Regent World Fall 2003 by Regent Publications

THE REGENT

Fall 2003 • Volume 15, Number 1

Place and Space INSIDE: Place and Space ........1-2 Continuing Support...............3 Faculty Profile..................4 Translations of the Word ........5 Annual Report..............6-7 Summer School Students ........8-10 Faculty News .................10 Regent College Publishing .........11 Upcoming Events................11 Bookstore.........12

ocated in the heart of Austria, Schloss Mittersill is a 16th-century castle that hosts conferences, personal and communal retreats, and offers courses through a study centre. The setting is gorgeous, with the castle perched high on the side of a mountain overlooking the Italian Alps, with views down the valley that take your breath away. While teaching at the Schloss this summer, I was impressed by the rich history of the castle. I sensed that I was participating in a much larger story than my own as I walked the corridors. From Mittersill, our family went to Italy and spent four days in Venice and another four days in Rome. I was struck again and again by the grandeur of those two cities and was fascinated with the buildings that graced the landscape. Frankly, it is hard for me to describe the experience of walking around the Piazza San Marco, St. Peter’s Basilica, and drinking in Michelangelo’s work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. I came home with a renewed appreciation for the importance of place and space. Yet, is it only the sense of centuries of history and the grandeur of architecture that lends consequence to places and spaces? Returning to Regent my first day back, I drove on to the University Endowment lands and was impressed again with the beauty of

Crucifixion of Our Lord 16th-century, Cretan School, Collection of Heiko Schlieper (see p.5). Photo by Bruce Jeffrey

this place. The blue of the ocean, the silent majesty of the mountains, and the richness of the trees and flowers provide such a beautiful context for an academic environment. Not many evangelical institutions in Canada have such geographical privilege. As Regent’s building came into view, sitting right at Gate One of the University of British Columbia, I was reminded again of

ROD WILSON, PRESIDENT

the significance of this location — a place strategically positioned to fulfill a mission. And then came the walk into the building. Not large, by many standards, but welcoming of light and sunshine, the building is not without significance. Met first by the atrium, with its tables, chairs, coffee bar, and bookstore, I am reminded of the priority placed on relationships, community, dialogue. It is an open building, airy and spacious in spite of its size – a space that physically facilitates a vision.

Place The founders of the College saw great value in being close to and associated with a major university. They took place seriously. For it is on the university campus where minds and hearts of future leaders have the greatest capacity to be educated and formed. To this end, there remains a shared commitment by the board, administration, faculty, staff, and constituencies to keep the College in its location on the University of British Columbia campus. Here, the College plays a significant role in being Christ’s presence at, literally, the main entrance to the UBC campus. The process by which Regent College was able to obtain this prime real estate is clear evidence of God’s provision. In 1975 the College moved from the basement of Vancouver School of Theology when it purchased two fraternity houses from a developer. For many years, the College made use of these run-down houses and, during this time, tried to purchase the vacant, adjacent lot. Through unique and unexpected circumstances the Province offered to sell the vacant lot to the College for $1 with the proviso that it be maintained as a park. Today, the land and existing building of the College are wholly owned by the College and debt-free. There is a clear sense of God’s calling to be in this place on the UBC campus.

Space The College’s physical space is not incidental to its ability to fulfill its mission. Students come from around the world to participate and study in a learning community. The space provided within the

building is a critical aspect to both accommodate and foster good learning for these students. Just as we believe that virtual learning cannot compare with face-to-face dialogue, virtual space is no substitute for physical space, which fosters an environment of learning together for the greater benefit of God’s kingdom. Architecture, like other art forms, makes a statement of values and purpose. The shape and openness of space within Regent College resembles our desires to be Christ’s light to the world and to be open to his call. Our hope is that it also provides functional space for students with all the resources necessary for their learning. It is impossible to envision a future for Regent College, which does not include a space that symbolizes and supports the core value of learning in an environment where relationships matter. In her book, The Power of Place: How Our Surroundings Shape Our Thoughts, Emotions, and Actions (New York: Poseidon Press, 1993, p. 17), Winnifred Gallagher posits that “any big conference of scientists concerned with the future of our planet or species includes presentations and discussions of the relationship between people and places.” As we look to the future of Regent, and ascertain our building needs particularly for the Library and classrooms, I am encouraged that we can do so with a recognition that God

has strategically located Regent College at this place, and has provided us with a missionally driven space that affirms the priority of people and facilitates the cultivation of community.

