Seminary Forum 3/02 - Calvin CollegeTo join hands with you in these efforts, we have changed the...

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THEOLOGICAL EDUCATIONThoughts from new leaders

2C A L V I N T H E O L O G I C A L S E M I N A R Y

FORUM • WINTER 2002

from the president

Dear Church Leader,

As I write to you today, I have just come from one of the mostsignificant and wrenching parts of ministry—bringing amessage from Scripture at the funeral of a young person. MikeVanderWal was a Calvin College student and an alumnus ofthe Seminary’s Facing Your Future program, and he was full offaith, hope, and love. But Mike died from a massive

cardiovascular failure while ice skating with friends on Friday night, January11, an event that plunged our whole College and Seminary communitiesinto grief. Love and sorrow mingled and flowed at the funeral in ways I’llnever forget, forming acoustics for the gospel: “I am going to get a roomready for you . . . so that where I live you may live also.”

You understand. Tragedies are unique, but every church has its share ofthem, and leaders must bring to them a steady and loving presence thatreminds people of Jesus. One of our goals at the Sem is to prepare leaders todo this well. So right now I’m working with our Student Senate to set up aworkshop that will be called something like “Christian Funerals: What’s theMessage?” Perhaps VP Duane Kelderman, and I, and a veteran local pastorwill host the workshop. In any case, our goal is to equip future churchleaders to help the grieving with a high degree of pastoral intelligence. Here(and elsewhere in ministry) students need clear theological understanding,solid pastoral skills, and above all, some of the courage and comfort of theGood Shepherd. At the Sem, we are sobered by the church’s mandate toeducate its leaders for ministry, and we want you to know that we areworking at it with full mind and heart.

To join hands with you in these efforts, we have changed the Forum. As youcan tell, the Calvin Theological Seminary Forum has a new look! We haveexpanded the paper to include not only articles that offer thoughtful supportin various areas of ministry, but also news items about the Seminary and itsalumni. Our idea is to let you know three times per year what’s up at CTS,welcome your response, learn from it, and thus form a fresh partnership aswe together minister the gospel to the world. I hope you like the new waywe are reaching out. And I hope that this day, as you bring life to others, ourLord will bring it to you.

Grace and peace.

Faithfully yours,

Neal

C A L V I N T H E O L O G I C A L S E M I N A R Y

FORUMProviding Theological Leadership

for the Church

Volume 9, Number 1Winter 2002

R E F L E C T I O N S O N T H E O L O G I C A L

E D U C A T I O N

3Now More Than Ever

by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.

5Reflections of a Pastor to Prospective Pastors

by Duane Kelderman

7The Christian Reformed Churchand Calvin Theological Seminary:

A Strategic Partnershipby Henry DeMoor

9An Interview with Calvin Hofland,

Calvin Theological Seminary’sMissionary-in-Residence

by Lugene Schemper

D E P A R T M E N T S

The Council Room . . . . . . . .11Pastoral Care . . . . . . . . . . . . .12News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Photography: cover, 3, 5, 7, 15 by Steve Huyser-Honig

The Calvin Theological Seminary Forum is publishedin Winter, Spring and Fall editions.

Calvin Theological Seminary, 3233 Burton St. SE,Grand Rapids, MI 49546.

Subscription Price: $8.00; in Canada: $10.00. Editorial Committee: Lugene Schemper, Editor;

Mariano Avila, John Cooper, Duane KeldermanEditorial Consultant: Kathy Smith © 2002 Calvin Theological Seminary

Publication Mail Agreement No. 40063614Canada address: Calvin Theological Seminary, 3474

Mainway, LCD STN 1, Burlington ON L7M 1A9

Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.



In peacetime, wrote C. S. Lewis, onlywise people know that we live at theedge of a precipice. In wartime,everybody knows.

We know that we have no earth-ly security, and that we are sojourn-

ers to the City of God. We know that ter-rorists are like addictions: they are lethaland they are patient. We know that peoplecan act very wickedly and that theirwickedness then inspires others to actwith great bursts of kindness. AfterSeptember 11, blood banks overflowed.Midwest fire departments sent new trucksto Manhattan. Ordinary people shipped somuch dog food for the canine rescue corpsthat tons of it piled up in New York’s ware-houses.

Our only hope is in God, and Godinspires people to reach out to others.Citizens of the United States were heart-ened in the days and weeks of this pastautumn by outpourings of sorrow from allover the world—from Germans massed infront of the Brandenburg Gate to school-children in Korea praying in front of theU.S. Embassy. The compassion of strangerssaid to American citizens, “You matter somuch to us that your suffering makes ussuffer.” And we were reminded that thesorrow of others can bring us life. That’s

because compassion is one of the manysplendors of love.

In the New York Times for September16, in the middle of all the stories of sor-row and fear, there were stories of love.One of them gave the transcripts of phonecalls from people trapped in a doomed air-liner or trade tower. The calls are extraor-dinary, and a number of them have a com-mon thread:

Stuart T. Meltzer to his wife: “Honey,something terrible is happening. I don’tthink I’m going to make it. I love you. Takecare of the children.”

Kenneth Van Auken to his wife Lorie: “Ilove you. I don’t know if I’m going to getout. But I love you very much.”

Brian Sweeney to his wife Julie: “Hey,Jules, it’s Brian. I’m on a plane and it’shijacked and it doesn’t look good. I justwanted to let you know that I love you andno matter what, I’ll see you again.”

You’re going to die and you call out tothose who are in your heart. Do you askfor revenge? Do you say you’re scared? No.Love gets the last word. “Hey Jules, it’sBrian. I just wanted to let you know that Ilove you.”

Love is strong as death, says theWisdom Teacher. Even stronger, says thegospel. In trouble we look to the crosswhence comes our help not because thecross of Jesus Christ explains evil, butbecause it tells us God so loved the world.In trouble we look to the empty tomb, notjust because we’d like to live longer thanthree-score-and-ten, but because the resur-rection of Jesus Christ tells us we are morethan conquerors through him who lovedus. Love brings life. Maybe now more thanever.

A Christian seminary prepares studentsfrom all over the world to fan out to min-ister the love of Jesus Christ. Theworld needs ministers of the gospel,

Now More Than Ever

ON THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION

by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.

▼



no matter what formthat ministry takes.Ministers of the

gospel—that is, ministers of the love ofGod in Jesus Christ. We want to educatestudents in Bible, history, theology, andpractice, but not just to load them up withknowledge and skills. We want to preparethem to minister the gospel of Christ, andto do it winningly in contexts that changeevery day. Think how our new context hasbrought out the need for ministers whohave thought deeply about evil, about cor-ruption, and about corruption that canhappen right inside religion. We need min-isters now who can tell the differencebetween justice and revenge, who knowsomething about tragic choices in a trou-bled world. If you ask a minister of thegospel whether the biblical idea of forgive-ness applies at all to the relation of nationsto terrorist groups, I’d hope that the minis-ter had been educated to think about suchthings. Now more than ever.

