in Canada and the US, and for ICS PhD Candidate, Dean Dettloff who will be teaching the course.

ICS/CPRSE is an active member of the Canadian Interfaith Conversation (CIC), Canada’s premier inter-religious dialogue network. In the context of this partnership, CPRSE has been actively involved in the establishment of the Canadian Interfaith Research Centre for Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), a project seeking to become a leading voice in interfaith research in Canada. Please pray for the continued success of this important collaboration.

Thursday this week is the final day of classes for the fall semester at ICS. As is our custom, on Friday evening we will share in a time of fun, fellowship and good food at our annual Christmas Party. We give thanks for and celebrate the gifts we have in one another in this blessed community of learning in our new home.

Monday, December 17 - Friday, December 21

We pray for continued stamina and enthusiasm for our Senior and Junior Members who are preparing to start their new courses in January. We pray especially for Gideon Strauss as he finds rhythm and creative energy in his new administrative role as Academic Dean.

Please pray this week for PhD Candidate Dean Dettloff as he prepares for the defense of his thesis entitled: Christwreck: Christianity and Design on Wednesday, December 18th. Pray also for Ron Kuipers, Dean’s mentor, and the other examiners as they interact with Dean that the time will be fruitful and inspiring.

Monday, December 24 - Friday, December 28

Please pray today for the families of our staff, faculty and students as they spend time together at this special Christmas season. Some of our families are spread far and wide so we ask God for his protective hand on those who will be traveling. Pray too for those who cannot be with their loved ones because of distance or health reasons that they will be blessed by their local community while being apart from their families.

May the blessings of love, joy and peace be yours as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour this Christmas week.

Monday, December 31

As 2018 draws to a close, we give thanks for another fruitful year of work at ICS and for all our supporters and friends who made that work possible through their prayers and financial gifts. We especially give thanks to God for the strength, grace and wisdom he gave in the renovation process and move to our new home at 59 St. George Street. We pray for God's blessing upon our staff, faculty, and students as we work out our mission, in the classroom and beyond, throughout this next year.

ICS Junior Member Featured Speaker at Parliament of the World's Religions

This year's Parliament of the World's Religions is happening in Toronto November 1-7, 2018. The event is one of the largest interfaith gatherings in the world featuring numerous presentations, panels, workshops, training, worship opportunities, and celebrations. 

ICS Junior Member Héctor Acero Ferrer is participating in the week's events as a featured speaker of multiple panels:

Face to Face: Building Relationship and Understanding through Conversation (Panel and Workshop). This panel will deal with the realities of interfaith and intercultural dialogue among youth and young adults.

Navigating the New Religious Pluralism in Canada: The Growth of the Canadian Interfaith Conversation (Panel). This panel will consider ways in which the Canadian Interfaith Conversation is strengthening Canadians' notions of pluralism in practice.

In his role as Associate Director of the CPRSE, Héctor is also participating in a panel led by the Canadian Interfaith Conversation called Faith and Interfaith Engagement in Toronto. This session will look at interfaith engagement in Toronto and will explore questions like the following:

Assets: What initiatives are faith communities and others currently undertaking and what impact are these efforts having?

Liabilities: What is not being done and where are the biggest omissions?

Future: How do youth respond to interfaith and what might this mean for the future of faith engagement in Toronto?

The Parliament is an unprecedented opportunity to interact with various local and global religious communities, and a fantastic opportunity for Héctor to gain further engagement with his research. We are very excited that he has this opportunity. 

If you are in Toronto and able to attend, tickets to the Parliament are still available at parliamentofreligions.org, and Héctor's panels will occur during November 2-4. If you're unable to attend, please pray for a fruitful time of discussion and interactions for Héctor and for the religious communities involved in the Parliament. 

Upcoming Art Show from ICS Alum Janet Read

Painter and ICS Alumna Janet Read would like to announce her upcoming show Travelling Mercies in the North Gallery of the Propeller Gallery in Toronto. The show runs from October 17 to November 4. The artist is hosting an Opening Reception on Saturday October 20, 1pm-4pm. Below is a statement from Janet regarding the show:

Travelling Mercies is a show of works created from travels over the past few years in China, Ireland, the Bruce Peninsula and my own backyard of Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe. Light over water is a constant theme as well as visual language developed in response to these journeys. The experience of being in the natural world animates my work. Saturated colour informs these works on paper, vellum, canvas and birch panel.

I work with the natural environment as a catalyst for mark-making in the form of painting. Volatile yet radiant forms of light over water inform the work. Playful visual language is evident in small works on paper and duralar.

Janet Read: dawn rise, 40x40, oil and cold wax on birch panel

Janet Read: april sky, 40x40, oil and cold wax on birch panel

Janet Read: bloom, 9x9 inches, oil on Arches paper

To see the show, you can visit Propeller Gallery at the following address:

30 Abell St. Toronto,ON (just south of Queen, east of Dufferin) 

Hours: Wed-Sat. 12-6 pm, Sunday, 12-5 pm

www.propellerctr.com

phone: 416-504-7142

You can also visit Janet's website to see more of her work here: www.janet-read.com.

Prayer Letter: November 2018

Thursday, November 1 - Friday, November 2:

Pray for ICS, and especially Harley Dekker, this week and next as he works with the auditors to finalize the annual audit of our financial records for the fiscal year ended June 30. We have had some positive financial developments in the past year for which we are very thankful.

The Centre for Philosphy, Religion and Social Ethics (CPRSE) is an active member of the Canadian Interfaith Conversation, Canada’s largest inter-religious dialogue network. Through this partnership, CPRSE’s Associate Director will have the opportunity to participate in two panel discussions in the context of “The Parliament of the World Religions,” happening in Toronto between November 1st and 7th. Please pray that the interfaith and intercultural dialogue initiatives supported by CPRSE help in decisive ways to encourage social transformation and peace building.

Monday, November 5 - Friday, November 9:

Please pray for our faculty (including adjunct faculty) as they teach in the final weeks of this term and as they prepare for their teaching in the quickly approaching Winter term. Pray too for our Academic Dean, Gideon Strauss, as he leads the faculty in their academic programming deliberations.

ICS Junior Member Mark Standish has been selected CPRSE’s Research Assistant for the 2018-2019 Academic Year. Mark is looking forward to serving the ICS community through his new role, particularly as he will be an integral part of the podcast team. We pray in thanksgiving for Mark’s presence in our community and for his willingness to serve ICS as a Research Assistant.

Monday, November 12 - Friday, November 16:

Please pray for the Academic Council of the ICS during the course of this year, as they imaginatively consider the big picture and future strategy with regard to ICS's three main streams of education: our MA-PhD program, our MA (Phil) in Leadership program, and our MWS (Masters in Worldview Studies) and continuing education efforts.

Hoping to develop new collaborations with academic institutions and community organizations, CPRSE will be submitting a Partnership Development Grant to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSRHC) later this month. Please pray for the success of this grant application as well as for other partnership initiatives of our research centre.

Monday, November 19 - Friday, November 23:

Please pray for those of our MA and PhD students who are working diligently to complete their degrees in the course of the current academic year. We ask God for creative minds and a steadfast heart as they pursue their educational goals for this year.

