An ICS Update from Ron Kuipers

Dear Friends,

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has suddenly, and perhaps, permanently altered our everyday reality. For example, I am writing this letter as I work from my home, and am not sure when I will be able to return to the office. Like many other organizations, the ICS campus has effectively closed for the time being, so that we can follow instructions from public health officials to practice social distancing.

As you no doubt experienced, this situation has been evolving rapidly, and in the middle of a busy semester we at ICS have had to react suddenly and rapidly to this emerging health crisis by adopting measures like suspending in-person seminars and replacing them with remote-access delivery modes like video teleconferencing. Our faculty and staff are also figuring out how best to continue to work together during this time of social isolation.

While it hasn’t been easy, I am very proud of the resilience and flexibility the ICS community has demonstrated during this difficult time. Classes have continued with minimal disruption, and administrative staff have remained diligent in the performance of their assigned duties. While we miss each other’s company and the camaraderie we enjoy working in the same space together, we remain in good spirits as we continue to pursue the mission in Christian higher education that our Lord has entrusted to us.

In the days ahead, ICS leadership will be tasked with making many difficult decisions, and so we ask that you, the support community that undergirds ICS, pray for us. Pray that God’s wisdom will bless our deliberations, and that we may rise to the challenge of this moment with a spirit of innovation and creativity that enables us to recognize new possibilities for advancing God’s Kingdom that is ever in our midst.

Over these past weeks we have seen the impact that both the stress of uncertainty and the loss of social connections can have on us, and on the people we love, but we’ve also seen the power of community. Our staying physically apart for this moment in time is simultaneously an incredible act of social solidarity and an expression of love for the vulnerable. This fact alone gives me hope that together we will continue to bear each other’s burdens in the challenging days ahead.

As a supporter of ICS, I finally want to thank you for the continued trust you place in us, and it is my prayer that we continue to earn your trust through the difficult period we are only now just entering. So much remains unknown, and this creates anxiety. The only balm for this anxiety is trust. Through the trust we place in our Maker that even now he is leading us on the way we should go, and the trust we place in each other as we together strive to discern that direction, we gain the confidence to proceed step by step to build a strong bridge to a new reality.
I wish you all blessing, health, and peace. Be well, my friends!

Important Notice: During the next few months, our communications via regular mail will be severely limited due to the social-distancing policies in place across Canada. Given this reality, we ask that you help us get this communication, and others to follow, into the hands of those ICS supporters in your immediate community who rely on regular mail to get information from us. As you are able and comfortable, please share ICS email communications with them, and encourage them to send us along any email addresses at which we can contact them.

To our faithful donors: If you have recently mailed in a donation and have not received a response from us, please don’t worry! We are temporarily unable to access incoming mail due to the lockdown at the university buildings but are working to resolve this situation as soon as possible–all the while protecting the health and safety of our staff. We deeply apologize for this inconvenience and ask for your continued prayers as we devise a contingency plan for mail-in donations.

In the meantime, if you would like to make a donation, the best way to do this is to go to our “Donate” page on the ICS website and make a donation online through CanadaHelps. If you’re in the U.S., you can similarly make an online donation through the Friends of ICS website.

Thank you so much for your continued support!

Prayer Letter: April 2020

Wednesday, April 1 - Friday, April 3:

Once a month, the administrative staff of ICS gather together in one room to update one another and to provide support where needed on the various projects that everyone is involved in. This Wednesday is our April meeting day, and instead of meeting in one room, ICS will have its first virtual meeting via Zoom. Pray that as we gather together online we will experience the same support and camaraderie with one another that we have when we are together in person.

Just like last year, ICS will be holding this month its spring retreat for staff, faculty, and students -- but with a big twist! Gideon Strauss and Elizabet Aras have been hard (and creatively!) at work making a virtual spring retreat a reality. We’re grateful for their efforts and ask for prayers for their continued strength and inspiration in their work. We pray that this important culminating event in the school year will be uplifting and hope-filled as we build community and reflect on the various lessons, insights, and blessings in the past academic year.

During these trying times, we request your prayers for our Junior Members June, Abbi, and Theoren as they journey back home for the summer months. We pray in a special way for their health and safety in the journey, and for a joyous reunion with their families and loved ones.