But being educated for ministry meansso much more than learning to think wellinside a Christian worldview, or being ableto teach a class, counsel a troubled soul,evangelize a village, plant a church, preacha sermon. Ministers of all kinds have toembody the gospel in their own persons.They have to incarnate grace and truth insome way like our Lord. We want studentswho believe from their hairline to theirtoenails that they themselves have been sofiercely loved by God that this overshad-ows everything else about them—theirrace, their gender, their politics, theirappearance. They have been loved somuch that their own lives now show someof the fruit of the Spirit, including love,joy, patience, and kindness.

I dream of a seminary in which we prac-tice these virtues on each other. After all,these are the virtues of Christ, the truevine. When we are attached to himthrough faith, then his goodness runsthrough us like sap, causing new life toburst out all over us.

What if the love of Christ were to runmore and more through Calvin TheologicalSeminary?

What if professors encouraged studentsat the same time that they corrected them?

What if North American studentslearned the names of international stu-dents and weren’t afraid to keep trying tillthey really had them? What if they askedinternational students lots of questionsabout their country and culture, hoping tolearn something from them about theinternational contexts in which the gospelmust take root?

What if the seminary leadership sawthe world big, but also attended to thesmall acts of courtesy and hospitality to

students, faculty, and staff?What if CTS joined hands with those

who do ground-level ministry every day,and each looked for ways to minister tothe other, together seeking to serve Christin a troubled world?

What if in worship, in classrooms, inhallways, in residences, we moved througheach day in deliberate consciousness of thefact that all we do is before the face ofGod—every encouragement, but alsoevery gossip; every testimony of faith, butalso every lie; every determined attempt toread the Bible deeply, but also every super-ficial reading?

What if, in five years, the students wholeft Calvin Seminary would spend the restof their lives in gratitude not only for theintellectual challenges they received andmet, but also for the spiritual nurture theyreceived? What if they knew that in semi-nary some of the grace and truth of Christhimself had come to them?

I believe that this is our calling at CTSin the years to come. We do classical theo-logical education very well. But we willneed to do it in a nurturing matrix, andwe’ll need to do it in a world that changesas suddenly as ours did on September 11,2001. We’ll need to do it in a world inwhich every cultural practice, everyancient hatred, all kinds of religiousunderstandings and misunderstandingsloop around the world and come rightback at us. Nobody can now be theologi-cally educated for contemporary Christianministry except with a global view.

But first things first. First we needGod’s love to flow through our building,our hearts, our practices and attitudes.We’ll need to yearn for God’s love, to movetoward it, to bathe in it. Love is strong asdeath, says the Wisdom Teacher. Stronger,says the gospel. We may organize goodtheological education in any good way, butat the center must always be the radiant,life-giving love of God that brings everydead one of us to life.

That’s the gospel. Now more than ever.

▼Now MoreThan Ever

●We want students who believe

from their hairline to theirtoenails that they themselves

have been so fiercely loved byGod that this overshadows

everything else about them—their race, their gender, theirpolitics, their appearance.

●

●We want to educate studentsin Bible, history, theology,and practice, but not just toload them up with knowledge

and skills. We want toprepare them to minister the

gospel of Christ, and to do itwinningly in contexts that

change every day.●

REFLECTIONS



The title of my meditation thismorning is “Reflections of aPastor to Prospective Pastors.”The backdrop of my meditationis an ache in my heart, an ache

for the congregational ministry that I leftbehind when I came to seminary last year. Iknew when I came here that I would missbeing a local church pastor. After all, I lovedalmost every part of the ministry. And manyof my colleagues on the faculty here warnedme before I said yes to this appointmentthat I would have this ache in my heart.Please understand, I am not questioningGod’s call to me to this position, and I couldhardly be more excited about the future ofCalvin Theological Seminary and the privi-lege God has given me to be a small part ofit. But I did not realize until I left NelandChurch how deeply my identity hadbecome a pastoral identity, and how diffi-cult it would be to leave congregationalministry behind.

But enough about me. What I want to doin this meditation this morning is turn myache into a source of encouragement andanticipation and hopefulness and joy foreach one of you students who are lookingforward to pastoral ministry of one type oranother. I know that you students gatheredhere this morning represent many differentministry tracks, not just Word andSacrament, and you will go into many dif-ferent ministry settings, not just congrega-tional, and not just in North America. But Ithink my observations this morning aboutthe richness and privilege of pastoral min-istry cut across most of these lines.

I would like to mention several thingsthat you students have to look forward to.

When you are a pastor, it’s actually part

of your job to think, to reflect, to pray, toread, to listen. It’s actually part of your jobto interpret life for people, to probe thedeep mysteries of faith for yourself and forothers, to study God’s Word, to ask hardquestions, to give voice to people’s deepestfears and longings, to be a poet, as WalterBrueggemann has put it, who expresses oldtruths in new ways and from fresh angles sothat they break through resistant hearts andhardened communities. And as Paul pointsout today, your own relationship to Godand your own spiritual journey, flawed as itis, is the critical touchstone for all of thisinterpretive activity.

One of the most obvious ways, thoughby no means the only way, all of this inter-pretive activity comes to expression is inworship. Leading a community in prayerand song and word and sacrament is one ofthe highest privileges a person can have.Every Sunday people stream across the

parking lot and through the doors of thechurch to meet God. Every Sunday pastorsand worship planners give critical shape toworship—this mysterious confluence oftext and liturgy and song and preacher andcongregation and world. And out of thisconfluence comes an engagement of Godand his people that is at once predictableand miraculous. As a pastor you get to be apart of this creative work of the Holy Spiritevery week.

Everyone has his or her own idea of life’sfinest moment. For me, there is no finermoment than the last verse of that finalhymn, when the words of the hymn captureeverything you’ve tried to say and do in thatworship service, plus things you neverintended to say or do, and when you cantell by the way people are singing that theyhave met the living God. For me nothing,nothing is more rewarding than that.

When you are a pastor, you have the rareprivilege of walking with people in the mostmeaningful and deepest moments of theirlives. Births and weddings and funerals, andalmost every major life event in between, arethe occasions for the pastor to be present,representing Christ, giving hope andcourage, bearing witness to the kingdom,offering a way of seeing and interpretinglife. In 24 years of ministry, I never took forgranted the privilege of entering with peopleinto these most sacred moments of life. It isa sacred trust so great that one ought to beterrified at the prospect of representingChrist and the church in such moments. Butit is sweet terror. So many times people havesaid to me, “You don’t know what it meantto us that you sat with us in that waitingroom for hours,” to which I usuallysaid something like, “Thank you.