Please pray for the students in the pioneer cohort of ICS's new MA (Phil) in Educational Leadership. This pioneer cohort will be as much co-developers as beneficiaries of the program, as they will help ICS and our partners at the Christian Teachers Academy and Edvance (the Ontario Christian Schools association) understand what is really needed by education innovators and what is really possible in the busy lives of school teachers.

This month, the team of ICS/CPRSE’s podcast “Critical Faith” will begin another year of activities. Under a more dynamic format, the new season of “Critical Faith” aims to generate meaningful conversation between scholars, practitioners, faith leaders, and ICS Senior and Junior Members. Please pray that our podcast becomes a space for fruitful exchange of ideas and an opportunity to carry out ICS’s mission beyond the borders of the classroom.

Monday, November 26 - Friday, November 30:

We give thanks for the generosity and support of our amazing ICS community in the past four months during our New Home campaign. We ask for your prayers as we prepare now for our Advent Appeal.

Please pray this week as we prepare for our special New Home celebrations on Saturday, December 1st. Our Annual General Meeting will also take place on Saturday at 3:30, followed by an Open House from 5:00 to 7:00 pm and our Advent Concert at 7:30 pm.

The Board of Trustees at ICS gather on Friday in Toronto, with many able to be present in person (and some joining electronically). Pray for them as they continue to safeguard our vision and mission in Christian higher education. It is an often onerous task, with many weighty matters to consider, yet they serve with joyfulness and unremitting dedication. We praise God for calling them to serve ICS in this way.

ICS and King's to Offer Joint Workshop and Intensive Seminar on Paul

This May, ICS and The King's University will take an historic step in acting on their affiliation!

Both institutions will be offering their first joint course available to be taken for credit by both graduate and undergraduate students. ICS President and Senior Member Ronald A. Kuipers and King's professor of philosophy and ICS alumnus Jeffrey Dudiak will co-lead the seminar and workshop, which will occur on-site in Toronto over the course of the week of May 23-31, 2019.

The course is titled "To the Unknown God": Paul and Some Philosophers, and will consist of two parts: participation in this year's ICS Undergraduate Workshop—a presentation-based workshop driven by close interaction with contributing students' research—and a week-long intensive seminar. Students have the option of either applying to the workshop apart from participation in the seminar, or enrolling in the seminar, which includes participation in the workshop.

The workshop will allow undergraduate and graduate students to experience firsthand the kind of deep and careful attention to their ideas that is characteristic of both an ICS and King's approach to education. The intensive seminar around the current use of the thought of Paul in the realm of social and political philosophy will, in turn, allow them to engage deeply with current trends in the field and to make live connections to their own work, interests, and concerns.

We eagerly anticipate making this joint opportunity a reality for both institutions in the coming months. If you or anyone you know would be interested in participating in the seminar, the workshop, or both, please contact our Registrar at academic-registrar@icscanada.edu.

Cal Seerveld News

Senior Member Emeritus Cal Seerveld has just published a small book with Dordt College Press (2018) titled Never Try to Arouse Erotic Love Until--. It is a companion study book to his earlier translation of the Old Testament Biblical Song of Songs, The Greatest Song, in critique of Solomon. There are provocative questions for discussion, reflection on friendship, and comment on redeeming spoiled love.

Cal has a short essay titled "WANTED: Vegetarian Kuyperians with Artistic Underwear" in Pro Rege 46.3 (March 2018), 24-28.

Also, Cal has written an extensive review of Bob Sweetman's book, Tracing the Lines: Spiritual Exercises and the Gesture of Christian Scholarship, in Pro Rege 46.4 (June 2018), 26-30.

Prayer Letter: October 2018

Monday, October 1 - Friday, October 5:

We give thanks today for Danielle Yett who began last month as ICS’s new Communications Coordinator. Danielle’s role will consist of organizing and synthesizing ICS’s suite of communications, including advancement communications, social media, and promotion of public outreach events so that our messaging to our diverse audiences is consistent and effective. Please pray for Danielle as she takes up this multi-layered and complex role while at the same time continuing her studies here at ICS.

We thank God for the successful installation of our computer network, telephone, and internet connection late last month. Without this essential infrastructure in place, we have had to get creative in order to accomplish the many tasks necessary for the daily operation of ICS. While we have been grateful for everyone’s willingness to “make it work,” we are also thankful to get back to full connectivity.

Bob Sweetman is presenting a paper titled “Languishing in the Wild Spaces of Love: What is Shared (and Not) by Plato’s Alcibiades and Some Thirteenth-Century Love Mystics” for the conference “The Way of Beauty” to be held on 5-7 October at Villanova University in Wayne PA. Please pray for travelling mercies for him and for a time of fruitful discussion.

Monday, October 8 - Friday, October 12:

During this Thanksgiving week, we thank God for the many mercies shown to us throughout this past year as an institution and as individuals. We thank God for the many opportunities we have had to witness personally the dedication of faculty, staff, Junior Members, and ICS families, volunteers, and supporters. And we pray that this time of year brings you much joyful reflection in gratitude.

We are especially grateful to God for his grace and strength last month as we made the move to our new home in the lower level of Knox College. We made the deadline of leaving 229 College by August 31st and successfully had the classroom space ready for our students for the start of classes on September 10th. We ask for your continued prayers for flexibility, patience, and smooth transitions during the ongoing renovation work this month.

Please pray this week for Harley Dekker and others in the Finance office as we prepare to receive the auditors later this month or early November to evaluate the annual financial statements.

Monday, October 15 - Friday, October 19:

Bob Sweetman will be giving a paper titled “Gilson, Medieval Studies, and Right-Left Divide in France and North America” for the conference “Symposium 2018: Medieval Studies at the University of St. Michael’s College: Past, Present, and Future” to be held at the University of St. Michael’s College in Toronto on October 19-20.

Our Junior Members wear many hats in addition to pursuing studies here at ICS. We ask for prayers on their behalf as they balance life’s many demands with regard to work, family, relationships, and well-being. We pray for them that they may find fulfillment, joy, and opportunities in what can often be a hectic time of life.

Monday, October 22 - Friday, October 26:

This week is Reading Week at ICS. We ask God to provide our students and faculty with the necessary space in their lives for rejuvenating rest and creative thinking as they prepare for classes and get caught up on their research and writing projects.

For our Junior Members, we pray that God will give them wisdom in applying complex texts and theories to a complex world.

Monday, October 29 - Wednesday, October 31:

Please pray this week for the successful delivery and setup of the new workstations for our faculty and staff. Everyone has been most patient making do with a small table and chair upon which to work and we are looking forward to settling in to more comfortable and efficient workspaces.

We also pray that God will foster genuine dialogue between seemingly opposing factions throughout the world.

Lock, Stock, and Barrel!

For the past 46 years, ICS has made its home at 229 College Street. On September 1, 2018, we will start the school year off in a new home, a freshly renovated office suite in the lower level of Knox College on 59 St. George Street, at the heart of the University of Toronto’s St. George campus. As we look back with fondness on our tenure at 229 College, and all the blessings we experienced while there--including many great achievements--we also look forward to the fantastic opportunity for ICS that this move makes possible.