The Regent WORLD Fall 2003, Volume 15, Number 1 Editor

Dal Schindell

Design/Layout

Rosi Petkova

Writing

Susan Kennedy, Alvin Ung

Photography Martha Hyman, Bruce Jeffrey, Jay Shaw Photography Printing

Western Printers

5800 University Boulevard Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 2E4 Toll-free: 1-800-663-8664 Phone: 604-224-3245 Fax: 604-224-3097 Website: www.regent-college.edu

Options For You Cash flow can be tight at times and it is the gifts from our monthly donors that help to meet the persistent expenses that must be met every month. We are deeply thankful to these men and women who have pledged to provide this critical assistance. We would ask that you consider joining this group. For the cost of several cups of coffee a month, you can made a significant annual contribution to assist in providing for the training of the students who are called to Regent. The Pre-Authorized Chequing Plan, Planned Post-dated Cheques and the Credit Card Donation Programs are three ways that you can financially assist the College. Please contact the External Relations department at Regent College and ask for a copy of our monthly donor program brochure. This publication will answer all your questions on how you can become a part of this important group of financial partners. Please call the Development Office toll free at 1-800663-8664, e-mail us at <external-relations@regent-college.edu> or access our website at <www.regent-college.edu> for your copy or for more information.

Willemina Zwart, the graduate chosen by the students, spoke at Convocation on “The True Measure of our Regent Experience.” She concluded that the true measure is not the amount of words we have learned, but how much we look like the Word.

Good News While the final figures are still to be ratified by the Board of Governors, we are pleased to report that the Student Support Subsidy for the 2002/03 school year was met. We are truly thankful to God! These funds are raised through the generous contributions of alumni and friends from all over the world. We do not take their gifts for granted, but rather accept their donations as caretakers of resources entrusted to us. And it is only

the continuing support each year from these individuals, and others like them, that we are able to continue to meet the financial need represented by the students who are called to Regent. The tuition subsidy required for the number of students during this school year is $1,282,000. This is an increase over last year, primarily as a result of a growth in the cost of existing activities rather than new programs. We ask that you prayerfully

consider becoming a partner in education this year through providing a gift to the Student Support Program. If you haven’t supported the students at Regent in the past, please join us this year. Your investment in the lives of the students at the College means that men and women will be equipped to make a difference in the world. These individuals are the Christian leaders of the future in the marketplace, the academy and the church. Your support today means changes in the world tomorrow. 3

CONTINUING SUPPORT

he Regent World is a snapshot of what’s happening at Regent for those members of the community who don’t have the opportunity to

visit the building regularly. Although this publication is sent out three times a year, it can only provide a brief glimpse of life at Regent. Have you ever wondered about the pieces that are left out? The College is a hive of activity for most of the year: students from all over the world sit in the classrooms and have coffee in the Atrium; faculty teach and meet with students and the staff make sure that the structure that supports all of the activity is in place. Much of this is probably known, but you probably don’t know about the many dedicated partners who don’t find their place inside the building and aren’t featured in The Regent World. There are faithful members of the broader Regent community who provide the means by which the College can continue to operate. They have committed to regular financial support. This dedication on the part of these individuals is deeply appreciated and a vital part of ensuring lower tuition for students. We’d like to introduce you to few of these important financial partners: those men and women who join our monthly donor program.

FACULTY PROFILE

Cindy Derrenbacker

“W

hen I got this job,” laughs Regent’s new Library Director Cindy Derrenbacker, “my mom reminded me that in the spring of ’93 I had attended a library conference co-sponsored by Regent and V.S.T. I had been very impressed. I said, if there’s ever a position at Regent, I’d like to go there.” When Cindy was contacted about Regent’s library directorship in January of 2003, she says she and her husband, Bob, thought, “Chances are, there wouldn’t be anything for Bob.” She continues, “We wouldn’t have come if there had not been a position for Bob. Bob and I were really looking for a place we could settle into so we could work together, as a team, in ministry together.” It turns out Regent pursued both Bob and Cindy independently of each other, and Bob has become Regent’s newest New Testament scholar. The Derrenbackers now live only five minutes from Regent. They moved to the Point Grey neighbourhood because of its proximity to Regent and to the school and daycare they chose for their seven-year-old daughter Chloe and their three-year-old 4