Reflections of a Pastorto Prospective Pastors

1 Timothy 1:15-17 The meditation below was delivered in Calvin Theological Seminary chapel on January 18, 2002,

by Rev. Duane K. Kelderman, the new Vice-President for Administration and Assistant Professor of Preaching.

▼

by Rev. Duane K. Kelderman

And you don’t knowwhat a privilege it isto represent the love

and comfort of the Shepherd in times likethese.”

When you are a pastor, you get to witnessGod’s mighty work in people’s lives. I thinkof Geoffrey, a student who rejected and ranup against the Christian faith all the waythrough college. We would talk and talk, butthe Christian faith just never added up forGeoffrey. It wasn’t for him. Today Geoffrey isa world missionary in the DominicanRepublic. The details of what happenedbetween then and now are interesting, butthey’re not important. What’s important isthat God worked mightily in his life. And asa pastor I had a front row seat.

Or Paula, a young woman whoseextended family populates the prison sys-tem of Michigan, and who, by any humanreckoning, should be just another statisticof this society. But God knew Paula’s name,and God had another family for her. Shebecame a Christian, and has been a memberof Neland for 12 years. As her pastor I hada front row seat to watch God work might-ily in her life.

Finally, when you are a pastor, the pas-toral vocation permeates your whole life.There is a wonderful unity to the life of apastor. In a great article in the journalCongregations (Sep/Oct 2001), entitled “TheGood Life: Celebrating the PastoralVocation,” which I highly recommend, theauthor points out how telling it is that theold English term for person, parson, came tobe used to describe a pastor, as though theperson and the vocation were so completelyintegrated that they were synonymous.

Now there are certainly hazards in this fus-ing of personal and pastoral identity. There aremany ways in which this can be misunder-stood and can go wrong. But rehearsing thoseis for another day. What I want to highlighttoday is the richness of a life where, whetheryou are at church, or a basketball game, or azoning hearing at city hall, or a jail, or aChristmas party, you are person and pastor.

Pastoral ministry is not a job, it is a way of life.If that sounds like a burden, then maybe youshould think twice about going into it. Trustme, it doesn’t have to be.

When I accepted this appointment toseminary, several of my minister friendssaid to me, “Oh, you must be looking for-ward to being free on Sundays.” To be hon-est with you, I am still lost on Sunday. I’mstill trying to figure out who I am onSunday. The pastoral life is a total life; it’s away of life. If you want to focus on the factthat you only have four weekends off a year,and no religious holidays and not even thenational holiday weekends, if this deepcoherence of person and pastor sounds likea trap more than a privilege, then thinktwice about whether you want the pastorallife. But you should be struck, as I am, bythe fact that I have never talked to a retiredminister who gave his entire life to the pas-toral calling and regretted it.

Now I can hear someone saying aboutnow, “Duane, your nostalgia and grief havegotten the best of you. Isn’t being a pastoralso very painful and hard?” You bet it is.My guess is that, everything I’ve saidnotwithstanding, pastoral ministry is thehardest job there is. There is deep vulnera-bility and loneliness in ministry.Unfortunately the church is made up ofpeople. And yes, people are people. Peoplehurt people, including pastors. But thatonly makes your pastoral calling the labo-ratory for, as Paul says, suffering producingendurance, and endurance character, andcharacter hope.

One of the things that has moved me themost in my months at seminary is the sto-

ries that several of you have told me of whyyou came to seminary. Several of you, andyou know who you are this morning, havetold me that the thing that first repelled youfrom the idea of becoming a minister, butthen, in the end, drew you to becoming aminister, was seeing your dad suffer as aminister; seeing him be poised andrestrained in congregational meetings thatwere terrible, and then seeing him comehome after the meeting and weep with yourmom; but then also seeing the Spirit devel-op in them a godliness, a faith, a commit-ment, a longsuffering so deep, so rich thatyou suddenly found yourself saying, “Lord,produce such character in me. Here am I,send me.”

No, the pastoral life is not an easy life.And we are rigorous in this place in prepar-ing you for ministry because we know thatit’s not an easy life and we want to be asthorough as we can possibly be in the for-mation of knowledge, skills and characterin you that we know are absolutely crucialto your flourishing. But everyone fromDavid to James to Paul has told us that suf-fering and joy live side by side. Congrega-tional ministry is no exception to that greattruth of life.

When Harry Emerson Fosdick, thatgreat Presbyterian preacher, retired fromthe ministry, he stood before his congrega-tion on that last Sunday and said, “If I hada thousand lives to live in this century, Iwould go into the parish ministry withevery one of them.”

When Paul thought for just a momentthat God could actually use him, the worstof sinners, to display the patience and loveof Christ, he could only shout a doxology,“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisi-ble, the only God, be honor and glory for-ever and ever.”

Hang in there. Graduation’s coming. Ican’t wait for some of you to come back tome years from now and tell me, “Duane,you were right. It’s all you said it wouldbe—the pain and the blessing.” God blessyou all in your studies today.



▼Reflectionsof a Pastor

●When you are a pastor,

you have the rare privilege ofwalking with people in the

most meaningful and deepestmoments of their lives.

●

REFLECTIONS



Part of our denominationalcovenant is to “maintain atheological seminary” (ChurchOrder, Article 19) whose pri-mary mission will be to trainministers of the Word and

other specialized congregational leaders.Seminary professors—to state the obvi-ous—are to do that training. But theymust do more. They must also give theo-logical leadership to the church. In thewords of the church order, they must“expound the Word of God and vindicatesound doctrine against heresies anderrors” (Church Order, Article 20). Thelanguage hails back to the time of theReformation. It may strike us as a bitquaint and archaic, yet this second role isalso crucial in the life of the church, espe-cially in a day of growing biblical and the-ological illiteracy.

Training PastorsA colleague of mine once remarked

that he could only vote “yes” for a minis-terial candidate if he could also answer“yes” to this question: would I want thisperson to be my daughter’s pastor? Thatbrings the seminary’s task close to home.The professors’ sacred obligation is to doall they can to model, encourage, teach,disciple and train so that we need not fearfor our sons’ and daughters’ spiritualjourneys.

Training people for ministry is themore obvious task of a seminary commu-nity. A seminary education must open up

new worlds of thought, new horizons ofideas, and new expressions of the faith—expressions that re-state in relevant waysthe truth once revealed and long con-fessed. It must hone the skills required topreach, lead, teach, and counsel with wis-dom, effectiveness and integrity. It mustmodel genuine spirituality that is infec-tious in others.