September will be a challenging month, as we still have many hurdles to jump after we load-in the things we are taking with us from 229 College. As I write this, ICS staff are busy packing and emptying out our offices at 229 College. At the same time, the renovation of our space at Knox is very nearly complete. Our movers and some finishing trades will have to work around each other on move-in day, but everyone understands the situation and are working to help us meet our deadline to vacate 229.

Faculty, staff, and students are all bracing to meet the coming challenges facing our transition to the new space. Because we are moving into roughly 1000 less square feet of space than we used to have, we have invested in new modular office furniture, which has now been ordered and will be custom built to make the most efficient use of our reduced footprint (see diagram, right). We expect the workstations to be delivered and installed in late September/ early October. In the meantime, all ICS faculty and staff will have to make do with working from our old classroom tables and whatever chairs we can scrape together!


We are currently also still investigating the best solution for our communications needs, including telephone system and internet. We are exploring several options right now, and we want to get this decision right. This move is an opportunity for us to improve our current systems and bring them up to date, and to find the most cost effective way to do so. The top priority is to provide wifi internet throughout our space as soon as possible. Ethernet connections will likely not be ready until after our systems furniture has been installed. While we determine what our new phone system will look like, we are planning to forward calls to 416-979-2331 to a temporary cell phone, and assign staff to monitor this phone regularly for messages and relay them to the relevant parties.

We will definitely be drawing on the patience and creativity of our faculty, staff, and students in the coming days and weeks, as we work together through the hiccups we will no doubt face in the early days of operating in our new home. Even so, I am personally excited about how the new space is shaping up. In the end, it will be a wonderful base of operations for our graduate school, and a new beginning for ICS in so many different ways. Please pray that our move will go smoothly!

Prayer Letter: September 2018

Monday, September 3 - Friday, September 7

Please pray this entire month for all the staff, faculty and students at ICS -- it is Move to our new home month! This month, especially in the initial weeks, will be hectic, stressful and inconvenient as we attempt to set up our new office spaces and teach classes while we wait for new equipment and modular furniture to be delivered, set up, and installed. We ask for an abundance of God’s grace and patience.

On Tuesday, we formally welcome returning and new Junior Members to ICS for the 2018-19 Academic Year. JMs will meet with faculty and staff in a series of orientation events this week. We give thanks for this re-gathering of the ICS community and pray our Lord’s blessing on the launch of another year of Christian scholarship.

Please pray this week for Elizabet Aras, our Registrar, as she travels to Sweden to attend her best friend’s wedding. She will be away from August 30 to September 10. She covets your prayers for a safe trip for her, a smooth move to Knox while she is away, and that her preparations this summer for the ICS retreat, student registration, and the first week of classes go well during her absence.

On Thursday, our annual start-of-year Retreat will again take place, this time at the home of Bob and Roseanne Sweetman. We give thanks for Bob and Roseanne and all the others who have contributed to the many preparations that have taken place to make this an enjoyable day of relaxed fellowship and worship for all who attend.

Monday, September 10 - Friday, September 14

Please pray for those involved in preparing our Fall issue of Perspective, as authors, editors, organisers, designers, and printers. It is always a challenge to get such a publication ready in a timely manner, and we ask our Lord to guide and uphold all contributors to the process as they aim to mail this issue to supporters in early October.

This is the first week of Fall classes, and it is fitting to begin with one of our Foundational courses: “Biblical Foundations,” led by Dr. Nik Ansell. Please pray for lively interaction and edification for participants.

On Tuesday, Dr. Rebekah Smick begins her course “Grace as an Aesthetic Concept.” Pray for Rebekah and the students as they engage the material in an effort to understand the concept of grace within its theological, philosophical, literary, and art theoretical contexts, both for its historical significance and its potential usefulness for the philosophy of art today.

On Wednesday, we see the commencement of two courses: “Nature, the Supernatural and Miracle in the Thought of Thomas Aquinas” with Dr. Bob Sweetman, and “Nothing Can Separate Us…!:The Dialectical Materialism of Slavoj Zizek” with Dr. Jim Olthuis.

Monday, September 17 - Friday, September 21

This Monday evening, the first in-class session will be held for Dr. Gideon Strauss’ distance hybrid course “The Observant Participant: Applying Research Craft to Professional Practice.” Please pray for Gideon and the students as they interact in a classroom setting for the first time in this course. Pray also for the many details that need to be settled regarding venue, equipment, etc.

Please pray for our Board of Trustees this week as it meets on Tuesday evening. For most of the board members, this will happen via conference call as they are spread across Canada and the US. Pray that all will go smoothly with the arrangements, especially on the technology side. This is the first time they will meet in our new home at Knox and it could be quite chaotic because of the renovations and moving-in that are still in process. Pray that, despite these potential inconveniences, their meeting will be productive and that they will have wisdom and insight as they seek to provide leadership in the working out of the mission and vision of ICS

Please pray this week for ICS PhD candidate, Benjamin Groenewold, who plans to submit what he and his supervisor, Bob Sweetman, expect will be the final submission of his dissertation, in fulfilment of the requirements of his PhD program at ICS. The dissertation is titled "Beyond Contempt: Interpretive Creativity in Hugh of St. Victor and Even Less Likely Places." Pray also for Bob and all of our faculty as they strive to maintain their level of excellence in their teaching and mentoring roles in these busy weeks of transition to our new home at Knox College.

As the academic year begins, CPRSE staff and research assistants prepare to work on a number of exciting initiatives, including publications, institutional collaborations, and community outreach. We pray that CPRSE continues to be a source of life, activity, and inspiration for all members of the ICS community.

Monday, September 24 - Friday, September 28

This Monday evening, the first in-class session will be held for Dr. Gideon Strauss’ distance hybrid course “World-viewing.” Please pray for Gideon and the students as they interact in a classroom setting for the first time in this course. Pray also for the many details that need to be settled regarding venue, equipment, etc. will go smoothly.

CPRSE continues to build on the “Currents in Reformational Thought” series, featuring the contributions of our current and emeriti faculty to our scholarly tradition. Currently, the CPRSE team is working on the final editing stages of a forthcoming festschrift on the work of Emeritus Senior Member, Lambert Zuidervaart. Please pray for those involved in editing, producing, and publishing this important series.

Monday, September 31

Currently, CPRSE is exploring new partnership possibilities with community organizations that share the spirit of inquiry and openness of ICS. Please pray that CPRSE is able to continue its history of partnership through collaborations, and that these partnerships be fruitful and life-giving in the new academic year.

Dr. Gideon Strauss Named New ICS Academic Dean

Effective September 1, 2018, Dr. Gideon Strauss will assume the role of ICS Academic Dean, replacing Dr. Robert Sweetman, who served ICS ably and faithfully in this role for the past three years. Happy to have served ICS' academic administrative needs in this way, Bob is now also happy to bequeath this responsibility to Gideon, so that he can focus more intently on several research projects he has in development, including a book-length manuscript on Thomas Aquinas.

For, his part, Gideon is looking forward to serving ICS in this important leadership role, saying: “I am grateful for this opportunity to serve my colleagues at the Institute for Christian Studies, as together we seek to nourish the love of God, of wisdom, and of the craft of scholarship.”

To ensure a smooth transition, Bob will serve as Chair of ICS’ Academic Council for one more year, thus allowing ICS to maintain uninterrupted development of existing and new academic programs while Gideon gets up to speed on these files and forges relationships with our academic partners at The Toronto School of Theology, Knox College, and The King's University in Edmonton.