Monday, April 6 - Friday, April 10:

We are requesting prayer at this time for one of our Junior Members, Julia de Boer, who is 35 weeks pregnant with her first child, immunocompromised via pregnancy, and has a history of respiratory illnesses. Thankfully, her husband, Sankalp, can work from home, and they remain fully sealed off from the world, likely for 4-6 weeks until baby arrives and some time afterwards. However, this state of emergency because of COVID-19 has created huge uncertainties and anxiety for them, especially as they contemplate the prospect of delivering in hospital in the midst of a pandemic, with little access to family or friends. Please pray that their isolation will be effective in keeping Julia healthy, that their little son will arrive just when he ought to, and that she will be able to deliver safely and without fear in hospital

This is Holy Week -- the most joyous time in the Christian calendar. It is a time of celebration beyond hope, because with Easter, hope is made real. Christ’s resurrection heralds the final triumph of life over death. Let’s pray together that despite the limitations of gathering together to celebrate, the Easter message of new life and hope will bring joy and wonder to our hearts.

Monday, April 13 - Friday, April 17:

As this semester’s classes wind down, please pray for our faculty as they continue to provide the teaching and mentoring to our Junior Members in these dramatically different conditions. We pray that the remote teaching will face as little disruption as possible, and that mentoring relationships can still lead to the flourishing of ideas and furthering of projects for our Junior Members.

We ask for prayer for the staff and faculty as we wrestle with the many decisions that need to be made regarding the scheduling of events that normally take place April through June, and into the fall semester. There are so many unknowns in the current environment that planning becomes an ever-changing activity, so we pray for insight to know how to make these decisions wisely.

Monday, April 20 - Friday, April 24:

Professor Emeritus, Hendrik Hart, has been receiving chemotherapy for his cancer during these past few months. The COVID-19 outbreak has required a review of Henk’s available options to either continue treatment or put it on pause. Both options have significant risks, but he has chosen to pause treatment for now, and will be carefully and frequently monitored by those who care for him at this time. Please pray for continued wisdom for the medical staff and for protection and peace of mind for Henk as he navigates these uncertain times.

The Finance Committee, along with the Leadership Team, are hard at work this month on the coming year’s budget. Please pray for them in their deliberations, that they might be granted insight, wisdom, and hope as they make stewardship decisions for the 2020-2021 budget year in the midst of a financial environment that is largely unpredictable, volatile, and constantly changing.

It is with sadness that we announce that ICS is cancelling Convocation 2020 as a result of COVID-19’s limitation on social gatherings. We will greatly miss the opportunity to gather with our community to honour our students and to celebrate with one another at this important annual event. We pray that over these next months that we will find grace and peace in the knowledge that God is ever present with us.

Monday, April 27 - Thursday, April 30:

We ask for prayer for our administrative staff as they continue to navigate the complexities of doing their work remotely. They need wisdom to determine the best ways to keep the information flowing to prevent the feeling of isolation and being siloed in the projects they are working on. As well, please pray for God’s hand of protection on each one that they will continue to be healthy and experience his peace and comfort during this unsettling time

We give thanks for our Junior Members who are such an important part of our community and have been a real blessing during this difficult time. We pray for them as they wind up their course papers over the next few weeks and try to make plans for their summer work and studies in the coming year. We pray for them that they might experience peace and comfort, and that they might continue to find many inspiring, exciting, and varied opportunities to explore their respective work and research interests.

Honourary Doctorate to be Awarded to Dr. Barbara Carvill

Editor's note: Because of travel restrictions and health concerns surrounding COVID-19 at the time of this post in 2020, ICS postponed the conferral of this degree from its originally intended date. We now plan to grant this award to Barbara at our upcoming Convocation ceremony on June 3, 2022. We look forward to this long-awaited opportunity for Barbara to deliver a keynote address and for our community to celebrate her achievements along with those of our graduands. The last paragraph of this post has been updated to reflect this change. 

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The Institute for Christian Studies is pleased to announce that it will be awarding an honourary doctoral degree (D. Litt., honoris causa) to Dr. Barbara Carvill. Barbara's prolific and influential body of academic work, as well as her enduring commitment to ICS and its scholarly mission speak to the transformative impact of her love for learning, and make her an eminently worthy recipient of this award.

Barbara has been connected to ICS since the early 1970s, when she and her husband Robert first moved to Toronto. Since that time, she has taken on many official roles, serving twenty years as an ICS Senator, during which time she also served as Chancellor of ICS. She currently serves as President of the Friends of ICS, ICS’s US charitable foundation. She has also funded ICS's Carvill Student Award and the Robert Carvill Book Award in her late husband's memory, and has contributed to two ICS Master's thesis examinations as an external examiner.