To do that well, the seminary must lis-ten to the church, be attuned to its expe-rience, understand its current needs, andbring what it learns to the task of trainingnew leaders. At the same time, it mustitself be leading. It must keep thechurch’s focus on what is most important:the truth of Scripture, the mission ofGod, the gospel of grace, the time-hon-ored witness of the universal church, andthe cherished creed of that part of itknown as the Christian Reformed com-munity. That is an awesome task.

Yet we who do the training of pastorsare struck by how the seminary is only asmall part of the training process.Indeed, there’s a sense in which all pro-fessors can do is chip away a little, sculpta little, inject some new notes into analready well-known melody. The bulk ofpreparation for meaningful professionalministry happens in the formative years,from the days of childhood to the day ofcollege graduation and beyond. It isdone in the home, in the school, in theparenting congregations. As such, it isthe task of the church as a whole.Indeed, the seminary and the

●A seminary education must

open up new worlds ofthought, new horizons of

ideas, and new expressionsof the faith—expressionsthat re-state in relevant

ways the truth once revealedand long confessed.

●

▼

The Christian Reformed Church and Calvin Theological Seminary:

A Strategic Partnership

The seminary gives theological leadership to the church and trains the church’s pastors. But it can only do those things

when it listens to and learns from the church.

by Dr. Henry DeMoor

church have a strate-gic partnership inthis training venture.

Giving Theological Leadershipto the Church

The seminary not only trains pastorsfor ministry, it teaches and gives theolog-ical leadership to the church as a whole.In a fascinating article entitled “Teachersand the Teaching Authority” (The Ecu-menical Review, April 1986, pp. 152-202),Willem Visser ‘t Hooft, former GeneralSecretary of the World Council ofChurches, looks in broad strokes at theentire history of the Christian church andtraces within it the relationship betweenthe magistri, the theological teachers, andthe magisterium, the authority responsi-ble for the true teaching of the church, inour case, the synod. Having recounted a“somewhat tumultuous history of therelations between” these two, Visser ‘tHooft concludes that “they need oneanother” because “both are in danger offorgetting the limits of their task” and“both need a constructively critical part-ner.” “Great moments in the history ofthe church,” he continues, “have beenthose when the magisterium (the synodor church) called upon theologians tomake their contribution, or when they(theologians) came spontaneously to therescue of the church.”

So, for example, as the Third Reichdeveloped in 1934, Karl Barth and othersrescued a Protestant church “over-whelmed by a wave of syncretism” bypublishing the Barmen Declaration ofFaith. Today we might add the morerecent example of South African theolo-gians drafting the Belhar Confession, urg-ing synods of Reformed churches to backaway from defending apartheid policieson so-called biblical grounds. Magistri

(the theological teachers) keep the magis-terium (the synod/church) honest. Theypoint it, when they must, to the heart ofits historic faith.

One should not make grandioseclaims about the contributions of ourseminary professors in the history of theChristian Reformed Church in NorthAmerica. But who can deny the influenceof a David Holwerda putting his hand toa report on “Neo-Pentecostalism” (1973)or an Andrew Bandstra to a hermeneuti-cal report (1978) and a summary of theexegetical debate (2000) on women’s

ordination? Examples like this abound.Peter De Klerk’s Bibliography of theWritings of the Professors of CalvinTheological Seminary happens to be atwo-inch-thick volume with nothing buta listing of books and articles, often writ-ten for the church. It is no exaggerationto say that many have significantly sacri-ficed their academic careers to be of serv-ice to the denomination. And althoughthey are less outspoken today than in thepast, faculty advisers continue to con-tribute to synod’s deliberations in Juneand serve on many of its study commit-tees on an ongoing basis.

Here too the street between the semi-nary and the church is a two-way street.The church must also keep professorshonest. It appoints them, re-appointsthem, and occasionally fires them. Ascongregations play out their witness in aconstantly changing world, they oftentug at the professors in two directions,both vital: first, challenging them to staywithin confessional boundaries and, sec-ond, reminding them that the practice offaith has out-raced their cherished for-mulations of doctrine and theology. Heretoo the seminary must listen to and learnfrom the church in order to give theolog-ical leadership to the church. In a veryreal sense, experienced pastors becometheir seminary teachers’ teachers on mat-ters of church and ministry. Ideally, theseminary and church live in such a mutu-ally serving and teaching relationshipwith one another so that we all “attain tothe whole measure of the fullness ofChrist” (Eph. 4:13).

As we enter a new chapter of the sem-inary’s history, we renew our commit-ment to this rich relationship with thechurch and trust that God will bless thisstrategic partnership between the semi-nary and the church.



REFLECTIONS

▼A StrategicPartnership ●

The seminary must listen tothe church, be attuned to itsexperience, understand itscurrent needs, and bring

what it learns to the task oftraining new leaders. At thesame time, it must itself be

leading.●

●The seminary must listen toand learn from the churchin order to give theologicalleadership to the church.

●

Lugene Schemper: Cal, describe some ofthe work you’ve been doing here at theseminary these past months.

Calvin Hofland: My experience here hasbeen both delightful and challenging. Ihave enjoyed interacting with both stu-dents and faculty, and I have beenimpressed with the depth of spiritual andacademic integrity that I have seen in myshort time here. I’ve been speaking onvarious subjects including Islam, spiritu-al warfare, and mission strategy in a num-ber of classes as a regular guest lecturer,bringing a missionary perspective towhatever topic is currently being dis-cussed.

Outside the classroom, I’ve beenpleased to have a great deal of informalcontact with students. As a result of theevents of September 11 and the subse-quent conflict in Afghanistan, studentsare curious about Islam. I’m able to sharea unique perspective with them as some-one who has been very involved withMuslims in West Africa. I’m also particu-larly interested in building links betweenseminarians and mission agencies of thechurch. Christian Reformed WorldMissions wants to be a partner withCalvin Theological Seminary as it helps

students develop a global perspective onministry. I think some of the most mean-ingful conversations that I have had arewith students who want to know whatpossessed us to go as a missionary familywith small children to a third-worldMuslim country! I’ve had the opportuni-ty to be transparent and a bit vulnerable,testifying to the calling of God on my lifeand to his incredible faithfulness.

Schemper: What challenges does thechurch face in its ministry to Muslims inGuinea?

Hofland: There is a spiritual battle goingon for Africa. Islam is pushing to makeAfrica a Muslim continent and the funda-mentalists are trying to take over regionswhich are already Muslim. The Wahhab-ist fundamentalist movement is wide-spread and well-financed. Although itsadherents are still only a minor percent-age of the Muslim population in placeslike Guinea, it is making significantinroads throughout West Africa, withvast sums of money from the Middle Eastfinancing the construction of mosquesand schools and providing financialincentives to those who will embrace thismore rigid form of Islam. In Guinea, it’stearing whole families apart as childrenreject the “mediocre” faith of their fathersand adopt a strict Wahhabist stance.