The ICS community expresses its gratitude and appreciation to Bob for his years of effective and selfless service in this role, and welcomes Gideon to ICS' Leadership Team. We are looking forward to the contributions that Gideon will make at this fecund moment in the life of ICS.

Register for Fall 2018 ICS Courses Today!

The course timetable for the 2018-2019 academic year is now available. Click here for more information on how to register for ICS courses!

New Book Featured at SPEP

Emeritus Senior Member Lambert Zuidervaart’s recent book on twentieth-century German philosophy will be featured in a book session at the next meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (SPEP), the largest society for continental philosophy in North America. Lambert wrote most of the book and discussed it in graduate seminars when he was teaching at ICS and the University of Toronto. Titled Truth in Husserl, Heidegger, and the Frankfurt School: Critical Retrieval (MIT Press, 2017), his innovative study engages with major figures in German philosophy to propose a new and transformative concept of truth. The book session will take place at 12:30 – 3:00 pm on October 18 as part of SPEP’s annual conference at The Pennsylvania State University. Two scholars—Professors Kathy Kiloh (OCAD University) and Marcia Morgan (Muhlenberg College)— will present papers about the book, and Lambert will respond to their papers and address questions from the audience.

Prayer Letter: August 2018

Wednesday, August 1 - Friday, August 3

Please pray this month for the renovations taking place at Knox College for ICS’ new home. Pray that all will go smoothly with the contractors so that the necessary work will be completed before we need to move in at the end of the month.

We ask for your prayers for Harley Dekker as he prepares for the auditors and the preparation of the year-end statements this month. Pray for strength and clarity for Harley as he prepares in the midst of the many other aspects of administration surrounding the move to Knox.

Monday, August 6 - Friday, August 10

We pray for Junior Member Grace Carhart as she and her fiancé, Schuyler Palls, prepare for their upcoming wedding. We pray for safe travels for them, their families, and guests; and that the Lord will bring them joy as they start their lives together in Toronto.

Please pray for our upcoming online auction in which we hope to be able to sell all the office furniture we will not be needing at Knox. We are using a company called MaxSold and they will be coming to photograph the items for sale on August 9. We ask for your prayers that the preparations and the auction itself will go well.

CPRSE continues to build on the “Currents in Reformational Thought” series, featuring the contributions of our current and emeriti faculty to our scholarly tradition. Currently, the CPRSE team is working on the final editing stages of a forthcoming festschrift on the work of Emeritus Senior Member, Lambert Zuidervaart. Please pray for those involved in editing, producing, and publishing this important series.

Monday, August 13 - Friday, August 17

We pray for Junior Members as they strive to balance the challenging demands of work, school, and life. We pray that they will find their work life-sustaining and life-giving, allowing them to flourish and to contribute to their communities of faith.

Currently, CPRSE is exploring new partnership possibilities with community organizations that share the spirit of inquiry and openness of ICS. Please pray that CPRSE is able to continue its history of partnership through collaborations that are fruitful and life-giving in the new academic year.

We pray for the various projects on which our Junior Members are working: theses, proposals, reading lists, dissertations, independent research, presentations, and coursework. We pray that the summer season be the opportunity for them to follow through on these projects and and that it brings renewed inspiration and vigour for the upcoming school year.
Monday, August 20 - Friday, August 24

Please pray this week for our Registrar, Elizabet Aras, as she prepares for registration and orientation, as well as the student retreat coming up in a few weeks. There are a myriad of details to take care of so we ask God for clarity and discernment in the planning and implementation of these important events at the start of our school year.

We ask for your prayers this week for our faculty and administrative staff as they prepare for the beginning of the school year in a couple of weeks. Pray that they will be encouraged, even in the midst of a lot of changes, by the work that they do. We ask for God’s grace and wisdom as they work together, and for keen discernment in meeting the opportunities and challenges facing ICS at this time. And give thanks to God for sending them to serve the Institute’s mission with commitment and dedication.

This week is our course registration deadline when students are supposed to have registered (and paid) for the courses they plan to take in the fall semester. Pray for our Registrar, Elizabet Aras, as she follows up the many loose ends that often emerge, so that the registration process will be a smooth one for our students.

Monday, August 27 - Friday, August 31

Please pray this week for our expected move to our new home at Knox College. We are looking forward to making our new space an enjoyable and productive environment to work and study. Pray for strength and wisdom to deal with the inevitable hiccups that will come our way as we take on this intensive undertaking.

As the fall season approaches, CPRSE is developing another year of programming, including existing research projects, institutional collaborations, and community outreach initiatives. We pray in thanksgiving for the contribution of CPRSE to the life of ICS community.

Next week we welcome our Junior Members, both returning and new. Please pray for all of them as they wrap up their summer projects, academic and otherwise, and settle back into the coming year’s routine. It is a joyous time, as we all start afresh as the ICS community, gathered here in Toronto.

Introducing a new MA (Philosophy) in Educational Leadership

ICS in partnership with the Christian Teachers Academy is excited to announce a new Masters of Arts (Philosophy) degree in Educational Leadership. This new program has been approved in principle by the ICS Senate with a program launch for fall 2018!

This Masters program has two strands: Educational Leadership Stream and Educational Classroom Stream. Early in the program students will define their overarching project, begin to develop an ongoing portfolio of learning, and the program culminates with a celebration of their learning.

The program will be delivered through blended instructional methods with many opportunities for online and face-to-face interactions. Individual courses in the program are approved for the Christian School Teachers Certificate (CSTC) and the Christian School Principals Certificate (CSPC). If you are looking to stretch and grow professionally, this is a program for you!

For further information or questions about the program, please contact our Registrar, Elizabet Aras (academic-registrar@icscanada.edu) or Harry Blyleven (The Christian Teachers Academy - hblyleven@hdch.org )

Adorno and Truth

Lambert Zuidervaart, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at ICS, has published a new essay on Theodor Adorno, a leading figure in the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory. The essay is titled “Surplus beyond the Subject: Truth in Adorno’s Critique of Husserl and Heidegger.” It appears in the current issue of Symposium: Canadian Journal of Continental Philosophy 22.1 (Spring 2018): 123-40. In this article, Lambert examines Adorno’s critique of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger on the topic of truth. He shows how, while offering legitimate criticisms, Adorno fails to provide an adequate alternative.

In Memoriam: Morris Greidanus

by Robert Sweetman

Morris Greidanus’s adult life and the ICS were inextricably interlinked. It began in the heady heyday of the Groen Club at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI, the philosophy club that ran for many years under the mentorship of H. Evan Runner and sent so many eager young souls to the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam for intellectual formation within the Reformational tradition in philosophy. Morris roomed with Hendrik Hart and James H. Olthuis, the former a fervent Groen clubber, the latter still playing hard to get. That association would stick and so create conditions that would tie his subsequent career as pastor and theological mind to the work of the ICS once it opened its doors in 1967.