son Jack, respectively. Cindy and Bob have arranged their work schedules so Bob can drop the kids off in the morning and Cindy can pick them up in the afternoon. “For four or five years, I was a stay-at-home mother,” she says in her soft voice. Listening to all the things she has done, it’s amazing to think she has fit in years of full-time motherhood. Originally an American, Cindy says she grew up “in the shadows of Princeton Theological Seminary.” Starting in grade ten, she attended a boarding school outside of Boston. As an undergraduate, she majored in political science at Wheaton College, where she met Bob. She has worked in admissions at Gordon College, been fellowship coordinator for the graduate school of Syracuse University, taken her Master’s in library science at Syracuse (while working full-time), been library director at Wycliffe College in Toronto, consulted for Wycliffe and the archives at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and consulted, written grant proposals, and been development officer for the American Theological Library Association. Most recently, she worked as Public Services Librarian at Tyndale College and Seminary. “I really enjoy working in a library,” says Cindy. “There’s no question. The challenge for me is to create boundaries and have balance in my life.” To that end, Cindy has a stationary bike in her office. “It doesn’t imply anything!” she laughs, saying she sometimes thinks about exercise more than actually exercising. “It’s for when I want to stay up with library literature and articles. I figure I can read and cycle at the same time.” While working as library director at Wycliffe College, an Anglican theological school at the University of Toronto, Cindy gained experience working within

the context of the university library system. The libraries of the seven theological colleges on campus and the University of Toronto are fully integrated. At Wycliffe, Cindy worked especially closely with Trinity College, another Anglican divinity school on campus, “Because in the end,” she says, “you’re training students to work in the Anglican church together, and they will eventually be colleagues.” Because of this experience working in an integrated library system, Cindy’s first full week of work at Regent included talking with library staff at the University of British Columbia. She says, “In any way we can pursue a connection with the UBC library, we will. I know we are a small player. But we also have something to offer that is unique—for religious studies students, for example.” “At Regent,” Cindy says, “you really get the sense that people do take the library very seriously. How wonderful to have resources and materials that are actually used—heavily. The library staff here have actually been telling me that, because of space issues, we do not ever recall all of the books—there wouldn’t be room for them all.” Looking toward the near future, Cindy says, “You can anticipate a new integrated library system that is webbased. Our current DOS system is antiquated, and a web-based system will help students and faculty in their research, and staff in working efficiently. I’m also interested in acquiring additional electronic resources that are related to theology.” Her eyes light up as she says, “I get excited about the opportunity to work with the faculty. I really want the library to complement what students are learning in the classroom. As graduates leave Regent, hopefully we’ve instilled a love for learning and for hearing God’s word in different ways. Some of those ways are through lectures, informal conversations with faculty and students, and community groups, and also through reading the literature of theology.” Cindy looks out into the Regent library and smiles. “I am impressed with the quality of students here,” she says. “There is a certain kind of energy and excitement that I’m glad to be a part of.”

T anslations of the Wo d “It was my fault!” jokes Dal Schindell, director of Regent’s Lookout Art Gallery. In a more serious moment, Dal says of this spring’s Translations of the Word exhibition: “It is the biggest single thing we’ve done in the gallery, so it was an expensive effort in both time and money.” One donation covered most of the expenses. Translations of the Word took place in two locations at Regent: the Lookout Art

1880. Central to the exhibition was a contemporary series of icons on the twelve Great Feasts of the Church by painter Heiko Schlieper. The highlight of the show was the icon Crucifixion of Our Lord, from the sixteenth century (see p. 1). Also of crowd-drawing significance were the etchings by Marc Chagall, the woodcut by Albrecht Dürer, and the intaglios by Georges Rouault. There were

The title page from the Dort Bible

Gallery and the Houston Packer Rare Book Room of the library. It richly complemented Regent’s spring conference and courses on The Bible and the Nations. Dal explains, “It is important for people to see all the ways the Bible is translated into word and art through these displays. One of the problems with North American evangelicals is that we have very short memories. This exhibition was an opportunity to connect to traditions that go back hundreds of years.” The Lookout Art Gallery held an amazing variety of visual translations of the Word. One of the highlights was a Torah scroll, complete with crowns, breastplate, mantle, and wimple, circa

notable engravings by English poet William Blake and French illustrator Gustave Doré, among others. The library’s Rare Book Room held equally impressive print translations of the Word. Two translations of remarkable significance were: the oldest book on display, a 1480 Latin Vulgate Biblia Sacra, and the 1613 second edition of the King James Bible. This version of the King James is known as the Dort Bible. Twice in its existence, it has been hidden and forgotten for decades: in the Presbyterian Church in Dort, Holland in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and, more recently, in Christ Church Trinity in Invermere, B.C.

