Prayer Letter: April 2019
Monday, April 1 - Friday, April 5:
The Finance Committee, along with the Leadership Team, are hard at work on the coming year’s budget. Please pray for them in their deliberations, that they might be granted insight and wisdom from the Holy Spirit as they make stewardship decisions for the 2019-2020 budget year.
CPRSE continues to explore new partnership possibilities with community organizations that share the spirit of inquiry and openness of ICS, by seeking funding opportunities, areas of common interest, and potential collaborative projects. Please pray that CPRSE is able to continue its history of partnerships through fruitful, innovative, and life-giving collaborations in 2019 and beyond.
Monday, April 8 - Friday, April 12:
Thursday, April 11th is the last day of classes for this academic year. This year, ICS is happy to report that we are resuscitating the tradition of holding a spring retreat! Give thanks along with us as we build community, and together reflect on the historic academic year now winding down at ICS.
Please pray for this important culminating event in the school year as we listen to one another’s experiences and praise God for his sustaining grace throughout this past year.
ICS/CPRSE’s third annual Undergraduate Workshop, “God and Politics: Religion and Public Life in the 21stCentury,” is quickly approaching. Our planning team is busy looking after the final logistical details. Please pray for the workshop’s planning team, and for all those involved in the event, as they prepare to receive undergraduate students from across North America.
Monday, April 15 - Friday, April 19:
Please pray for Ron Kuipers and Pat Webb this week as they travel to Kingston on Wednesday to meet with our supporting community there. Pray for safe travels and engaging interactions in our individual visits along the way and our group event on Wednesday evening.
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.
April 21 - Easter Sunday
But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid;I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead and is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
Monday, April 22 - Friday, April 26:
Please pray for Elizabet Aras, Registrar, Gideon Strauss, Academic Dean, and the Academic Council as they focus on finalising the agenda and supporting materials for the upcoming Senate meeting (May 16). Please pray that they will accomplish all that is needed to be done in this busy time.
Please pray this weekend for Ron Kuipers, and Brian Walsh, as they travel to California to give a PhD area exam to an ICS student, currently in prison there. Pray that all will go well logistically on Saturday and that Ron and Brian will have wisdom and discernment as they lead this academic examination. We give thanks for the opportunity to provide this educational experience for this student in difficult circumstances.
In three weeks time, the Senate and Board will 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.
Monday, April 29 - Tuesday, April 30:
On Monday, Bob Sweetman is participating as "Internal-External" Examiner in the formal defence of the University of Toronto's Centre for Medieval Studies candidate Ellen Annika Margareta Ekman. Her Ph.D. thesis titled “Anselm of Laon, the Glossa Ordinaria, and the Tangled Web of Twelfth-Century Psalms-Exegesis” is part of a significant effort of Ellen's director, Alexander Andre, to bring to light the ways in which the Bible became the principal text of formal theological study in the period of history (the twelfth and early thirteenth century) when the educational institution, the university, was born.
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.
On April 28-30, ICS/CPRSE will join a number of academic institutions and community organizations in the “Our Whole Society” conference, an initiative spearheaded by the Canadian Interfaith Conversation. This conference is a space for academics, practitioners, faith leaders, and community members, to discuss the role of faith in public life. Please pray for CPRSE staff, as they take up active roles in this important event.