Morris went on to postgraduate study as did his former roommates but he himself gravitated toward theology and ordination into the ministry of the Christian Reformed Church in North America in 1964. His relationship to ICS grew very close indeed when he took a call to found a campus ministry at the University of Toronto in 1968. His “Hart House Ministry” was a very exciting enterprise that attracted ICS Junior and Senior Members as well as University of Toronto students. Indeed, well attended Sunday services in one of the large meeting rooms of Hart House on the St. George Campus of the University of Toronto meant that Morris had become in effect the pastor of his former roommates and chaplain of the ICS as well as the U of T. It was a pastorate of great spiritual energy and effect that lasted from 1968 to 1974.

In the way of ecclesiastical careers Morris took other calls to serve other communities of Christians and to serve his denomination in its highest synodical offices and yet his connection to ICS endured. He served on its board; he was a perennial MC of its Ontario Family Conference over many years, one half of a formidable tag team with spouse Alice who was an important leader in the all-important music ministry of the conference. Morris the ICS MC displayed Morris’ characteristic gifts. Above all, his wry humour, summoned with lightening swiftness and exquisite comic timing, rescued captive audiences from crushing ennui during the seemingly endless announcements that could not but accompany a conference with so many people, subprograms and volunteers. He managed to make announcement time a sparkling comedy routine filled with gentle humour and heartfelt laughter, not once or twice but time and again over the course of an entire long weekend, year in and year out.

That humour marked the man in so very important ways. It allowed him to maintain connections with people on all sides of the issues that came to divide the several communities within the Reformed world that he made his own. It was not that he didn’t have a place within communal debates; it is that he saw no reason why differences of opinion couldn’t coexist with a warm recognition of one’s interlocutor too as a child of God. This allowed him to be an effective voice in the controversies that seemed to cling around the ICS from its earliest days, patiently explaining what ICS was trying to do to those who did not understand and/or found they could not approve. This was a role he never laid down even in periods when he was less close to the heart of things at ICS. Of course, his theological collaboration with brother-in-law and long-time ICS Senior Member in Theology George Vandervelde—culminating in the appearance of “Our World Belongs to God,” the CRCNA’s contemporary testimony—did not hurt when it came to maintaining warm connections. “Our World Belongs to God” remains to this day a jewel of theology in service of the witness of the people of God.

I wonder if it wasn’t the retirement of Jim Olthuis and George Vandervelde that reintroduced Morris to the living heart of ICS, for he MC-ed both their retirement dinners to great success. At any rate, Morris became a mover and shaker in ICS’s Friends of ICS board in the U.S. and then acting president when Harry Fernhout moved to The King’s University in Edmonton and ICS had to wait an extra year for the advent of Harry’s successor John Suk. Throughout the academic year 2005-2006, he would be on campus spreading his personal serenity to the Senior Members, staff, and Junior Members of ICS in what was an anxious time. I like to think that some of that virtue has remained even in the more anxious times that followed.

Certainly, Morris remained an enthusiastic member and later chair of the FICS board. Just days before his passing, when new President Ron Kuipers was in Grand Rapids to attend the CRCNA’s annual synod, he called Morris hoping to meet with him. By then Morris was in hospital with pneumonia. Alice took the call, gave Ron the low down, and then invited him to come to Morris’ hospital bed to carry on his intended conversation, provided he did not have a cold. That is dedication. Yes, Morris’s adult life and ICS’ has been a mutual dance where both partners have taken turns with the lead to mutual benefit. We know that Morris Greidanus is irreplaceable. His passing is a loss to be sure. But his perseverance and talent and winsome love have ever been and so will remain a great blessing now baked into all that is best of what ICS has been able to do and be.

Requiescat in pacem. Thanks be to God.

Prayer Letter: July 2018

Sunday, July 1 - Friday, July 6

On July 1, people across Canada celebrate Canada Day, and ponder the blessing of living in a country that is relatively free from strife, that cherishes its ability to provide universal healthcare, and in which many are fortunate to enjoy a good quality of life. This anniversary of Canada’s confederation also gives us a moment to pause and consider the ways we can do better as a country, including achieving justice for and reconciliation with Canada’s indigenous peoples, adopting a strategy to address national poverty more effectively, including the development of a national affordable housing program, and increasing action for ecological justice. When we consider the blessings we receive by living in relative peace and prosperity here in Canada, we think of the global refugee and migration crisis, and pray for those desperate people enduring or fleeing from poverty and war. And to all members of the ICS community in the United States, we pray for God’s richest blessings as you celebrate Independence Day, and may you also use this occasion to pause and consider similar ambiguities in your nation’s witness to the world as a voice for justice and peace.

Please pray this month for our Registrar, Elizabet, as she looks after the academic details needed to be ready for the beginning of the school year in September, such as new courses being approved, registration of students, course schedules, and working with the faculty to get all the course syllabi up on the website. Pray too as she works with the new students in their application process and decisions around course selection.

Monday, July 9 - Friday, July 13

As we begin this new fiscal year, we continue to face challenges. At the same time, we are encouraged by the possibilities the Lord will bring our way, and seek His wisdom and guidance. We look forward to our move to Knox, and work hard to balance the size of the task with the opportunities that this relocation will present for ICS. It has been a challenging year from a budgeting point of view, due to the presidential transition and the delays in getting the lease at Knox signed. With those issues behind us, we are anticipating a good start to our new fiscal year.

Please pray for long-time PhD candidate, Benjamin Groenewold, as he meets with ICS supervisor Bob Sweetman on July 10th about the latest complete draft of his PhD thesis. Benjamin works with his wife and fellow ICS alumna, Dr. Tricia van Dyk, for the LCC International Univeristy in Lithuania, where he teaches courses on Worldview to college students.

We are so very grateful for the continued commitment of our supporters and pray God’s abundant blessing on each one. This support means so much to us, especially as we begin the new fiscal year with the Renaissance ICS campaign, as explained in last month’s appeal letter. Pray for sustained grace and strength as we work to achieve the goals set out before us in our renovation plan for our new home at Knox College. Pray too for vision and creativity as we move forward with new program initiatives and partnership development.

Monday, July 16 - Friday, July 20

Please pray for our Art in Orvieto program that begins on July 15 and runs for three weeks into the beginning of August. Again, we have had good subscription to both our artists' workshop and ICS course that looks at the role of the image in the three main Christian traditions. Please pray for safety both for students and faculty as they travel to and around Italy, and pray that they might have a fruitful time learning, creating, and appreciating art together.

Please join with us in prayer this month as we make decisions about downsizing and begin the ominous task of packing what we will take with us to Knox College. Pray that we will know God’s grace and strength during this time of upheaval in our normal working day, and that we might enjoy a sense of joy and excitement together as we anticipate moving into our new home. As Bob Sweetman so eloquently put it in the meditation he wrote in the summer of 2009, when ICS moved down to the first floor of 229 College: “Even in moves there are things to pray about in gratitude, not just anxiety …. Thank God for the moves we all make; how else would we know we weren’t rocks. And may God be with us in our moves, even to the end of the age.”

July being the month that a number of our staff and faculty take holidays, we ask that you pray that their time away will be refreshing and renewing. Some are travelling long distances so we ask God to grant them safe and hassle-free travels.

Monday, July 23 - Friday, July 27

Please pray for our PhD candidate, Joshua Harris, who, with his wife Sarah and son Rowan, will be moving to Edmonton later this month to begin a new chapter in their life together. We pray for the Lord’s richest blessings on them as they make this significant transition, and Josh takes up a teaching position at The King's University.