EXHIBITION

David Giesbrecht with one of the Bibles

The Dort Bible and the Biblia Sacra were not by any means the only notable translations on display. There was a Tyndale Bible reprinted from the 1526 edition, two Geneva Bibles (1562 and 1597), an Erasmus Greek New Testament (1542), and the New Testament translated into English by John Wycliffe (1848) and into German by Martin Luther (1567). Dal is quick to assign praise for Translations of the Word to several other individuals. The core of original visual pieces in the art gallery came from an exhibition called Anno Domini: Jesus through the Centuries, which was assembled by folklife curator David Goa for the Provincial Museum of Alberta. David drove to Regent from Edmonton, his car bulging with valuable museum pieces. He put in a lot of work here with us to make sure everything was just right. The prints — from the sixteenth to the twentieth century — were from the collections of Sandra Bowden (Massachusetts) and Edward and Diane Knippers (Washington, D. C.). The many print translations of the Bible came from private collections, as well as the Vancouver School of Theology and UBC. They were collected for the exhibition by acting librarian David Giesbrecht and Regent professor Sven Soderlund.

A Future Rooted in th 586

306

290

168

147

30 1 *GRST DipCS MCS

MDiv

MTS

Students in Programs

32%

33%

19%

11% 4% 0–29

30–39 40–49 50–59

Age Breakdown

ThM Unclassified *Admitted to graduate studies, but not yet in a specific program.

60+

Fall is a time of new beginnings. For most people the lull of the summer holiday season has passed and the frantic activity of September has started. Here at Regent College a new school year has begun; a new group is joining the returning students and the classes for the Fall term have begun. The Atrium is buzzing with activity – last year seems far away, yet it was only a few short months ago that we closed the chapter that was the 2002/2003 school year. But, like a book, the preceding chapters tell a story to influence the future. Looking back over the past year, we have much for which to be thankful. God has blessed Regent greatly. The student body continued to be a dynamic and diverse group of men and women from 49 countries on six continents. From South Africa to Japan, Iceland to India, individuals from every walk of life found their place within this community, enriching and adding to the learning experience found at Regent. With God’s distinct call on their lives and within the environment created in the College, these students learned much from each other – the differences of language, culture, and purpose were subsumed in their commonly held vision of learning more of God, allowing him to work in their lives and walking in faith as he reveals himself in their lives and in this community. It is a pleasure to report that 186 diplomas and degrees were granted to these students at the culmination of the year’s activities, Convocation. In late April, over 2,000 people celebrated with our graduates at the ceremony at Broadway Church in Vancouver. Those same graduates can now be found across Canada from British Columbia to New Brunswick; in the US from California to Maryland and from

Texas to Minnesota. In fact, they are now found world-wide as a part of the almost 3,350 alumni in over 80 countries around the world. Summer School 2002 was a highlight for the Regent community and the 922 individuals who chose to take courses in a non-traditional format. Of this group, over half were not enrolled in a particular course of study but rather chose to deepen their relationship with God by joining us for a short period of time through one and two week classes. Faculty included Jeremy Begbie, Alan Torrance, Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen and our own Darrell Johnson and James Houston to name just a few. The boundaries of the Regent building are stretched by the student activities in locations other than Vancouver. Continuing Studies at Regent finds its home in Alaska, Austria and other places around the world. Over 300 people took courses by correspondence during this past year and an additional group of 32 people took classes through our cohort programs. Back home in Vancouver, our Evening and Weekend Schools provided additional opportunities for non-traditional learning with faculty like Charles Ringma and “Building Christian Communities,” and Mary Ruth Wilkinson with “Books, Children & God.” We are also pleased to report that Regent College and the China Graduate School of Theology presented the first jointly sponsored Summer School in Hong Kong this past year. Regent faculty members Gordon Fee, Rod Wilson, and Gordon T. Smith joined CGST faculty member Wallace Louie in offering classes during a period of one week in which over 400 people participated.