Schemper: Do the Fulbé people have anegative perception of the UnitedStates?

Hofland: On the one hand, most Fulbéare intrigued by America and desperatelywant to come to this prosperous land.Most of them have relatives who havecome to the U.S. and send money hometo help out less fortunate familymembers in Guinea. On the other



▼

An Interview with Calvin Hofland,Calvin Theological Seminary’s Missionary-in-Residence

Christian Reformed World Missionary Calvin Hoflandhas been serving as Calvin Seminary’s “Missionary-in-Residence” during the winter quarter of the 2001-2002academic year. The seminary is considering an ongoingresidency program, in which an experienced pastor ormissionary would spend several months at the seminary,teaching and learning as part of the seminarycommunity. Hofland has served for the past six years asa CRC World Missions evangelist and church planter inGuinea, West Africa, working among the predominantlyMuslim Fulbé people. Forum editor Lugene Schemperrecently interviewed Hofland about his experience asMissionary-in-Residence and his work as a missionary.

●Christian Reformed World

Missions wants to be apartner with Calvin

Theological Seminary as ithelps students develop a

global perspective onministry.

●



hand, the Fulbé areconfused and quitehonestly rather dis-

gusted by what they see in the media.Television, videos, and magazines fromthe West bring them images of an incred-ibly decadent society, a people given overto drugs, sex, violence, and extravagantlifestyles. Unfortunately, the negativeimage they have of our society isn’t as faroff from reality as we would like it to be,and is a deterrent to the spread of thegospel.

Schemper: How will the events ofSeptember 11 and its aftermath affectyour work in Guinea?

Hofland: Islamic fundamentalists areconfronting Muslims everywhere to makea decision to be on one side or the other(“Join us or be counted as against trueIslam.”) They have declared a jihadagainst the West and have called onMuslims around the world to join them.If the American response begins toappear more broadly as an anti-Muslimresponse, there will likely be seriousrepercussions not only for us, but forChristians and Americans around theworld.

At the same time, this event providesus with a huge opportunity. Since mil-lions of Muslims are being forced tomake a decision anyway, this is a perfectopportunity to “wage peace” and showthem the love of Christ through wordand deed. We are hoping and prayingthat recent events will serve as a wake-upcall to Christians around the world topray fervently for the Muslim world andto be bold enough to reach out to themwith the love of Christ. We desperatelyneed more missionaries and morechurches willing to send missionaries,particularly to Muslims. While I’ve beenhere, I’ve tried to communicate that mis-sion challenge to Calvin TheologicalSeminary students.

Schemper: Many North Americans live inplaces where they have regular contactwith Muslims. Can you give advice to usabout how to reach out to Muslimswhom we know?

Hofland: We have an unprecedentedopportunity today to reach out toMuslims around the world by reachingout to the Muslims in North America.There are many countries whereChristian missionaries are not welcomebecause of very restrictive laws. At thesame time, thousands of people fromthose very same countries are right herein our midst as students, residents, andeven naturalized citizens. If you want tosee people in Pakistan come to Christ,start by reaching out to the Pakistanis inyour midst. If you want to help us in ourefforts to reach out to the Muslim Fulbéin Guinea, West Africa, show the love ofJesus to the thousands of Fulbé who liveright here. Those who are here are muchmore likely to come to Christ than if theywere at home because they are somewhatremoved from the incredible pressures toconform which they experience underIslam. These people usually have verystrong ties to their families back home.Many of them eventually return. Thatmeans that when you are reaching out tothem, you are also reaching out to thou-sands of others who would otherwisehave no opportunity to hear the gospel.For example, when Amadou in Chicagotelephones his mother Fatimata inGuinea and says that some Americanshave really been kind to him sinceSeptember 11, that that will do wonders

for our relationship with Fatimata andAmadou’s whole extended family. Justthink what would happen if Amadoubecame a Christian!

Schemper: Can you give us some con-crete suggestions to help us do that?

Hofland: The first thing is to not beafraid. Fear and lack of love are probablythe two biggest barriers that keep us fromdeveloping meaningful relationships withMuslims. 1 John 4:18 tells us how todefeat fear: perfect love drives it out. Sothe first step is asking God to give you atrue heart for Muslims, so that you canlove them as he loves them. The next stepis to pray. Anyone coming to Christrequires the work of the Holy Spirit inher or his life. So pray—a lot. Ask God togive you a heart not just for Muslims ingeneral but for specific individuals whomhe may have in mind. Next get to knowMuslims, talk to them, ask them ques-tions, listen, and do some reading abouttheir home country and about Islam. Tryto discover what drives them and whataspirations, hopes, fear, and worries theyhave. Share God’s Word with them andask them if it is okay for you to pray forthem about specific things that they havementioned. Most would be delighted thatyou cared enough even to think about it.Also, be sensitive to their culture andcustoms and don’t argue with them or actas though they are ignorant. You can’targue anyone into the kingdom, but gen-uine love and faithful prayer go a longway. And finally, don’t give up. It maytake years or even generations. So keepyour eyes focused on what God is doingover the long haul. Try to move themcloser to Christ one step at a time andremember that every step is not only avictory, it’s a miracle that you should cel-ebrate because it indicates the hand ofGod at work. I hope you enjoy watchingGod redeem people to himself as much asI have. It’s awesome!

▼HoflandInterview

REFLECTIONS●

If you want to see people inPakistan come to Christ,

start by reaching out to thePakistanis in your midst.

●



Q.I have Article 4 of the Church Orderin front of me, the one with a clear-

ly prescribed procedure the for election ofofficebearers, and I also understand thatSynod 1989 discouraged the use of the lotin the selection process. But are these theonly two models? Aren’t there any creativenew models that follow, if not the letter, atleast the spirit and intent of this article?(This question came to me five times in thelast two months alone.)