Please continue to pray for our dear friends, Alice Greidanus and Janet Borgdorff and their families, as they grieve the loss of Morris and Peter. We pray that God will be very present with them and that they will know his abundant grace and peace during this difficult time.

The Centre for Philosophy, Religion, and Social Ethics (CPRSE) continues to build on the “Currents in Reformational Thought” series, featuring the contributions of our current and emeriti faculty to our scholarly tradition. Currently, the CPRSE team is working on the final editing stages of a forthcoming festschrift on the work of Emeritus Senior Member, Lambert Zuidervaart. Please pray for those involved in editing, producing, and publishing this important series.

CPRSE’s Research Assistants, Grace Carhart and Dean Dettloff have contributed immensely to the life of ICS, keeping the community informed through social media, helping with the planning and execution of events, and assisting in other projects run by the Centre, including our new podcast Critical Faith. We pray in thanksgiving for the contribution of Grace and Dean to ICS community through their involvement in the CPRSE, and ask for God’s continued blessings on them.

Monday, July 30 - Tuesday, July 31

Please pray for our Librarian, Hilary Barlow who will be applying for permanent residency/landed immigrant status within the next seven months. Pray that the process of putting the myriad of documents and information together for the application will go smoothly so she can make the February 2019 deadline with little hassle. Hillary is currently on a temporary work permit, but once she makes application, she is eligible to extend the work permit until she gets an answer on her application.

Please pray for Bob Sweetman as he attends the Annual Aquinas Studium, held this year at Villanova University in the Philadelphia area July 29-August 2. The theme of the Studium will be Thomas Aquinas's Trinitarian thought. He will be leading in the presentation of a series of readings that will be the basis for discussions during one of the morning sessions. This will be a great warm up for Bob as he gears up to teach a seminar on Aquinas's presentation of the phenomenon and reality of miracles within the frame set for them by the framing notions of "nature" and "the supernatural".

Currently, CPRSE is exploring new partnership possibilities with community organizations that share the spirit of inquiry and openness of ICS. Please pray that CPRSE is able to continue its history of partnership through collaborations that are fruitful and life-giving in the new academic year.

2018 CONVOCATION AND PRESIDENTIAL INSTALLATION

On May 11, 2018, the ICS community gathered for the Convocation of Junior Members Julia de Boer, Godfrey Nkongolo, Mark Novak, and Joseph Kirby. All those present celebrated in gratitude the commitment and insights that these graduands offered to ICS during their years at our institution, and wished them well as they continue to respond to God’s call in their future undertakings.

This year’s Convocation included the Installation of our eighth President, Dr. Ronald A. Kuipers and his Inaugural Address, Something We Don’t See: ICS and the Training of a Messianic Imagination. 

In his address, Dr. Kuipers described ICS “as a singular witness to the crucial difference that Christian faith makes in all areas of life,” a place where students are taught “to think about contemporary society, both its blessings and its curses, in light of a story about a God who made the world good, and loves it.” In closing, he charged the graduands “to hold onto and cherish” this messianic story, deeply infused in the life of ICS.

To read the address in our Institutional Repository, click here, and to watch the YouTube video, click here.

For a slideshow with pictures from the event, click here.

Knox College and the Institute for Christian Studies Sign Historic Lease Agreement

It is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that Knox College and the Institute for Christian Studies (ICS) announce the signing of a lease that will see ICS move its operations to the premises of Knox College, effective August 1, 2018. This initial lease is for a term of 5 years.

“We are extremely grateful for this opportunity to relocate our graduate school to the campus of Knox College,” said ICS President Ronald A Kuipers. “This move not only helps us achieve greater cost certainty in a challenging real estate market, it also creates exciting opportunities for ICS faculty and students to work more closely with our colleagues at Knox.”

Principal John A Vissers said, “Knox College is delighted to welcome ICS to its premises as an institution that shares a commitment to the Reformed tradition. We expect this agreement to benefit both schools economically, and provide new opportunities for ICS and Knox to serve the church and the wider community.”

ICS’ new location will be in the northeast wing of Knox College’s lower level, in the heart of the University of Toronto’s St. George Campus.

Knox College is a theological school of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, a federated College of the University of Toronto, a founding member of the Toronto School of Theology, and holds accreditation through the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada.

The Institute for Christian Studies is a community-supported graduate school in the Kuyperian stream of the Reformed tradition, and an affiliate member of the Toronto School of Theology. It operates under charter from the Government of Ontario to grant MA and PhD degrees in Philosophy, and the Master of Worldview Studies degree.

New Essay on Film

Senior Member Emeritus Lambert Zuidervaart has published a new essay titled “Hegel, Malick, and the Postsecular Sublime” in the book Immanent Frames: Postsecular Cinema between Malick and von Trier, edited by ICS Senator John Caruana and Mark Cauchi (Albany: SUNY Press, 2018), 47-67.

The essay shows how Hegel’s conception of sublime art can help us interpret contemporary films such as Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” that struggle with deep loss and suffering but refuse to let societal evil have the last word.

Prayer Letter: June 2018

Friday, June 1

• ICS’ Centre for Philosophy, Religion, and Social Ethics (CPRSE) hosted eight outstanding undergraduate students from The King’s University, Concordia University, Cornerstone University, and Greenville University, in the context of this year’s ICS Undergraduate Workshop, “Philosophy and/as Storytelling.” The event provided these undergraduate students with a space to share their original research with ICS Senior and Junior Members, creating a communal context for thoughtful reflection, fruitful dialogue, and much storytelling. We pray in thanksgiving for this opportunity to engage in conversation with youth from across North America.

Monday, June 4 - Friday, June 8

• We give thanks for the successful signing of the lease with Knox College, where ICS will have its new home in the northwest wing on the lower level of the building. Please pray that the planned renovations will proceed smoothly and quickly so our new space will be ready for the start of the 2018 fall semester.

• Please pray this week for Ron Kuipers and Pat Webb as they travel to Grand Rapids to attend the Synod meetings and to meet with alumni and supporters in the area. We ask for safety on the roads, engaging and encouraging times with our ICS community, and for productive discussion at the Synod meeting.

• Final grades for this past semester are due before June 8th. Please pray for the faculty as they finalize their marking and assessments of the students in their class, and for Elizabet Aras, our Registrar, as she processes the final reporting to the students.

Monday, June 11 - Friday, June 15

• As we quickly move toward the end of our fiscal year this month, we would ask that you would prayerfully consider sending in your financial support if you have not already done so. We are so grateful for the continued and generous giving of our support community and we pray God’s blessing on each one.

• CPRSE continues to build on the “Currents in Reformational Thought” series, featuring the contributions of our current and emeriti faculty to our scholarly tradition. Currently, the CPRSE team is working on the final editing stages of a forthcoming festschrift celebrating the work of Lamber Zuidervaart. Please pray for those involved in editing, producing, and publishing this important series.

• The month of June is busy for faculty as they get caught up on their supervising and mentoring responsibilities and begin to prepare for the new academic year in the fall. Pray for the space and energy in their lives to work with the students in this important way.

Monday, June 18 - Friday, June 22

• Please pray today (Monday) for our Leadership Team as we meet with representatives of the teacher and principal associations of the Christian dayschool movement here in Ontario, discussing the development of an MA in Leadership that is designed to serve in-service teachers and principals who wish to go to the next level in their leadership journey.