66 45

4 DipCS MCS

MDiv

ThM

Degrees Granted

Regent College is a charter member of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities. The Regent College Foundation is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Together, we uphold their standards for financial accountability. Audited financial statements for both organizations are available upon request. All donations solicited are used for the purposes stated by the donor in Board recognized and approved programs. We honour your right to confidentiality and do not buy or sell mailing list information. If you have questions on this, or any other matter, please contact the External Relations Office at (604)224-3245 toll free 1-800-663-8664 or e-mail: external-relations@regent-college.edu.

The heart of the College is found in the equipping of men and women for service in God’s kingdom – wherever that might be. These individuals, however, are not always members of our student body. During the year, Regent sponsored a number of conferences and special events that were designed to touch members of our communities in ways outside of a traditional academic setting. Over 1,000 people were involved in conferences like “The Church and the Marketplace,” with faculty Gordon Fee, Pete Hammond, Laura Nash and others. “Treasure in Earthen Vessels,” with faculty members Darrell Johnson and Gerald Sittser, “Christians in the Marketplace,” the Christian Life Conference with Mark Buchanan (an alumnus), the Fall Theology Conference and the Laing Lectures with Peter Berger were several of the events that provided an opportunity for Regent to engage the wider community. But it is as we look at the activities that have marked this past year that we are grateful to recognize the silent partners who have made all of them possible. The

financial assistance of women and men, a number of whom have been committed to the mission of Regent for many years, enriches and enlarges the Regent story, building on what’s been established to further the vision of the College. It is also as we review student life at the College during this year that we are again reminded that many of our current students are drawn to Regent as a result of relationships with alumni and friends whose own connection with the College reaches back into our history. We are deeply indebted to these who have gone before, who continue to hold the College up in prayer, who continue to tell the Regent story and who invest, personally and financially, in the life of this community. The ongoing depth of Regent’s mission and the continuing strength in the student body is rooted in the bonds established over these many years. Our future is ensured by our past. And, as we look to the future, the chapters already written will shape and strengthen the Regent story to unfold.

15% 14%

7% 5%

Presbyterian Anglican Mennonite Baptist Pentecostal Alliance

Denominational Mix (The remaining 51% include many other denominations.)

41% 38%

21%

Our Commitment Regent College commits itself to accept the gifts of God’s people with thanksgiving, to invest these resources with accountability in responsible and relevant training of God’s people, and to continue to support those investments by encouraging the worldwide ministry of its graduates who seek to make a difference in the marketplace, the academy, and in the church.

Inter- United Canada national States

Citizenship

Combined Operating, Capital, Bookstore, and Specific Purposes Funds (Statement of Operations and Changes in Fund Balances)

Expenses

Income Donations and Grants 19%

Bookstore Sales 19%

Endowment Investment & Other Income 1% 1%

Academic Services and Supplies 2%

Depreciation 6%

Cost of Goods Sold 10%

Scholarships and Student Aid 12%

57%

Tuition & Fees 60%

Tuition and Fees Donations and Grants Bookstore Sales Endowment Investment and Other Income Total 2002–2003 Income

$4,852,675 $1,553,243 $1,500,327 $89,001 $103,358 $8,098, 604

Salaries & Benefits 54%

Salaries and Benefits Program, Office and Facilities Costs Scholarships and Student Aid Cost of Goods Sold Depreciation Academic Services and Supplies Total 2002–2003 Expenses

Program, Office and Facilities Costs 16%

$4,531,779 $1,315, 465 $987, 499 $849, 255 $456, 782 $182, 355 $8,323,135

43%

Female Male

Gender

SUMMER SCHOOL STUDENTS

William Turner

“Would you like coffee, juice, or a smoothie?” asks William Turner as I sit down at a table in Regent’s atrium. When he returns from The Well, he hands me an apple juice and says, “Tell me about yourself.” As an entrepreneur, William has been interviewed so many times he’d rather be asking the questions than answering them. This is not because he has nothing to say. It’s because he loves people. As a young boy, William immigrated from Scotland to Canada, and if his father didn’t work, the family didn’t eat. He says, “Many of the arguments in my family were about money. At a young age— maybe twelve—I decided to solve this problem by becoming a businessman.” At one stage early in his adult life, William was penniless, but today he has achieved financial success. A chartered accountant, he started Canada’s first reverse-mortgage company fifteen years ago. He recently sold the company, and he says of the next ten years, “I am an apprenticing artist.” “I have a terrific wife,” says William. “Sometimes Judi delivers her messages of encouragement through putting pamphlets in front of me.” One of those pamphlets told William about Lindsay Farrell’s studio art class this summer. William had been to Regent for lectures by Dr. Houston, and he and Judi had come to the bookstore every three months for a stack of books, but he had not considered attending classes here. 8