A.I harbor the hope that there will be atleast a few who read this question

and say: “That sounds familiar.” You’reright. It’s the same question I dealt with inthe Spring & Summer 2001 issue of CalvinSeminary in Focus. In my response at thattime I presented and commented on sevenmodels, then invited readers to add to thelist so that they could be passed on to all ata later time. Well, I received two more andpass them along now with a final comment.

h) The congregation is asked to suggestnames; the council nominates more thanneeded. The congregation votes and thevotes are counted. The nominees thatreceive a majority of the votes cast are elect-ed but not announced until all selectionsare made. The remaining positions are filledby lot from among those who have receivedthe most votes (though not a majority). Thenumber of those included in the lot proce-dure equals the number of unfilled open-ings plus one. The officebearers selected bymajority vote and the lot are announced inalphabetical order. The congregation thenvotes on the entire slate.

i) The congregation is asked to suggestnames; the council compiles a list of poten-tial officebearers consisting of approximate-ly three to four times the number needed.Council then invites these people to a week-end workshop led by the pastor. The work-shop focuses on the congregation’s vision,mission, and values; on the roles of elderand deacon; and on discovering gifts. Thosewho do not accept the invitation are notnominated. Those who attend are called

back together at a later date for a time ofprayer and determination of their inner call-ing. Anyone who does not feel called is notnominated. Council confirms the nomina-tion of those who do feel called and are will-ing to let their names stand. The congrega-tion is informed of the list and votes “yes” or“no” for each person. Members are alsoencouraged in advance to approach thecouncil before the congregational meetingand inform it of any serious reservations sothat “no” votes have a context known tocouncil.

Two observations about this last model.The first is the obvious question: “Whathappens if too many are called and cho-sen?” Upon reflection I decided not even topose it. It would be a nice problem to have.The second is the inclusion of something Ihinted at the last time: are we truly devel-oping potential candidates from among ourmembership so that their selection is notthrust upon them but is an expected con-clusion to a process of awakening interestand willingness to serve? That hint, by theway, received roughly twenty “Amen’s” byway of e-mails and phone calls.

Both models, I believe, do not in anyway seriously violate the principle dis-cussed the last time: meaningful involve-ment of the congregation in the selectionprocess. But who am I? It would be nice ifsynod could be persuaded at some point torevisit the issue in view of recent develop-ments. An overture, anyone?

Q.I am thoroughly confused by lettersto the editor of Christian Courier

and other printed advice (including yours)about whether a minister may serve on theboard of a charitable organization. Is therenot a way that we could stay clear of vio-lating both civil and ecclesiastical law?(from an Ontario elder)

A.You’re in good company. I’ve heardfrom at least four people in the past

week alone who share your concern. One ofthe problems may be that we’re simply talk-ing past one another in the “public press.”I’ve been guilty of that myself from time totime. Since it involves the welfare of all ofour churches in Ontario if not also theother provinces, perhaps the time has cometo convene a task force under the auspicesof the Board of Trustees of the CRCNA orthe Canadian delegates thereof. We couldgather the best legal advice and come tosome preliminary conclusions about thematter.

We could take a good hard look atwhether Canadian churches should beincorporated by way of Public Trusteeshipin the provinces, or whether they should beincorporated under Part II of the CanadaCorporations Act (as our Church OrderSupplement suggests). And if they areincorporated provincially, one wonderswhy we couldn’t simply define the Board ofDirectors as being comprised of the councilof the congregation minus all paid employ-ees including the minister. That way, theminister and any other paid employeeswould simply not vote on any issue involv-ing financial matters or on policy with clearfinancial implications. But they would beavailable for the decision-making on allmatters assigned to a council by our creedand our Church Order.

You will note, no doubt, that I am notclearing up your confusion here. I’m simplyraising a couple of issues that, from where Isit, should be explored. And I’ll end thesame way I did answering the previousquestion. If the suggested task force is agood idea, you might consider requestingthe Board to do this or, if necessary, steeringan overture synod’s way to instruct theBoard to look into it.

In this column, Dr. Henry De Moor, Vice President forAcademic Affairs and Professor of Church Polityanswers some of the many questions he regularlyreceives from church council members.

THE COUNCIL ROOM



PASTORAL CARE

SEM: Why do people seem to have a diffi-cult time talking about grief, when we willall have to face grief many times in life?

SUSAN: Part of the answer is that we liketo talk about happy, joyful things. We tendto avoid talking about tough stuff, the trulyemotional things. Someone’s death—espe-cially if we had developed a very close bondwith that person—seems so far out of ourcontrol that most of the time we just don’tknow what to say. In fact, we tend to wantto cover it up, run away from it, deflect ourattention from it, or do anything we can tojust plain avoid it.

BOB: One of the things this means forpastors and other caregivers is that we shouldnot try to push or hurry a bereaved personback into a “normal” life or their prior regu-lar routine. Death does change things—itchanges relationships, family structures, val-ues and dreams, even faith itself. People per-petuate a myth when they think that abereaved person can somehow return to“normal” if they mean returning to thelifestyle pattern they had prior to the death.

SEM: Do you mean that someone who hasexperienced the death of a loved one willalways grieve?

SUSAN: No, quite the opposite. We trulybelieve that grief not only happens to usnaturally, like other emotions that simplywell up within us at a certain point, butgrief also takes intentional work. Grieftakes time, sometimes much longer thansome people might expect. Grieving thedeath of a spouse or a child, or anyone else

really close to you, can take up to two orthree or even four years. If during that peri-od of time you cannot discern a significantreduction of emotional pain, then that per-son would likely benefit from some profes-sional counseling. By “work” we meanengaging in specific deliberate activitiesdesigned to help the bereaved person facethe pain and work on it.

SEM: Can you give us an example or two ofwhat these interventions might look like?

BOB: Certainly. Actually both books notonly contain a myriad of specific interven-tions, but they are organized around fivebasic tasks of grief work. Unlike the popularview that there may be “stages” of grief, wepromote the view that grief work is bestdescribed as “tasks” which weave in andamong each other throughout the griefprocess. Grief is like a journey—a pilgrim-age. We think David’s words in Psalm 23need to be taken quite literally where hesays that we walk through the valley of theshadow of death. You don’t go around, over,or under grief. You must go through it. Andthe first task is to confront the reality of thedeath. You need to accept the fact that yourloved one has died and is unable to return.That may sound pretty simple, but oftenbereaved persons’ minds and emotions canplay tricks on them and keep them from fac-ing the finality of that death. Even as care-givers, we tend to minimize, or soften, theblow by talking about someone being “lost,”or “gone to a better place,” or “passed on.”There is no end to the euphemisms we use

for death, but using the words “dead” and“died” is far more helpful.

SUSAN: And at the funeral, the bereavedneed to make certain that they have a view-ing of the body. Actually seeing the corpseplants the reality of death in one’s psyche insuch a way that avoiding or minimizing itbecomes more difficult. Grieving the deathof someone lost in the Twin Towers follow-ing September 11 will be more complicatedfor those whose bodies were never recov-ered. My brother died in a plane crash anumber of years ago, and we were notallowed to see his body. That doesn’t meanyou cannot resolve grief; but seeing thebody, and doing everything else you can doto confront the reality of death is helpful inmoving through the grief journey.

SEM: You mentioned five tasks of grief.What are the other four?