Barbara's life and career beyond the walls of ICS also bear witness to a thoroughgoing devotion to the well-being of learners. She has taught German at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, MI since 1978, where she continues to teach as Professor Emerita. Calvin University has recognized Barbara's gifts as an inspirational teacher, giving her the Exemplary Teacher Award in 2003 and the Faith and Learning Award in 2011. With her colleague Wallace Bratt, she has also inspired alumni to fund the Students of Wallace Bratt and Barbara Carvill Scholarship for German majors and minors at Calvin—thus demonstrating the continued vitality of her legacy as an advocate for Christian education.

Throughout her career, Barbara has published numerous articles, reviews, and other publications on various topics in German literature of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. From this specialization and from her own nascent love of languages, her scholarship has played a significant role in fostering a Reformationally "integral" Christian perspective on foreign language learning. This integral perspective is most apparent in the book she co-authored with David Smith, The Gift of the Stranger: Faith, Hospitality and Foreign Language Learning (Eerdman's, 2000), and again as a co-author of Teaching and Christian Imagination (Eerdman's, 2016).

In addition to her teaching and writing, Barbara has a gift for organizing others around an integral vision for language learning. She is a key figure behind the formation of the North American Christian Foreign Languages Association and is a founding member of the North American Christian Foreign Language Teachers' Association (currently called the Christian Association of World Languages), where she served as President in the 1990s.

Taken together, the legacy of Barbara's thought and teaching presents a concerted call to see learning as, fundamentally, an act of welcome—a call she continues to make to this day. In short, Barbara's career has consistently modeled not only heroic support for ICS but also an effective way to carry the central intuitions of the Reformational tradition into the specific area of language learning.

ICS is both grateful and indeed honoured to be able to confer this degree upon Barbara at our Convocation ceremony on June 3rd, Lord willing. We look forward to the opportunity for Barbara to deliver the keynote address as well as the opportunity to celebrate her life’s work and the lasting impact she has had on all levels of Christian education.

In Memoriam: Rev. Canon Scott McNaughton

It is with great sorrow that we share the news that the Reverend Canon Scott McNaughton passed away on February 17, 2020 after a battle against cancer.

Scott and his wife, Isabella Guthrie-McNaughton, graciously gave of their time, resources, and skills in service and support of ICS over many years. Scott was a steadfast and active member of the ICS community as, among other things, a dedicated reader of materials published by ICS and an avid fund-raiser on behalf of the school. He was also a reliable fixture at numerous ICS convocations, providing his vibrant piano-playing skills for the added enjoyment of students and attendees celebrating completed academic programs. This remains a fond memory for many ICS graduates, faculty, and staff to this day.

During Isabella's 13 years as ICS's Director of Library and Information Services, the available space for the ICS library was considerably downsized. She and Scott, in the face of that challenge, made possible the move of a large portion of the ICS library from our location in downtown Toronto to a storage location in Hamilton in the summer of 2009. It was Scott and his parish of St. Stephen-on-the-Mount Anglican Church that initially agreed to house the collection in the parish itself -- where it continues to be housed thanks to Scott and Isabella's indispensable efforts.

It was obvious to anyone who knew Scott that he had a servant's heart. This is evident both in and beyond his generous involvement in the work of ICS. Scott was a dearly beloved priest in the Anglican church for many decades, serving at a number of parishes across the diocese of Niagara during his 36 years in ministry: St. George’s in Guelph, St. Stephen’s in Niagara Falls, St. Paul’s in Jarvis, Christ Church in Nanticoke, and -- for the past 24 years -- at St. Stephen-on-the-Mount in Hamilton.

Details for services in celebration of Scott's life and ministry can be found here. Visitations will be held on Friday, February 21 from 2:00-4:00pm and 7:00-9:00pm at St. Stephen-on-the-Mount (625 Concession St., Hamilton). A memorial service for Scott will take place on Saturday, February 22 at 10:30am at Christ's Church Cathedral (252 James St. N., Hamilton).

The family welcomes your attendance to either of these services. They are also accepting donations in memory of Scott and his ministry: either to St. Stephen-on-the-Mount Anglican Church or to the Synod of the Diocese of Niagara - Children’s, Youth, and Family Ministry Fund.

We at ICS are grateful to have had Scott and his gracious spirit as a part of our own institutional life and to have borne witness to his life and broader work, though we are equally sad to have lost him so soon. In remembrance of the gift of his life, therefore, we both offer and ask for prayers of comfort for Scott’s beloved wife Isabella and son Sambath, as well as for his friends, colleagues, and parishioners past and present as they reckon with being parted from him in this life.

Rest in peace.

Prayer Letter: March 2020

Monday, March 2 - Friday, March 6:

Please pray today, Monday, March 2, for the Board of Trustees as they meet this evening. We ask for guidance as they discuss the various matters before them, and wisdom in their decision-making. As this is the time of year when they begin to look forward to the next fiscal year and its budget, we ask God to give them clarity and understanding of the operational needs of ICS as it continues to work out its mission.