• In collaboration with the Centre for Community Based Research, our CPRSE continues to lead a number of initiatives promoting partnerships between faith-based groups and government organizations involved in immigrant settlement. This is an outcome of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) funded research collaboration “Faith and Settlement Partnerships: Setting Immigrants and Canada Up for Success.” We pray in thanksgiving for the numerous contributions of this research project to the development of faith and settlement partnerships across Canada.

• We give thanks for the productive board and senate meetings that took place on May 11th. Please continue to pray for the Leadership Team, Board of Trustees, and Senate as they work together to fulfill the mission and vision of ICS in its key role in Christian higher education.

Monday, June 25 - Friday, June 29

• As the end of the fiscal year is upon us, we ask God for strength and encouragement for Harley Dekker, our Director of Finance and Administration. There is much to do at this time of year, such as preparation for the year end financial audit, getting the books in order for the new budget year, and preparing for the start of the academic year in September.

• Please pray for the students and program instructors who will be participating in this year’s Art in Orvieto summer program in Orvieto, Italy from July 15 to August 4. Please pray that the organization of the many logistical details for this unique learning opportunity will go smoothly, and for safety for all those travelling.

• Pray for the students who have been accepted into programs for this fall, as well as for those who are still undecided. We ask God to bless them with wisdom as they discern this important step in their life, and pray that God will provide the necessary funding for study and life in Toronto.

The Spring 2018 Perspective is online

The Spring 2018 issue of Perspective is here! Those of you who receive printed copies by mail will receive them shortly (if you haven't already). Those who prefer to read online can go here.

This issue features the lead article "Perhaps the Lord will Act for Us" by ICS president Ron Kuipers, and four articles by Junior Members Kiegan Irish, Jeffrey Hocking, Julia de Boer and Grace Carhart

Thank you to all our faithful subscribers and supporters!

Social Domains of Knowledge

Senior Member Emeritus Lambert Zuidervaart has completed a new essay titled “Social Domains of Knowledge: Technology, Art, and Religion,” which Philosophia Reformata will publish in 2019 or 2020. Building on the work of Cal Seerveld, Henk Hart, and Doug Blomberg, the essay proposes a new reformational conception of knowledge that explains how we can achieve different sorts of insight in different social domains. Lambert claims that knowledge, in its deepest meaning, is not a thing to possess but a complex relationship to inhabit. This essay is a companion to his earlier essay “Distantial Ways of Knowing,” which Philosophia Reformata plans to publish in 2019.

The Wayfinding Program at ICS

ICS announces four new courses in the Wayfinding program!

Click here for information.

Prayer Letter: May 2018

Tuesday, May 1 - Friday, May 4

On May 3rd, in collaboration with the Centre for Community Based Research, the Centre for Philosophy, Religion and Social Ethics (CPRSE) will lead the first in a series of webinars to promote partnerships between faith-based groups and government organizations involved in immigrant settlement. This is an outcome of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) funded research collaboration “Faith and Settlement Partnerships: Setting Immigrants and Canada Up for Success”. Please pray that this webinar series may contribute to improving the settlement process of immigrants and refugees across Canada.

On May 4th, please remember to pray for Eric Mabry, one of Bob Sweetman’s PhD candidates from Regis College, who will be defending his PhD thesis entitled ”Inquantum est temporaliter Homo factum: Background, Reception, Meaning and Relevance of the Hypothesis of esse secundarium in the Christology of Thomas Aquinas”.

Please pray this week and next for the ICS annual phone-a-thon that is taking place. Pray for the Board members and Junior Members who have volunteered to make these important calls to our donors. May God bless each call with happy engagement and encouragement of one another.

Please pray this week and next for all the preparations needed to be made for the Senate and Board meetings. As well, please pray especially for Elizabet Aras, our Registrar, as she makes all the arrangements for the Convocation event on May 11th. As this is her first time performing this role for ICS, please pray for calmness and clarity of mind as she works through the many details.

Monday, May 7 - Friday, May 11

Please pray for Ron Kuipers’ PhD candidate, Joe Kirby on Monday, May 7th, as he is defending his thesis titled "Moral Ontology in an Age of Science: A Philosophical Case for the Mystery of Goodness". Pray also for fruitful discussions between Joe and the members of the examination committee.

On Thursday, May 10th, Senate convenes at 9:00 a.m, under the leadership of Chair (and ICS Chancellor) Dr. John Kok. Please pray for John and the external and internal senators as they consider the range of issues on the agenda concerning ICS academic programs.

Friday, May 11th, the Board of Trustees meet throughout the day starting at 9:00 am. Please pray for grace and wisdom for all our board members and our Chair, John Valk, as they deliberate together on the various matters before them in the care and furtherance of the mission and vision of ICS.
On Friday evening, the ICS community gathers for our annual Convocation. We give thanks to God for sustaining and guiding us in our mission, and for the achievements of our graduating Junior Members. We celebrate with gratitude the diligence and insights these graduands have demonstrated these past years, and pray for them in the callings to which they are called. We pray also for our President, Dr. Ronald Kuipers, as he presents his address, “Something We Don’t See: ICS and the Training of a Messianic Imagination”, as part of the Presidential Inauguration ceremony. We pray for God’s grace for all who will be participating in this special event.

Monday, May 14 - Friday, May 18

Peter Borgdorff was recently diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and is currently receiving radiation treatment in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The prognosis for healing is presently unknown, but Peter and Janet are trusting in the provision afforded by the care of the Lord. The many assurances received from family and friends have been of tremendous encouragement. Thank you all for your care, concern and support.

We want to take this opportunity to give thanks for our donors who have responded so faithfully to our phone-a-thon. We are grateful for God’s provision to us through them and are inspired by their commitment to our mission.

Please pray this month for our Junior Members as they wrap up their course papers, with some also working on their theses. It is an intensive period, with diligence and focus required. May God grant them clarity of mind and inspiration as they develop their insights.

Monday, May 21 - Friday, May 25

Please pray for Ron Kuipers and Pat Webb as they travel to Vancouver this week to meet with various members of the ICS community there. As well, please pray for Ron as he will be participating in the CRC Campus Ministers conference on Wednesday, the 23rd.

Between May 24th and 26th, CPRSE will be hosting eight outstanding undergraduate students from The King’s University, Concordia University, Cornerstone University, and Grenville University in the context of this year’s ICS Undergraduate Workshop, “Philosophy and/as Storytelling.” Please pray that participants and respondents may create a fruitful community of learning over the three days of this workshop.

Monday, May 28 - Thursday, May 31

CPRSE continues to build on the “Currents in Reformational Thought” series, featuring the contributions of our current and emeriti faculty to our tradition of scholarship. Please pray for those involved in editing, producing, and publishing this important series.

The last day of May means we have one month left to meet our donations target for this fiscal year. It is vitally important we achieve this goal as it obviously impacts our ability to balance our budget. Please pray that God will continue to provide for this real need through the help of our friends and supporters, as you consider your response to our phone-a-thon appeal.

CPRSE is expanding its network of support and impact through new and exciting partnerships. Please pray for CPRSE as it begins to collaborate with Citizens for Public Justice in the context of their Annual General Meeting on May 31st.