SUSAN: A second task is to express all ofthe emotions associated with the death ofyour loved one. I think many of us realizethat we cannot store emotions very long—at least if one tries to store them they willeventually come out in many other, oftenunhealthy, ways. Emotions do not just goaway. They need to be expressed.

BOB: That is one of the reasons why westress in our workshops and presentationsthe need for Christians to lament—to dowhat the Psalmists so often did. We need toknow we have the right and freedom to wailin God’s presence. And we need to knowthat God understands this need. Even Jesuswept, standing before the tomb of Lazarus

Getting to the Other Side of GriefRobert C. DeVries Susan J.Zonnebelt-Smeenge

Beginning with the publication of Getting to the Other Side of Grief: Overcoming theLoss of a Spouse (Baker, 1998), Dr. Robert C. DeVries, professor of Church Education andDirector of M.A. programs at the seminary and co-author Dr. Susan J. Zonnebelt-Smeenge,licensed clinical psychologist at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, have been busywriting and speaking on issues of grief and bereavement. Both of them experienced the deathof their first spouse in the early 1990’s as well as the death of brothers and/or parents. Fouryears ago they decided to marry each other after writing their first book. Recently theypublished The Empty Chair: Handling Grief on Holidays and Special Occasions(Baker, 2001) which came on the market just prior to the terrorist attack of September 11,2001. This small gift book was quickly adopted by the Salvation Army in their grief counselingat “Ground Zero” in New York City. We talked with Susan and Bob about this ministry andtheir suggestions to pastors and other caregivers who wish to support those who are grieving.



just prior to bringing him back to life. SUSAN: A third task is to work on stor-

ing the memories of this deceased person sothat the bereaved person eventually feelsfree to move on with his or her own life.Memories are just that—they are events andrelationships which we have experiencedbut are no longer present. They havebecome “historical,” which means that abereaved person does have to “let go” of therelationship with the deceased. Althoughone cannot have a relationship with thedeceased person anymore, that does notmean that he or she needs to forget. Quitethe contrary! An essential task of grieving islearning how to formulate honest, realisticand balanced memories of a person. Storethem where they can be retrieved. Do withthose memories what you have done withall of the other important events and rela-tionships you have had in your life whichare no longer present. But this does meanthat you have to let go of them as part ofyour present life.

BOB: So often we try to comfort eachother by asserting that we will at least seethis person again in heaven—with theassumption that we will re-establish thesame kind of relationship that we had hereon earth. We need to be cautious about thisfor two reasons. First, the Bible is virtuallysilent on the issue. It doesn’t say anythingvery directly about the type of relationshipwe will have with each other. The emphasisin the Bible is on the relationship we willhave with Christ, the Lamb who has beenslain. Second, the Bible does say that mar-riage will not be part of the arrangement.The form of intimacy and depth of relation-ship many people experience here on earthis not a part of heaven. We see this as all themore reason to store the memories, movethese relationships into a treasured part ofour past, and move on with our life.

SEM: So then, the remaining “tasks” musthave something to do with building a newlife.

SUSAN: Exactly. A fourth task forbereaved persons is to work on re-formulat-ing their own identity independent of therelationship they had with the deceased.

The fifth task is then to reinvest in life withyour own sense of purpose and direction.When someone close dies, especially amember of one’s family, it is like taking oneof the figures off a mobile hanging over ababy’s crib. The whole thing is thrown outof balance. We often develop our own senseof identity in relationship to others. Butwhen a person is no longer alive, we areforced to ask ourselves the question: “whoam I without this person?” Or even morepointedly, simply, “who am I—alone, bymyself? My loved one died. I did not. Whatis my purpose, my calling in life?”

SEM: What do you mean by “resolution”of grief?

SUSAN: What we mean by “resolution”is that one can get to the point where theemotional pain no longer controls one’sdaily activities. A person is able to moveback into a fulfilling and rewarding lifeunhampered by the weight of those emo-tions. There may well be times where thoseemotions may be triggered—some mile-stone life event like the marriage of an adultchild. But we try to make a distinctionbetween grief, which refers to the morelengthy and complicated process which canend versus the emotion of sadness which weall experience from time to time on manyoccasions. We will all feel momentary sad-ness from time to time because of the deathof someone we loved. But those who haveresolved their grief are also able to experi-ence that brief sadness, understand it, andmove through it once again.

SEM: What advice can you give to pastorsand other caregivers who have the chal-lenge of ministering to bereaved peopleregularly in their churches?

BOB: We hear fairly regularly fromchurch people whose loved one died afteran illness, that the church was certainlythere during the illness, but following thefuneral, many of them felt abandoned.Pastoral calls stopped rather abruptly, orcertainly slowed down to a trickle within acouple of months. Just about the time theywere really feeling the reality of their loss,church life had gotten back to “normal”—

only they had not! We would really like tosee churches develop an action plan to min-ister intentionally and at regular intervals tothe bereaved for at least twelve months fol-lowing a death. After that they shouldreceive visits on significant occasions untilthey reinvest in a “new beginning.”

SEM: Even though we are through theChristmas holiday season, tell us a littlebit about your latest book The EmptyChair and what you say to people who arefacing holidays and special occasions.

SUSAN: The holidays are potentially dif-ficult times for bereaved people since holi-days normally focus on family gatheringsand family relationships. People also tendto link the death of their loved one to oneof the nearest holidays. These situationsunderscore the fact that the deceased per-son is not there. And then some familiestend to avoid mentioning that person’sname. Somehow they think that talkingabout the deceased person will make thebereaved person feel worse. In reality, theopposite is true. If you give grieving per-sons an opportunity to mention the nameof their loved one, or have someone elserecall a fond memory, then that deceasedperson’s memory has been honored.

BOB: We also encourage the bereavedperson to plan, prioritize, balance beingwith people versus spending private timealone, and gain a new perspective on themeaning of the holiday. That means that abereaved person should exercise the free-dom to choose what he or she wants ordoes not want to do for this holiday.Grieving persons don’t have to go to all theparties. They might find it most helpful toparticipate to some degree, but they mightalso want to give themselves the space forquiet reflection. And this is also a good timeto remember the purpose of the holiday.With Easter coming, for example, thebereaved person can certainly rememberthe real meaning of the event in that Christin fact conquered death and, though wegrieve like everyone else, we do not grieve(as Paul said) as ones with no hope. We dohave our final hope solidly resting in Christour Savior.

Money follows vision. Do the rightthings and good things happen. Thosetwo statements stake out a whole philos-ophy when it comes to faith and financesand leading an institution like the semi-nary. Both President Plantinga and Vice-President for Administration Keldermanhad several opportunities to articulatetheir philosophy regarding finances ininterviews ranging from search commit-tee to synod. But neither expected thathis philosophy would be tested so quick-ly and dramatically. As Dr. Plantingabecame president January 1, 2002, semi-nary general operating reserves had beentotally depleted. The new administrationand the Development and FinanceCommittee of the Board of Trustees areworking hard to deal with these financialchallenges.

