Dangerous Memories - Ron Kuipers

O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me! For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery… —Micah 6:3-4 (NRSV) The Book of Micah is set in the late-8th century BCE, a time of political turmoil, social injustice, and spiritual corruption in both the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah. Chapter 6 begins like a courtroom drama in which God, through the prophet, issues a challenge: Bring your case against me, as I will plead my case before you. Testify! What have I done to make you so weary of me? Have you forgotten that I freed you from slavery in Egypt? And yet now, your wealthy are themselves full of violence and deceit (6:12). Instead of walking humbly in my shalom way (6:8), your bloated leaders speak their oppressive desires into existence, and the corrupt clerks with their fingers on the scales rush to ensure their unjust wishes are fulfilled (7:3). Jahweh’s courtroom challenge evokes what theologian Johann Baptist Metz called “dangerous memory,” the memory of liberation from slavery. This is not the nostalgic memory of the victors who sanitize history, but the subversive memory of the victims, a memory that refuses to disappear into the holes of oblivion the oppressors create for it. Walter Benjamin described this memory as one that “flashes up at a moment of danger,” providing a reminder of who we are truly responsible to in a state of emergency. And who are we responsible to? Not the billionaires who buy politicians and toy with the conditions of life on our planet. Not the flag, the markets, or the Constitution. Not our tribe, our religion, or our nation. God points us instead toward the widow, the orphan, and the stranger. God points us to the millions of people discarded in what Canadian musician, activist, and former Member of Parliament Charlie Angus calls “Operation Break the Working Class,” as decades of neoliberal economic policies hollowed out livelihoods and dignity. God points us to the refugees displaced by wars waged for oil, land, and profit. To Palestinians broken and killed in a state-sponsored genocide. To Indigenous children, now grown, who were torn from their family, language, and culture, forced into abusive residential schools run by clergy who were supposed to recognize the face of Christ in every person. Remembering all “the least of these” is dangerous because it tears the mask off empire. It exposes the idolatry of our age: billionaires like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel promising salvation through technology while profiting from exploitation; governments paying lip service to freedom and democracy while serving corporate power; religious leaders blessing the machinery of domination and war instead of standing with the crucified of history. But this memory is also dangerous for another reason: it calls to mind the resilience and resistance of the oppressed, a capacity we all possess. It reminds us that such resistance is never futile, because history has known moments when genuine faith, hope, and love kicked open the door to liberation. This memory is dangerous to the power of the oppressor. Angus offers a testament to this faith, hope, and love in his recent book, Dangerous Memory: Coming of Age in the Decade of Greed. Drawing inspiration from Dorothy Day, Dom Hélder Câmara, Desmond Tutu, Óscar Romero, and Martin Luther King Jr., Angus speaks about the power of dangerous memory to inspire action for redemptive social change. Yet the book is also a lament. Angus, a Roman Catholic, does not look away from the church’s complicity in abuse and oppression, nor from the dearth of religious leaders today who dare to confront systemic injustice. Commenting on this sad situation, he writes: This, to me, is the greatest scandal and tragedy. Faith should be the source of dangerous memories providing comfort, healing, and resistance. It can offer hope when hope seems impossible to imagine. It reminds us of a sense of a greater duty to those who would otherwise feel defeated and demoralized. It tells us that the world can still produce miracles. (p. 215) Micah lamented this scandal as well: “The faithful have disappeared from the land, and there is no one left who is upright” (7:2). Or is there? Oppressive political regimes often justify their criminal actions by claiming that the existing society is completely rotten and irredeemable and must be overthrown or remade. Moments ago, I witnessed a video of a nighttime ICE raid in Chicago where agents rapelled from helicopters, and citizens were detained without warrant, and their children were bound with zip ties. Those in power can only do this if we allow them to claim the mendacious ideological cover they invoke to justify such terror. Micah responds to the absence of faith he witnessed differently. Rather than using it as ideological fuel to add to a political fire, he recalls the God of liberation, the God who does not abandon people, as we all too often do: “God does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in showing mercy. He will again have compassion upon us….” (7:18–19) Let us then, friends, image this God and become agents of divine compassion ourselves, doing the justice and loving the kindness that delights the God whose shalom way is the only path to true liberation. I know things seem overwhelming and out of control right now. Yet if we but look around each of us will find right in front of us something to do that we can do. Something small, maybe, but also something whose expanding ripples we cannot predict. Do that thing and find others who are willing to join you. Get organized. Never forget that you are always free to be faithful. Shalom, Ron Kuipers

Prayer Letter: October 2025

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.