“Our faith is a relational faith. The secular business world is substantially about relations. The two must necessarily mix, albeit uncomfortably sometimes. Through this our God matures our faith,” says William. “I knew how to succeed in the secular world. And I went to church on Sunday mornings.” This division of work and faith is quite a contrast with William’s two weeks at Regent. Here, he has colleagues who say, “Let’s pray about that,” when discussing details of their paintings. William says, “We want to see God’s creation. It’s about moving beyond the restrictions we have accumulated for ourselves. The first few days, our art was tight and guarded, but by Thursday we were trusting and affirming each other. The struggle of creating exposes you to the group. It says something about who you are. Art will reflect real Christianity.” What does William think of the overall Summer School experience? He readily admits, “I did not anticipate the joy of doing something of interest to me with Christians. It’s amazing knowing there’s trust and you can talk about art from a Christian perspective!”

Steve Chisholm

The sleek-bodied, long-haired blond is supposed to stay home but follows Steve Chisholm’s truck down the alley. In their five weeks in Vancouver, this is the first disobedience. Steve’s goldenhaired, bright-eyed friend has endearingly followed Steve’s wishes with small children, during concerts, and on the beach. But Bodie, Steve’s golden retriever, is so

devoted to his owner that he’s not pleased to be left at home. Both Bodie and Steve are familiar faces around Regent this summer. Steve is on a “scouting trip” to see if Regent is the place to complete his theological studies, and he’s taken three classes. He has also participated in many extracurricular activities organized by the Regent community during Summer School, including kayaking, hiking, soccer, and barbecues on the beach. “Full-time students are good about making summer school students feel welcome,” Steve says. “No one gets ignored.” For much of his career, Steve has worked with Young Life. Most recently, he started up a Young Life group in a Marion, Virginia high school. “It is risky,” he says. “Nobody knows you and you have to have faith to build something.” “It was not necessarily the good kids I worked with,” he says. “It was the kids that reminded me of me. Teens are so honest!” “Ministry was never what I wanted to do,” says Steve. “I didn’t like church, and I didn’t go to youth group. I partied and was a typical teenager. It was as an adult that I realized I didn’t like drifting away from God anymore.” After nine years of parachurch ministry, Steve says, “I was talking about church and Christianity with my kids, but I wasn’t necessarily living the most balanced life.” Already, Steve says, “I know myself better because of others at Regent. The students have had the most influence on me. It is so powerful when you get people from different places together, trying to follow God the best way they know how.” Like the teens he’s worked with, Steve is clearly more interested in true heart changes than in Christian talk. Was his summer scouting trip to Regent successful? Steve says, “Let me know if you hear of a house that’ll take a dog. Then I’ll be able to come.” Like Bodie, Steve is more interested in jumping in the truck with his master than staying home where he’s comfortable. (Steve has enrolled as a full-time student this fall.)

Linda Del Fabro Smith

Barry Grimster Linda Del Fabro Smith has wanted to take Lindsay Farrell’s studio art class for five or six summers. This year, her husband Cory, a Regent student himself, said, “Let’s make it work.” However, Linda had just started a new research position with a rehabilitation centre, and they refused to give her time off. She insisted the course was important to her, and the centre finally let her come. But after a full day’s work of painting, she still has after-hours meetings with clients, and she’s had to specially arrange childcare for her seventeen-month-old son Hayden. Linda is a painter, a mother, a wife, and an occupational therapist. “I am definitely not complacent,” she says, neatly dressed in a red and white striped shirt and navy shorts, her hair beautifully in place. Her eyes dance when she talks about her many passions: her son, her husband, community, food, young married couples, the Alpha program, clinical research, the therapeutic relationship, people with brain injuries, and art. “Painting encompasses all those things. If I’m not expressing myself through painting, then there are bits of myself in tension because of all these roles,” she says, her shirt and shorts largely hidden by a navy apron covered with blotches of paint. “And when I paint I can actually cleanse myself through the sacredness of painting.” Her two weeks at Regent have allowed Linda to experience the sacredness of paint-