“There’s no single explanation for thefinancial situation we face.” Keldermanexplains. “On the revenue side, ministryshares, annual fund gifts, and tuitionhave all been somewhat down. On theexpense side, the seminary stepped outin faith a year ago, adding a couple ofpositions judged to be strategic to itsfuture. Put all of those things together,and we’re facing as big a challenge asfolks who have been around the semi-nary a long time can remember.” ButKelderman quickly points to God’s bless-ings. “The seminary has raised moremoney in the last two years than in anytwo years in its history. Every dollar for a$4.6 million building expansion hasbeen pledged and the pledges are comingin beautifully.”

And both Plantinga and Keldermanstate all the more strongly their belief thatGod will meet the needs of the seminary.Plantinga has just started meeting withpotential donors to the seminary. “In theshort amount of time that I have beentalking with folks about our financialneeds, I’m deeply encouraged by all thegoodhearted people I’ve met. They love

the Sem and they want our ministry toflourish.”

Kelderman has no doubt that God is atwork, even in this financial challenge.“As a pastor I’ve just seen it so many

times. God says, ‘Do you really trust me?’God is challenging us to trust him. Howdoes that spiritual go? ‘He’s never failedus yet.’”

—Kathy Smith



Financial challenges test new leaders’ philosophy

NEWS

What skills do church leaders need today? What recent changes in ministry shouldwe be aware of as we train church leaders? CTS hosted an afternoon forum withvarious church leaders to get their answers to those questions. Pictured (from leftto right) are Marilyn Rietberg, Jim Osterhouse, Kathy Smith, Norm Thomasma, DonByker, Duane Kelderman, Reggie Smith, Fred Van Dyk and Mariano Avila.

Ministry focus group meets at seminary

Seminary students use newcomputerroomOne of the first benefitsof the seminary expan-sion has been the newcomputer room, in usesince the fall quarter.Access to Logos Biblesoftware has been agreat help toseminarians.



The Book of the QuarterOne of the dreams of our new presi-

dent was to have one book for commondiscussion between students, staff, facul-ty, and board members in each quarter ofthe year. The chosen book would beprovocative, appealingly written, andinexpensive. According to PresidentPlantinga, “We might not agree withnearly everything in the book, but itwould help us see God, the world, andourselves with new eyes.”

Two books have been chosen for thefall and winter quarters and have beenmade available at a discount in the sem-inary bookstore. They are describedbelow in Dr. Plantinga’s words and havebeen the subject of discussions withinCalvin Seminary and various book clubsoutside the seminary. We recommendthem to Forum readers as well.

Fall 2001:Speaking of Sin: The LostLanguage of Salvation byBarbara Brown Taylor,(Cowley, 2001).

“The author is anEpiscopal priest, widelyknown for the clarity andartfulness of her preaching. Speaking ofSin is intriguing in lots of ways. One ofthem is that its author is a mainlineProtestant preacher who wants plain talkabout sin and repentance in a time whenmany conservative Christians have qui-etly set these topics aside.”

Winter 2001-2002:Open Secrets by RichardLischer, (Doubleday,2001).

“In this memoir, anolder-but-wiser seminaryprof recalls the beginningof his ministry, and whathe learned from people less educatedthan he. With his head full of redactioncriticism and Marxist slogans, the youngLischer had begun a pastorate in ruralsouthern Illinois among conservativeLutherans. The collision of values andexpectations between pastor and congre-gation is, to put it mildly, instructive.”

After attending Calvin Theological Sem-inary’s first-ever International StudentOrientation, one student thought he wasready to return to his home country!Actually, that was an exaggeration, but newstudents really appreciated the three-weekorientation to life, culture, and education inthe U.S. The program included four com-ponents:

Worship. Each day began with a shorttime of prayer, singing and meditation ledby faculty, staff, and students. Prayers wereoffered in many different languages, but theLord bound all together in a beautiful unity.

Reformed Theology. Rev. Gerrit Koe-doot, retired missionary to Japan and thePhilippines, did a marvelous job of guidingstudents through the basic themes ofReformed theology. This mini-course alsointroduced students to American pedagogyand helped them hone their English lan-guage skills in listening, writing, and givingoral presentations.

English. Mrs. Teresa Renk-ema, former missionary toHonduras and Puerto Rico,taught English as a second lan-guage. She and Rev. Koedootreviewed written assignmentsfor theological content andEnglish composition style.Students who needed extra helpin English were enrolled in anESL course at Calvin College.

Culture. Students were introduced toWest Michigan culture, beginning with atour of seminary and college facilities,including the food pantry, clothing bank,computer labs, and library. Next came atour of southeast Grand Rapids includingnearby malls and grocery stores and a videooverview of Grand Rapids. CTS staff gavehelpful presentations on adjustment toAmerican culture and on expectations andservices at CTS. Finally, on an excursion toHolland, Michigan, the students were givena brief overview of Christian ReformedChurch history by Dr. Robert Swierenga inthe historic Pillar Church.

Overall, the orientation was a great suc-cess. In the future we hope to make the ori-entation a two-way street, also orientingNorth American students to life in the CTSinternational community. As Dr. Henry DeMoor said in his orientation meditation,international students not only can receivemuch at CTS; they also can give much. This

year CTS students come from21 countries and bring a richvariety of God-given gifts.The more we can encouragethe expression and sharing ofthese gifts, the richer we willall be, and the more God’skingdom will flourish.

—Richard E. Sytsma, Dean of Students &

International Student Advisor

From the World to West Michigan

by Richard E. Sytsma

International Student Orientation group gathers withCTS staff members Rich Sytsma and Ina DeMoor.

The pastors of the future are askingquestions in churches today.

They’re wondering about God andchallenging what the church believes.

They’re looking for answers in a changingworld that offers lots of choices.

Which students do you think God ispreparing for a calling to ministry?

They aren’t the best-behaved ones.

They don’t ever wear “pulpit clothes.”

They don’t settle for easy answers.

They do want faith that works and makes sense today.

They do care about the world beyondtheir local church and community.

They do want to know God.

Listen to their questions, and point them to another great place for asking questions.

Could he be your pastor some day? Could he be your pastor some day?

C A L V I N T H E O L O G I C A L S E M I N A R YClassical theological education for contemporary ministry in a global context.

C A L V I N T H E O L O G I C A L S E M I N A R YClassical theological education for contemporary ministry in a global context.

Calvin Theological Seminary3233 Burton St. SEGrand Rapids, MI 49546

Non-profit org.U.S. Postage

PAIDGrand Rapids, MI

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