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The Cape - Ron Kuipers

"So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” —Mark 11:24  At the ICS office, I’ve earned a reputation as something of a pragmatic realist. In meetings, one of my stock (however archaic) phrases is, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” It’s my way of reminding us not to count as ours what is still only an unrealized possibility. While this realism has its place, by itself it risks keeping us from reaching beyond what seems immediately possible. To move toward what is not yet realized—to dare something extraordinary—we need more than realism. We need hope and faith. We need the courage to believe that the ideals we long for, however distant, can truly come to life. Aware of this need, I try to keep my realism from collapsing into pessimism, and instead to encourage our team to imagine what can be done, rather than dwell on what can’t. Of course, my colleagues will tell you I don’t always succeed. When I spend too long listing the obstacles before us, someone will inevitably nudge me toward a more hopeful view, reminding me that what we’re striving for may be closer and more achievable than I, with my habitually sober approach, can see. Perhaps this difficulty explains why I’m especially drawn to Scripture passages that challenge our sense of what is possible. The verse from Mark above strikes me as one such passage. I’ve always struggled with it, especially the part about believing you have already received what you have asked for. Is Jesus telling his disciples to pretend they have received something they clearly don’t yet have? Or is more going on? In the teeth of this question, I remember the advice of my late mentor, Henk Hart: wherever the New Testament says “believe,” try reading “trust.” That shift changes everything. Instead of convincing myself I already possess something I don’t, the passage now asks me to lean forward in trustful expectation, confident that such a posture can have a real, material effect on the world around me: Whatever you ask for in prayer, whatever you hopefully expect, trust that it can come to be, and it will. The philosopher William James put it this way in his essay Is Life Worth Living?: Suppose, for instance, that you are climbing a mountain, and have worked yourself into a position from which the only escape is by a terrible leap. Have faith that you can successfully make it, and your feet are nerved to its accomplishment. But mistrust yourself… and you will hesitate so long that, at last, all unstrung and trembling, and launching yourself in a moment of despair, you roll in the abyss. (59) For James, faith is more than wishful thinking. It connects us to an enabling grace, the Spirit waiting to fill our wings if we let it. As he says, “You make one or the other of two possible universes true by your trust or mistrust.” This way of considering faith came to mind recently when Guy Clark’s song The Cape came through my headphones. It tells of someone who knows “life is just a leap of faith.” As a child, wearing only a flour sack cape, he jumps off the garage roof believing he can fly. He carries that childlike faith into adulthood, and even when he’s old and gray he’s still jumping off the garage. While people may chastise him for “acting like a kid,” one simple truth remains: “he did not know he could not fly, so he did.” How far is the distance, I wonder, between “He did not know he could not” and “He knew he could”? There is a slight yet important difference, for the former speaks of faith and even a certain naivety, whereas the latter invokes a certainty we only enjoy after the fact. But perhaps the more important contrast is between “He did not know he could not” and “He knew he could not.” For the former stance keeps the space of possibility open, whereas the latter forecloses on it pessimistically and fatalistically. Jesus spoke these words about prayer right after his disciples saw the withered fig tree and marvelled. The whole scene takes place in the shadow of Jerusalem under Roman occupation, with Jesus overturning tables and confronting corruption, fully aware of the world’s darkness yet unwilling to concede that it is beyond redemption. Today, too, we hear many voices—from Gaza to Ukraine to right here in North America—telling us that “resistance is futile.” If we trust that refrain, it will be. But let’s not presume to know that it is impossible to fight against the world’s injustice and corruption, and for its healing and restoration. If we do not know we cannot, then perhaps we will. Shalom, friends! Ron Kuipers Read and interact with this reflection on Substack.

