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.