In twenty-nine years as a minister with the Church of England in Woking, England, this is the first time Barry has been able to take a three-month sabbatical. He has chosen to spend a third of it at Regent’s Summer School, auditing courses that will help him relate Christ to his postmodern culture. “Over the past years, England has increasingly become a spiritual wilderness, and it’s a wonderful privilege to come to Regent to sharpen my mind with a worldclass Christian faculty,” says Barry, as he bites into a muffin during the lunch interview. “I’ve never traveled so far in my life, and I’m enjoying every millisecond here!” He arrived at Regent with brand-new luggage, a new camera and books written by Regent professors. He missed his wife dearly but discovered some unexpected joys here: the great weather, the buses, and the daily chapel services conducted by Donna Dinsmore, which have inspired Barry to rethink worship-leading. Another source of joy for Barry has been his host family for the summer, Jim and Rita Houston. “I’ve experienced the completely unexpected grace of God — in the form of Mrs. Houston’s muffins,” he says as he polishes off yet another muffin.

Tamilarasi Kulandaivelu One grey Sunday afternoon, a thirteenyear-old boy enters a building with a horsebetting shop downstairs, tiptoes up to the second floor, and steps into the flat of a blind piano tuner, where eight people are already seated. Piano lessons? No. They’re discussing a book, The Principles of Theology. One day, this teenager will be studying with J.I.Packer, John Stackhouse and Jim Houston. But Rev. Barry Grimster, 54, remembers those Sunday night discussions above the horse-betting shop as some of the most life-changing events in his four decades as a Christian. “The entire group was like a mentor to me. I had the freedom to ask them many difficult questions about God, and they responded with incredible love and acceptance,” says Barry, who now pastors a church built in Norman times, around 1150 AD.

“It is beautiful!” laughs Rasi Kulandaivelu, and briefly her quick hands and tongue are still. One cannot help but 9

SUMMER SCHOOL STUDENTS

ing in a new way. She says, “How many post-grad schools have courses steeped in art and Creation perspective? There is wonderful support in the class. We need another week together! Everyone feels this.” “We are working to see what God has created,” Linda says, light in her eyes. “Grace is the personal part of it.” “I am a Martha,” admits Linda, referring to the sister of Mary and Lazarus. “But art is messy. It’s not about being Martha. This course has affirmed that art can be used to worship. Worship is messy. Sometimes art and worship are about taking yourself apart and then putting yourself back together.”

Gordon T. Smith

FACULTY NEWS

Gordon Smith, Academic Vice President/ Dean and associate professor of spiritual theology at Regent College, has become President of Overseas Council Canada, a non-profit organization that assists evangelical seminaries and colleges in the non-Western world with the training of Christian leaders.

Rod Wilson said last fall, in a memo to faculty, staff and students, “I am saddened to inform the Regent College community that Gordon T. Smith … has asked that his fiveyear term, which concludes on August 31, 2003, not be renewed. I have enjoyed

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feel the beauty of the “big adventure” of life when talking to Rasi. Her joy comes from the context of pain. Born in Singapore, her mother died in India when Rasi was four, and her father took Rasi back to Singapore and placed her in a Salvation Army home. There Rasi became a Christian. At one point, her father wanted to disown her for not following Hinduism. How could she reject her Indian identity? Despite his objections to her faith, Rasi did not neglect her father, who died four years ago. She says, “I cared for and supported him right to the end.” Indeed, Rasi cares for everyone. A nurse by training, she works as a lay leader in her church and has a passion for people 10

working with Gordon, appreciated both his integrity and industry, and valued his contribution to the ministry of this school.” Don Lewis, professor of church history, has replaced Gordon as the acting Dean of Faculty. At Regent, Gordon was highly regarded by students for the clarity of his teaching, his availability in meeting with students and his openness in sharing his personal joys and struggles during lectures and discussions. “I really appreciate his pastoral and systematic approach in teaching theology. He’d go the extra mile to spend time with students, and to engage us by listening with warmth and without distraction,” said Elona Lamaj, who enrolled in his Systematic Theology in Winter Term and worked for him as a teaching assistant in Gordon’s Summer School course on “The Meaning of the Sacraments.” Elona added that she read his book, Courage and Calling, while in Albania, and that spurred her to pursue her theological studies at Regent. Faculty praised him for his consultative approach and servant leadership during his tenure as Dean at Regent. John Stackhouse, professor of theology, said: “I value the order, clarity and linearity in his decision-making. Gordon worked with industry, integrity and insight. He believed strongly in sorting

