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Monday, September 1 - Friday, September 5:
Fall Retreat
This past week students from around North America joined us for our ICS Fall Retreat (Sept. 5–7) at Crieff Hills Retreat Centre. At the start of every academic year, Senior Members, Junior Members, and staff set aside time to pray, worship, share stories, and set the tone for the months ahead. Please pray a prayer of thanksgiving for joyous laughter and new bonds.
Monday, September 8 – Friday, September 12:
As classes begin, pray for our instructors as they lead, and for students—new and returning—as they find their rhythm, courage, and curiosity.
Free to be Faithful courses:
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Gender, Sexuality, and the Bible (begins Sept. 9, Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat) — Engages how Scripture has been used in church and culture in conversations about gender and sexuality, with special attention to the CRCNA Human Sexuality Report. Pray for wise hermeneutics, generous hospitality, and fruitful dialogue. To register: https://f2bf.icscanada.edu/#page-m
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Twentieth Century Authoritarianism (begins Sept. 11, Dr. Bruce Berglund) — Through case studies from modern European and Russian history, students consider how ordinary people—including Christians—responded to authoritarian rule, weighing complicity and resistance. Pray for moral clarity and courage. To register: https://f2bf.icscanada.edu/#page-m
MA/PhD courses:
Pray that conversations spark new ideas and that anxieties are eased as new students begin their ICS journey. Course list: https://links.icscanada.edu/ma-phd-courses
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Biblical Foundations: Narrative, Wisdom, and the Art of Interpretation (Dr. Nik Ansell) — Reads Scripture as the living story of God and creation, exploring hermeneutical approaches that link biblical wisdom to today’s perplexing questions.
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Beauty: Theology, Ethics, or Aesthetics? (Dr. Rebekah Smick) — Surveys classic and modern accounts of beauty (e.g., Plato, Augustine, Aquinas, Kant, Weil, Barth, Balthasar) and their implications for the arts and worship.
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Religion, Life, and Society: Reformational Philosophy (Dr. Neal DeRoo) — Introduces key reformational insights on faith, culture, and public life, probing how Scripture-informed philosophy can shape contemporary social imagination.
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The Divine (at) Risk: Open Theism, Classical Theism, and Beyond (Dr. Nik Ansell) — Explores divine sovereignty, freedom, love, and the problem of evil through debates around Open Theism and its critics.
MA-EL courses:
Pray that educators juggling classrooms, families, and study will experience stamina and joy as they begin. Course list: https://links.icscanada.edu/ma-el-courses
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Cultivating Learning Communities of Belonging (Dr. Edith van der Boom) — Considers school and classroom cultures with attention to social and cultural contexts, racial justice, Indigenous perspectives, human sexuality, and restorative practices—asking how leaders can nurture belonging and link learning to community change.
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The Craft of Reflective Practice (Dr. Gideon Strauss) — Explores story-shaped, critically reflective practice: zooming in on an ordinary workday and out to career, community, and God’s world; developing qualitative research skills, an introduction to phenomenology, and a praxis for theory-informed, morally oriented professional life.
Saturday, Sept 13: Cal Seerveld’s Celebration of Life
Join us in giving thanks for the life and witness of Calvin Seerveld, beloved teacher, colleague, and friend. Pray comfort for the Seerveld family and for the extended ICS community.
Monday, September 15 – Friday, September 19:
First Academic Council (Sept. 15)
Pray for wisdom and clarity as Academic Council tends to courses, policies, and the shape of our common life in learning. Ask for imagination and patience as we steward ICS’s mission across programs and time zones.
Continue in prayer for all our fall courses—especially for new students as they settle into routines, manage workloads, and begin to find their research voices. Pray for our Registrar and Academic Office as they keep many moving pieces running smoothly.
Fall Big Read — Free to be Faithful (Sept. 17, 8:00pm ET)
Pray that participants in our Fall Big Read with Kristin Du Mez and Hanna Reichel will find spiritual grounding, hopeful imagination, and courage for faithful action.
In this year's Fall Big Read, featuring Reichel drawing from their new book, For Such a Time as This: An Emergency Devotional. In a moment of polarization, eroding democratic norms, and rising authoritarianism, Reichel offers a framework for Christian discernment rooted in Scripture, historical wisdom (including the Confessing Church’s witness), and core commitments of faith—guiding believers toward integrity in turbulent times. (Details & RSVP on our Free to be Faithful page: https://f2bf.icscanada.edu/#fall-big-read)
Monday, September 22 – Friday, September 26:
As seminars deepen and assignments loom, pray for focus and good health for students and instructors alike. Ask that discussions remain generous, that reading and writing be marked by clarity and wonder, and that Zoom rooms feel like hospitable spaces of genuine community.
Please also remember our Advancement and Finance teams as they support the day-to-day life of ICS behind the scenes. Give thanks for the faithfulness of our supporters, and pray for provision as we look toward the rest of the academic year.
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