Monday, October 6 – Friday, October 10
As we approach Thanksgiving in Canada (Monday, October 13), we invite you to pause with us in gratitude for God’s steady care of our community. Please pray that the Lord would cultivate in us thankful hearts, and remember especially students and others who may feel lonely at this time. May they experience companionship, welcome, and peace.
Monday, October 13 – Friday, October 17
We ask your prayers for Reenchanting the World: Philosophy, Spirituality, Ecology, Arts (Oct 16–18) at Toronto Metropolitan University, co-hosted by TMU and ICS. Local organizers include John Caruana (TMU) and our own Neal DeRoo, with an organizing committee that also features Héctor Acero Ferrer and Ron Kuipers. Featured voices include Richard Kearney, Mark I. Wallace, Michelangelo Frammartino, and Patricia June Vickers. Please pray for fruitful conversations, for hospitable collaboration among organizers, and for all who travel to attend. If you'd like to attend, please register here.
Monday, October 20 – Sunday, October 26
As classes press on and mid-semester work intensifies, please pray for stamina and clarity of mind for our students and instructors. Pray, too, for ICS staff who are preparing a cluster of late-October learning opportunities—may their planning be marked by creativity, kindness, and attention to detail.
Monday, October 27 – Sunday, November 2
This week, the MA-PhD program has its Fall Reading Week. Please pray for respite and restoration for students and faculty alike, that they would find rest, renewed energy, and quiet space to reflect. Pray also for inspiration and focus as students begin to work on their papers.
On Monday, Oct 27, Matt Bonzo is teaching a new Free to be Faithful course entitled Liquid Promises: The Spiritual and Cultural Crisis of Rural America. Please pray that this exploration of Appalachia’s story will help participants listen well to rural communities, discern the “liquid promises” of modernity, and imagine faithful forms of neighbor-love. Find more information and register here.
On Wednesday, Oct 29, Karen Swallow Prior is teaching a new Free to be Faithful course entitled The Good, The True, The Beautiful: Reading Literature to Restore the Soul. Pray that participants would discover fresh courage, empathy, and spiritual resilience through attentive reading—and that beauty would do its quiet work in all of us. Find more information and register here.
On Oct 30–31, Ontario Christian educators gather at Redeemer University for the Edvance Annual Gathering. Please pray for Edith van der Boom as she facilitates her interactive workshop, “Cultivating an Inclusion Mindset,” inviting educators to practice hospitality, reciprocity, and belonging in their classrooms. Pray for all presenters and attendees to leave encouraged and equipped for joyful, just, and inclusive learning communities.