Prayer Letter: September 2025

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: 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 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 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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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. Willowdale CRC (70 Hilda Ave, North York) • Doors: 11:00am • Service: 11:30am Livestream (goes live ~11:15am): https://youtube.com/user/ChristianStudies/live 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.

Dr. Joshua Harris elected as Senate Chair and ICS Chancellor

Joshua Harris is Associate Professor of Philosophy at The King’s University in Edmonton, Alberta, and has served on the ICS Senate since 2023. Joshua’s research concerns questions in metaphysics, the philosophy of science, and the philosophy of religion. Currently he is working on a project on alternatives to ‘naturalism’ as guiding principles for scientific explanation. Dr. Harris is a native Californian and a grateful alumnus of several post-secondary Christian institutions, including California Baptist University (BA), Trinity Western University (MA), and ICS (the combined ICS/VU Amsterdam PhD).

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.

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.

Dan Jesse in South Carolina

Dan Jesse (MA, 2008) will be presenting a paper entitled "An Invitation to Sorrow -- Saturating our Liturgy With Sadness" at the 2017 Meeting of the Society for Continental Philosophy and Theology at Furman University (March 23-24).

Prayer Letter: March 2017

Wednesday, March 1:   On Monday morning, former Senior Member Shannon Hoff (Memorial University) and Professor John Russon (University of Guelph), began teaching a course for ICS. Please pray for their leadership and for stimulating interaction among all involved. We are thankful indeed for their generosity in offering their time and expertise. You can find details of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit on our website. http://courses.icscanada.edu/2017/01/hegels-phenomenology-of-spirit.html.

Thursday, March 2:  On Tuesday, we sadly bade farewell to Isabella Guthrie-McNaughton. We praise God for leading her to serve ICS so faithfully and expertly over the past twelve years, and ask for blessings on her as she takes up a new position at Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto. [See News ]

Friday, March 3:  You will soon receive our annual membership renewal mailing. Let us give thanks for one another, members of the body of Christ at work in support of Christian graduate education. Please pray also for those confirmed as nominees to fill vacancies on the Board, as you vote in your various regions, and for “at large” trustees also.

Monday, March 6:   Dianne Bergsma wishes blessings to all and thanks everyone for the responses to the February Prayer Letter received for her husband Jerry. Your prayers were very much appreciated by Dianne, Jerry and their family. She asks for continued prayers for Jerry as he continues in palliative care due to spreading cancer of the spine at the Hotel Dieu Shaver hospital where they now try to balance the medication to manage the pain while trying to keep him awake and somewhat alert.

Tuesday, Match 7:  We give thanks for the successful MA thesis defences in recent weeks by Héctor Acero-Ferrer and TJ Skulstad-Brown. We pray they will find many ways in which to bring their insights to bear in their varied callings, in service of our Lord Jesus Christ and their neighbours, whoever and wherever they may be.

Wednesday, March 8:  This afternoon is the meeting of the Educational Policy Committee, one of our most active teams. Please pray for insight and discernment as they deliberate on curricular matters that are at the core of our mission.

Thursday, March 9:  Tomorrow morning at ICS the Board of Trustees will convene a special meeting with faculty, staff and Junior Members to discuss plans for the future, particularly with respect to a potential merger with The King’s University, Edmonton. The Board will reconvene in the afternoon and again on Saturday morning to continue its deliberations around this matter. We ask the Holy Spirit to hover over these conversations, gifting all involved with the wisdom promised if only we have the humility to entreat God for this.

Friday, March 10:  This evening we will celebrate the retirement of Lambert Zuidervaart after many years of faithful service to ICS, including a long period before he was appointed Senior Member in Philosophy in 2003. Please pray for a wonderful time of conversation and reflection, and of thankfulness to our Lord and to Lambert for his inestimable contribution. May he be blessed as he continues to follow Christ on the path which has been his lifelong vocation.

Monday, March 13:  The Finance Committee is busy preparing the 2017-18 budget proposal for consideration by the Board at its meeting on May 12. The goal is to achieve a balanced budget, obviously a crucial step in doing all we can to ensure ICS’s sustainability, knowing that throughout we depend utterly on the grace of God to uphold us in the task with which we are entrusted. We beseech our Father in Heaven to aid us in our calling to strive that His will be done on earth and praise Him in His power and glory.

