PRBI Spring Trumpet 2023

College News

We are excited about our Performing Arts Showcase being held on Friday, March 31 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 2 at 2:30 p.m. Please join us for an inspirational evening or afternoon of music, drama, and student testimonies. There will be a time to visit over refreshments after the service.

On a recent trip to PRBI, one of our alumni, Dr. Rebecca Epp, was introduced to the Discovery Bible Study method that we use in discipleship with our students. She decided to try it out when she returned to the mission field. Rebecca emailed us to let us know how it has been going. “I’ve done 4 weeks of DBS with our chaplain department and our head chaplain loves it! He’s using it at church and it’s even changed the way he’s preaching and sharing in chapel. It’s encouraging to see. It’s a great tool.”

PRBI has a long history of supporting Bible camp ministry. Students are encouraged to practise what they are learning by serving children and teens at camp. For this reason, we host an annual Camp Day for representatives to promote their camps. It is a day of fun and interaction with camp personnel. We were blessed to see that six of this year’s ten camps were represented by PRBI alumni.

Alumnus, Arnold Newman, went to be with his Lord in December 2022. He was 101 years old. Arnold graduated from PRBI in 1951. His four years here grounded him in God’s Word and shaped him for a life of service to Jesus. He was a faithful supporter of PRBI up to the final months of his life.

We thank God for His provision through those who gave to our February fundraising campaign. $81,938 was raised to enable us to help students encounter Christ and be trained for ministry in their churches and the world. Thank you to all who give throughout the year.

The building of the new maintenance facility has begun and will be finished by late spring. We look forward to a modern building replacing the 46-year-old Quonset. If you would like to give to this $250,000 project, please designate your gift to New Maintenance Facility.

Youth Alert was an exciting time with 150 grade 10 to 12+ students joining us for the weekend. Students enjoyed fun events such as Thursday Night Live, as well as opportunities to draw closer to God through both worship and messages by alumnus, Caleb Barkman. Our guests also experienced college-level academics by attending two Bible classes.

Training for the Shortage

We have heard a lot about supply chain shortages in recent months. Maybe you have experienced them first-hand when a product you need seems to have disappeared with no sign of when it will be available again. Shortages get our attention, particularly when they affect our way of life.

A looming shortage in a significant area of our lives has caught the attention of researchers. An impending pastor shortage is facing the church, and it is only a decade away, according to a study commissioned by The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada1. Half of the present clergy in Canada will reach retirement within twelve years. Will the supply of biblically-trained pastors meet the growing demand?

PRBI is committed to addressing this shortage as we continue to fulfil our historical mission mandate, “To conduct a Bible College, the training of students in a thorough knowledge of the Word of God, Holy Scriptures,

Kim Carins President

and the training of students to become ministers, whether at home or abroad.”

Students can pursue a four-year bachelor’s degree with a major in pastoral ministry and, for those who are called to youth ministry we also offer a youth pastor specialization. Presently, we have seven students enrolled in the pastoral program and we are committed to their training. All of our full-time faculty have served as either lead or youth pastors, and one of our local pastors teaches a course each semester to our pastoral students. Other area pastors are valuable resources as pastoral mentors and guest lecturers, sharing their experience of ministry with our students and answering their questions.

Training for pastoral ministry begins with spiritual formation and a firm foundation in discipleship. We instruct students in spiritual disciplines and they participate in a discipleship group for growth and accountability.

The shaping of the person must precede the development of the skills.

Next, the student will learn how to study and interpret the Scriptures and will take classes in all the major parts of the Bible. Our aim is for the student to become “a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Tm 2:15b).

We encourage development in the important task of critical thinking with a heavy emphasis on theology, history, ethics, and worldviews. Students explore studies in missions, evangelism, and apologetics. Speaking and presentation skills are taught and practised in the classroom and chapel. Along with our Biblefocused curriculum, we offer courses in people helping, family studies, as well as electives in dealing with people caught in an addiction.

The practical aspects of pastoral training are addressed in leadership courses and specialized studies where students learn the role of a pastor. Pastoral students must serve in local ministries as part of their field education requirements. Each one will also spend three months in a church doing an internship and learning firsthand from seasoned mentors.

Seminaries have become quite flexible in offering ongoing training with modular approaches that allow the pastor to remain in the church while continuing their education. The Bible College offers a solid foundation to build upon and is the gateway to vocational ministry!

How does training workers for ministry fit into our overall philosophy? Most of our pastoral majors do not come intending to go into vocational ministry. For the majority, it is during their first or second year that they hear the call of Jesus on their life and change course. We hope to train many pastors, but we also want welltrained lay people who can serve in the church. We offer training and discipleship to all, knowing that a smaller number will go the distance with us into vocational ministry to fill the vacancies.

Although PRBI can do much in training a pastor, we understand the need for continued training, even as a student steps into a ministry role.

What is your part in addressing the shortage? First, pray for the Lord of the harvest to send out workers. Pastors need a strong sense of calling to endure the demands of ministry. Second, encourage young people to attend Bible College. Every church can use better trained lay people and, who knows, you might be God’s prompt in a young person’s life to pursue the calling of pastor! 1https://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/

Financial Update

Peace River Bible Institute Statement of Operations and Budget

July 2022 - January 2023

Why not today?

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Jeremiah failed as a prophet. It is the second thing we find out about him in the biblical book that bears his name. The first thing we find out is that he did not go into the family business. Both of these facts surface before any mention of his calling – but both are key to understanding it.

For six years now at PRBI, I have taught on the subject of calling in a course titled Kingdom Service. Originally the course was meant to provide some direction on calling for upperclassmen just before they graduated. In designing the course, I was inspired by a project my wife had worked on as she finished her degree in nutrition.