Recruitment is underway for the Fourth Annual ICS Undergraduate Workshop, titled “Evil, Resistance, and Judgment: Creating a World Fit for Human Habitation.” We will host this year’s workshop at the University of Toronto’s Multi-faith Centre from May 28-30th. Please pray for the workshop’s planning team as they continue to promote the event among prospective participants so that deserving students will find their way to this workshop prior to the proposal deadline of March 16th.

Monday, March 9 - Friday, March 13:

Please pray for our Perspective production team as they work hard to finish compiling the content for the spring issue. Pray particularly for Danielle Yett and Héctor Acero Ferrer as they give leadership to the process, ensuring that all runs according to the timeline. We ask God to give the authors creative minds as they write and encouragement as they participate in this project together.

Please pray this month for ICS’s Art in Orvieto 2020 -- a three-week Residence Seminar and Workshop for writers, artists and graduate students interested in exploring the relationship between art, religion and theology, taking place in Orvieto, Italy from July 16 to August 6th. This year there will be both an artists’ and a writers’ workshop. The deadline for applications is March 31st so please pray that the required number of participants will sign up before that time.


Monday, March 16 - Friday, March 20:

Preparations for the meeting of the Senate on May 14th begin this month. We pray for those diligently at work on the materials necessary for this event, especially our Registrar, Elizabet Aras and our Academic Dean, Gideon Strauss. We pray also for the Senate itself, as it oversees the academic program of ICS, and for Dr. Aron Reppmann in particular as he provides leadership as Senate Chair and Chancellor.

The Finance Committee will begin the preparations this month for developing the 2020-2021 budget proposal for consideration by the Board at its May meeting. Please pray for each member of the committee, our Director of Finance, Harley Dekker and the rest of the Leadership Team as they plan and forecast for the next year.

Monday, March 23 - Friday, March 27:

We ask for prayers for those involved in this semester's Interdisciplinary Seminar: “Naming the Divine Within and Without.” This is an integral part of the academic work shared by the ICS community. We are thankful for the opportunity for Senior and Junior Members to work together in considering this topic, and we ask for prayer for Senior Members Nik Ansell and Bob Sweetman as they lead this seminar.

Please join us in giving thanks to Senior Members Bob Sweetman and Gideon Strauss for their generous contribution to our upcoming Critical Faith series on Reformational philosophy. Through this podcast series, the CPRSE aims to effectively share the basic pillars of the ICS philosophical tradition with our wider community of support. We pray that Critical Faith continues to be a space for learning, dialogue and reflection for all listeners.


Monday, March 30 - Tuesday, March 31:

The last day of classes for the Winter 2020 semester is fast approaching! Please pray for the students as they work hard to complete their assignments and study for their final exams. We especially want to pray for those students who intend to graduate in May, as well as those who are finalizing their theses or preparing for their defenses.

We’ve begun receiving applications for students wishing to start various academic programs next year! Please pray for those potential students as they discern whether they might make ICS their academic home, as they work to meet upcoming application deadlines, and as they plan for their immediate and long term futures. Please also pray that the Lord might continue to bring many more eager and insightful students through our doors.

Matthew Kaemingk is Coming to ICS!

January 23, 1:30pm

Knox College (59 St. George Street), Classroom 2

Rev. Dr. Matthew Kaemingk will be coming to ICS as the next guest speaker in our Scripture, Faith, and Scholarship Symposium series. Rev. Dr. Kaemingk is the author of Christian Hospitality and Muslim Immigration in an Age of Fear (Eerdmans, 2018), and was just awarded Redeemer University College's 2019 Emerging Public Intellectual Award. Rev. Dr. Kaemingk will join us on Thursday, January 23 at 1:30pm to share some of his research on the topics of Christian public life, and contemporary Muslim immigration, and to discuss the relationship between his scholarship and his faith.

Our Scripture, Faith, and Scholarship Symposium is a wonderful opportunity for communal learning, and we look forward to welcoming Rev. Dr. Kaemingk, and to sharing this symposium with you all!

Additionally, on the previous evening (January 22), Rev. Dr. Kaemingk will deliver his World and Our Calling lecture entitled "Christian Hospitality and Muslim Immigration in an Age of Fear" at Redeemer University College in Ancaster. This lecture is open to the public, and you are also invited to attend. Details about this event may be found here: https://www.redeemer.ca/events/christian-hospitality-and-muslim-immigration-in-an-age-of-fear/.

Please email ics-communications@icscanada.edu if you have any questions about these events.