Tuesday, March 14:  Bob Sweetman will be making a number of conference presentations over the next few months. Details of these will be announced in our News column as they come closer. Please pray in the meantime for the strenuous hours, days and weeks he will be putting in to bring his papers to their final form.

Wednesday, March 15:  Academic Council convenes this afternoon for its monthly meeting to consider proposals from its various sub-committees and the offices of the Academic Dean and President. May the hand of God guide each one, and the committee communally, to do what is pleasing to Him and to the honour of His name.

Thursday, March 16:  The anticipated sale of our shares in 229 College Street has been delayed by the requirement for an Environmental Assessment, a matter of course for buildings of its age, of which there are many in our vicinity. Please continue to uphold ICS before the throne of God, that there will be a positive and expeditious outcome

Friday, March 17:  As we prepare for the meeting of the Senate meeting on May 11, we pray for those diligently at work on the materials necessary for this event, noting especially Registrar Jeff Hocking and Academic Dean Bob Sweetman. We pray also for the Senate itself, as it oversees the academic program of ICS, and for Dr. John Kok in particular as he provides leadership as Senate Chair and Chancellor.

Monday, March 20:  The Leadership Team meets again this morning to update one another, review the various facets of the Institute’s operations and advise the President. Please pray for insight and discernment in their consultation.

Tuesday, March 21:  Junior Members will once again delight us with an issue of Perspective they are putting together. Please pray for them as they write, collaborate and edit. It’s sure to be a joy to read!

Wednesday, March 22:  Please bring our administrative staff before the Lord for His encouragement and blessing: Jeff Hocking, Kathy Lynch, Vidya Williams, Harley Dekker and Pat Webb.

Thursday, March 23:  We pray for ICS’s discussions with The King’s University, that there may be a strengthening of a distinctively Christian witness in higher education in Canada that redounds to the glory of God.

Please pray for Dan Jesse as he presents his paper at Furman University (see News).

Friday, March 24:  It’s less than two weeks until the ICS Art Talks! event on April 3 and 4. This conference on film and spirituality, in collaboration with the Toronto International Film Festival, is overseen by Rebekah Smick and Ron Kuipers, working also with a number of other partners. Please pray for the final planning and successful conduct of this significant public outreach.

Monday, March 27:  Our faculty are at the heart of our mission, to help the next generation shape their thoughts and lives in service of the Kingdom of God, whose thumbprint is as broad as creation itself. Please pray for them: Nik Ansell, Ron Kuipers, Rebekah Smick, Gideon Strauss and Bob Sweetman, bringing their names before the one whose name is above all names.

Tuesday, March 28:  The task of graduate students -- also at the heart of our mission -- is demanding in many ways, the rigours of research itself, of course, but also the stresses and strains of being far from home in most cases and the financial burdens they carry. We invite you today to pray for our Junior Members and their families, some with young children, as they seek to honour the call of Jesus to serve Him in the field of Christian scholarship.

Wednesday, March 29:  Let us give thanks to Jesus for one another, ICS supporters in prayer and financially, for the wonderful response to our Advent Appeal. May God bless and keep you, in the various ways you serve in our Lord’s vineyard. Pray with us for bountiful fruit on the vine in the second half of this financial year.

Thursday, March 30:  The Undergraduate Workshop at Scarboro Missions is just over six weeks away (May 16-19). We are grateful for the Missions’ generous provision of this facility and travel support and pray for all those who have taken up this wonderful opportunity. Some of our “senior” Junior Members (who organised this event) and some Senior Members also will participate in this mentoring experience; we give thanks for those who took the lead in this initiative, especially PhD candidate Josh Harris. We continue to pray for further enrolments.

Friday, March 31:  The biennial “Our Whole Society” conference, under the auspices of the Canadian Interfaith Conversation, this year has the theme of “Religion and Citizenship at Canada’s 150th” (Ottawa May 8-9). CPRSE, represented by Director Ron Kuipers, is a “Conversation Partner” in this event. Please pray for this gathering, and for Ron in particular as he engages in its planning and execution.