Common to many applied science programs, a capstone project seeks to round out the learning journey and present the student as a capable researcher and budding practitioner.

Our own capstone assignment is driven by these same goals and prompted by the question, what’s next?

We seek to challenge every student to turn a personal encounter with Jesus Christ into service that energizes their church and impacts their world. Accordingly, for the past three years, Kingdom Service has been part of the first-year curriculum. The capstone project is an opportunity for students to present their potential calling in the kingdom.

Even today, students can sense the force of a parent’s vocation weighing heavily upon them. Jeremiah, born into a family of priests, did not follow his father. Some digging uncovers that Jeremiah’s family were not ordinary temple priests. Generations before

Capstone

Scott Butler Faculty

his birth, Jeremiah’s ancestor Abiathar had been involved in a plot to betray King Solomon and was banished from Jerusalem (1 Ki 2:26-27). Taking up as a priest of a shrine in Anathoth, he participated in the very idolatry that Solomon himself had invited through his many marriages to foreign women. Jeremiah’s own ancestors contributed to the religious syncretism that ultimately led their nation to exile.

Jeremiah, likely expected to follow in the same vocation of his fathers, was instead called to a frontline attack against it. Together with God’s other prophets, he denounced the false priests in their high places – calling them out as a symptom of the larger disease of idolatry and breach of covenant. So not only did Jeremiah abandon the family business, all his efforts were directed towards bankrupting it. Unfortunately, he failed.

Mention of his failure is ever so subtle: Jeremiah’s prophecy “came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month” (Je 1:3). Did you catch it? Even before Jeremiah is called, it is announced that Judah went into captivity – precisely that thing the prophetic ministry sought to prevent (Je 26:3). Talk about giving away the ending! For a career’s worth of warning and pleading, the people

not only went into exile but resolved to sin harder (Je 44:17-18)!

It would make for a difficult semester if I made this same announcement about impending failure at the beginning of our course. Nevertheless, the meaning of the message is key: calling depends neither upon parental expectations nor even ultimate success. While the times and circumstances have changed, the God who calls has not. In fact, when it comes to calling, He alone remains constant. He is the One, Jeremiah soon discovered, that forms, knows, sanctifies, appoints (Je 1:5), sends, commands (v. 7), and rescues (vv. 8, 19). The Caller bears so much of the responsibility that admission of failure is hardly the main concern.

Our capstone project seeks to build on just this foundation: what unique factors has the Caller initiated in your life?

We start building on the very first day by asking, “Where don’t I fit?” It may seem like a dangerous place to start, considering Moses’ own ineffective plea that he was under-qualified (Ex 4:10) or Jonah’s poor sense of direction based on a traditional prejudice (Jo 1:3). Nevertheless, we have permission to admit we might be prophets in a family of priests. Next, we explore those scriptures or concerns that have surfaced in our lives so far. What experiences among God’s people have sparked special joy

or energy? For whom have we been shouldered with a burden for prayer or care? Which issues do we seem especially fortified against or towards in a broken world (Je 1:18)?

Another piece of the puzzle we examine in the larger picture of calling is personality. Among the many tools available, the one of greatest significance to me personally is the Myers-Briggs types. I walk the students through four items that seek to gauge preferences in social engagement, sensory interpretation, information processing, and decision making. Hard on the heels of personality is a similar reflective inventory of spiritual gifts. Interesting questions and interpretations always crop up as we contemplate the proportion of God’s grace given to each one in the various categories of gifting and ministry (Ro 12:6-8).

We conclude with what might be my favourite section: a study of the

“cultural mandate” found in Genesis 1:28 along with all of its inherent possibilities. Here we consider that when God was finished His own creative work, the place of delight He set Adam was a workplace (Ge 2:8) to “till and keep” (Ge 2:15). Subdue and organize, reflective of God’s own actions to rule and create, were the standing orders. As much as we make disciples in response to the Great Commission, we also discuss how we ourselves can honour this mandate. Students are challenged to imagine themselves tilling and keeping fields as diverse as business, medicine, and art.

You are invited to attend our students’ capstone presentations as a come-andgo event in classroom 5 of Ruark Hall between 8:00 and 9:15 AM on Tuesday, April 11th and Thursday, April 13th. Each student will share unique insights about their own calling in a 3 to 5 minute presentation at an interactive booth.

Scott has served as PRBI faculty since 2015. He is married to Jane and they have a young son and daughter.

MAINTENANCE FACILITY 2023

By the time you read this, the building of our much-needed new maintenance facility will be well underway. We expect it to be completed by June. Will you consider partnering with us to cover the $250,000 cost? Please designate your gift to New Maintenance Facility.

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April 22, 2023 | 10 am | Peace River Bible Institute

April 22, 2023 | 10 am | Peace River Bible Institute

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COMING EVENTS

PERFORMING ARTS SHOWCASE

GRADUATION

FALL CONCERT

90TH YEAR EVENTS

MARCH 31 & APRIL 2

APRIL 22

SEPTEMBER 8

TBD

GET INVOLVED

MONTHLY GIVING

BE A PRAYER PARTNER

REFER A STUDENT

LEGACY GIVING

SCHOLARSHIPS & BURSARIES

Peace River Bible Institute is recognized as a degree-granting Bible College by the Province of Alberta. Building on Christ as our foundation, PRBI values Biblical Training, Authentic Relationships, Kingdom Service, and Strategic Partnerships. Our vision is that every student encounters Christ in ways that transform their life, energize their church, and impact their world. We are a Bible College for Life!

For more information on our Mission, Vision, and Values, go to www.prbi.edu.

The TRUMPET is the magazine of Peace River Bible Institute. It is comprised of contributions from faculty, sta , alumni, and students who are passionate about making disciples in their churches and communities. If you have any comments, please email us at development@prbi.edu. Printed in Canada.