Undergraduate Workshop 2018: DEADLINE EXTENDED

We have extended the deadline for submissions for our undergraduate workshop, this year on storytelling! The new deadline is MONDAY, APRIL 23. Please send this call for papers around to students or educators you might know. The opportunity is an amazing chance for undergraduates to learn the ropes of graduate school with peers and junior and senior scholars in one of the most unique cities in the world. See additional information below.

Accommodations are guaranteed to all accepted participants. Some travel stipends will be available on request and assessed according to need/merit.

http://www.icscanada.edu/academics/undergraduate-workshop

A Problem-Posing Pedagogy

Senior Member Doug Blomberg's paper, "A Problem-Posing Pedagogy: Nurturing Wisdom in Higher Education", has been selected for publication in the e-book from the April IAPCHE Conference in New Zealand.

New Essay on Blomberg’s Work

Senior Member Emeritus Lambert Zuidervaart has completed a new essay on the work of Senior Member and former ICS President Doug Blomberg. Titled “Distantial Ways of Knowing: Doug Blomberg’s Proposal for a Reformational Epistemology,” the essay explores the conception of knowledge that Blomberg proposed in his 1978 doctoral dissertation on reformational philosophy and school curriculum. Lambert says Doug’s proposal contains untapped potential for a holistic and pluralist theory of knowledge. The essay will be published by Philosophia Reformata in 2019.

Prayer Letter: April 2018

“Easter is the most joyous time in the Christian calendar. It’s when all the stops are pulled out, all the choirs are gathered to sing. It is a time of celebration beyond hope, because with Easter, hope is made real. Christ’s resurrection heralds the final triumph of life over death, and we humans are left gobsmacked by something so incredible, so amazing (he was dead and now he’s not!) that it can sometimes take us a while to catch up and start to celebrate…. Joy is infectious, though, and when the wonder of Easter sinks in, its message changes the way we understand all of life.” (taken from Changing to Stay the Same, by B. Sweetman)


Monday April 2 - Friday April 6

• Please pray for Elizabet Aras, Registrar, Bob Sweetman, Academic Dean, and the Academic Council as they focus on finalising the agenda and supporting materials for the upcoming Senate meeting (May 10). Please pray that they will accomplish all that is needed in this busy time.

• Our Annual Convocation is fast approaching and we want to pray that the many preparations for this important event will go well and come together in time. We pray also for the faculty, students, and board members who will be participating in this important ceremony, and for Elizabet Aras, our Registrar, as this is her first time overseeing this event.

• Since 2016, our Centre for Philosophy Religion and Social Ethics (CPRSE) has been actively involved in the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) funded research collaboration “Faith and Settlement Partnerships: Setting Immigrants and Canada Up for Success”. This month, CPRSE and partner organizations will launch a community toolkit and webinar series to further faith and settlement partnerships across the country. Please pray for the success of these events and for the communities involved.

• This month, Joshua Harris will submit a clean copy of his ICS/VU PhD thesis "Neither Solitary Nor Diverse: Transcendental Multiplicity in Thomas Aquinas" to the VU to be evaluated by a VU/ICS Examination Committee. We trust God for a successful completion of this conjoint program.

• Over the coming weeks, Meg Giordano, one of PhD students, will be negotiating with her VU supervisor a stay in The Netherlands to work closely with her on a (semi) formal thesis concept titled "Crimes Against Inclination: A Thomistic Account of Evil as Human Violence".

Monday April 9 - Friday April 13

• This month, Bob Sweetman’s Trinity College PhD candidate, Maria Simakova, will be defending her formal Thesis Proposal "Parrhesia as Theological Method: Truthtelling in the Late Foucault and the Practice of Theology".

• Thursday, April 12th is the last day of classes for this academic year. We praise God for his sustaining grace throughout this past year. As is customary for ICS, we will express our gratitude to God for his help in our accomplishments by gathering for a celebratory brunch to enjoy some fun and fellowship with one another.

• Please pray for the International Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education (IAPCHE) Conference hosted by Bethlehem Tertiary Institute in Tauranga, New Zealand, April 11-13. May this be an encouraging and challenging gathering for all involved. Senior Member Doug Blomberg is presenting a paper entitled "A Problem-Posing Pedagogy: Nurturing Wisdom in Higher Education".

• We are beginning to receive applications for this year’s ICS Undergraduate Workshop, “Philosophy as/of Storytelling”. Please pray for the planning team as it assesses applications and matches interested undergraduate students with Senior and Junior Members for collaborative work throughout the workshop.

Monday April 16 - Friday April 20

• We give thanks for our Junior Members who are such an important part of our community. We pray for them as they wind up their course papers over the next few weeks and make plans for their summer work and studies in the coming year.

• The Finance Committee is hard at work on the coming year’s budget. Please pray for them in their deliberations, that these will be suffused with wisdom and grace from the Holy Spirit.

• The last in-person class this semester of the Vocational Wayfinding hybrid course taught by Gideon Strauss takes place on Wednesday, April 18th. These classes have been held on site at Toronto District Christian High school with nine teachers registered to take this course. We thank God that the logistical arrangements went smoothly and that the interaction and fellowship during the class was fruitful and uplifting.

• CPRSE is expanding its network of support and impact through new and exciting partnerships. Please pray for CPRSE as it begins to collaborate with Citizens for Public Justice in the context of their Annual General Meeting.

Monday April 23 - Friday April 27

• We give thanks that ICS PhD candidate Joseph Kirby has formally submitted his supervisor-approved doctoral dissertation, “Moral Ontology in the Age of Science: A Philosophical Case for the Mystery of Goodness”. Today is the deadline for one external evaluator and one internal evaluator to submit written reports commenting on the defense-readiness of the dissertation. We pray for a good outcome and that these reports will be helpful to Joe as he prepares for the oral defense, scheduled to take place on May 7.

• Please pray for Ron Kuipers and Pat Webb as they travel to Calgary this week to meet with our supporting community there. Pray for safe travels and engaging interactions in our individual visits and group events.

• We want to pray these next two weeks for all those who will be participating in our annual phone-a-thon. We ask particularly for God’s blessing on our student and board volunteers as they talk with our friends and supporters across Canada and the US, that it might be an enriching and encouraging time of fellowship for all.

Monday April 30:

• In less than two weeks, the Senate and Board meet again in Toronto. We give thanks for their service, and pray for safety as they travel from near and far. We ask God to grace their deliberations with wisdom and vision.

• CPRSE continues to build on the “Currents in Reformational Thought” series, featuring the contributions of our current and emeriti faculty to our tradition of scholarship. Please pray for those involved in editing, producing, and publishing this important series.

Art in Orvieto 2018 Information Meeting

This summer, the Institute for Christian Studies is offering a three-week course on Art, Religion, and Theology in Orvieto, Italy! If you are a practicing artist, or someone who is interested in the role of the image in Christian traditions, this is an opportunity not to be missed. If you would like to hear more about what this course offers, ICS will be hosting an Information Night on Thursday, March 15, from 7:00-8:30pm at the TST building. Please join us for a presentation and some light snacks!

For more information visit Art in Orvieto.
If you have any questions, please email Danielle Yett at dyett@icscanada.edu.