things through by communicating person to person. He improved Regent College.” During his farewell address in May, Gordon highlighted his convictions on the importance of theological education, be it at Regent College, Overseas Council or throughout the world. “The discipline of scholarship and learning have such great potential. Theological education is at its best when theological schools sustain strategic relationships that support teaching and establish strategic partnerships with churches, businesses, retreat centres and monasteries. This work is an apostolic activity – it spreads the light, beginning with the dissipation of darkness in our lives.” Gordon is replacing Bill Armerding, the outgoing president of Overseas Council Canada, an international affiliate of Overseas Council. OC Canada, established in 1979, has partnered with Bible colleges, Christian universities and training projects in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Oceania and post-Communist Europe. OC Canada focuses on approximately thirty of some 100 internationally recognized schools and projects. Gordon’s responsibilities at OC Canada will include fund-raising and initiating new international projects. He will be teaching a course, “Conversion and Spirituality,” at Regent College in Summer School 2004.

who the church may marginalize: new believers, ladies with non-Christian husbands, and second-generation Christians who struggle to express their faith in their Asian family culture. What brings Rasi to Regent? Nothing less than God’s timing. Two years ago, she visited non-Christian friends working on the UBC campus in Vancouver, and it was then she stumbled upon Regent. This year, she was asked to accompany a grandmother and grandson to Vancouver just when she needed refreshment and Christian mentoring. “Regent is not just head knowledge that you soak yourself in,” Rasi says. “In lectures, I am learning that prayer is sharing with one another. It is not just to talk. It is to discern what God has to say. I talk too much. I need to sink in.”

Rasi looks at the green trees outside Regent’s windows and says, “Canada is heaven on earth. The weather is good, it is clean, there is the simple beauty of nature, it’s not crowded… I want to see the other side of Canada. The needs aren’t so obvious here. That’s why I love Serve and Observe.” Serve and Observe opportunities take place throughout Summer School and are a practical opportunity to leave campus and talk to people struggling through real issues in their day-to-day ministries in the Vancouver area. “I want to stay put where it is hardest,” says Rasi as she contemplates heading back to Singapore. She smiles her infectious smile and says, “I want to be an agent of change.”

Regent College Publishing Many visitors to Regent College are often impressed by the Regent Bookstore, but many are not aware that the Regent Bookstore also has its own publishing imprint, Regent College Publishing. Since the early 1990s the bookstore has been meeting a demand for out-of-print Christian literature by reprinting Christian academic literature. Using new printing technology, Regent Bookstore can publish books in quantities as low as ten at a time. Traditionally, book publishers have had to print several thousand copies to make a profit, which comes with considerable financial investment and risk. But with shorter runs now possible, the publishing operation has been able to publishing nearly 200 books of theology and Christian spirituality with very low overhead. “Printing technology has changed so much since I was a student working parttime at the bookstore,” says Rob Clements (DipCS’00), who now works for the College as a publishing consultant from Toronto. “When I was a student at Regent in the late 1990s one of my duties was to manually punch holes in photocopies so they could be ring-bound with a

cerlox binder and used as makeshift textbooks. Now everything we publish is digitally printed and our books are indistinguishable from conventionally printed trade paperbacks. We have international

distribution agreements, and we publish the likes of Gordon Fee, J.I.Packer, and Eugene Peterson, among other great writers. I never dreamed I’d be doing the same job

Tomorrow Never Comes With the competing demands on our time – work, family, church – we often put off until tomorrow those things that aren’t as “urgent.” The statistics vary from year to year but the fact remains that most of us put off the task of preparing for the future by forgetting to draw up a Will. Preparing a Will can be a relatively simple procedure with the help of a qualified estate planner. There are a number of tools available to help you through the process of discernment as you determine how you would like your estate to be distributed. Taking the time to complete a Will ensures that your instructions will be followed, ensuring Christian stewardship of the resources that have been entrusted to you. It is a sobering truth that those who do not have a Will have their estate allocated on the basis of laws in place within the Country, Province or State in which they lived. In drawing up your Will, after providing for loved ones, a charitable bequest can provide substantial tax benefit to your estate and provide funding for a project or program in which you have a specific interest. Establishing a student scholarship and providing for a library collection are two of the many ways in which members of the Regent family have chosen to provide a lasting testimony to God’s faithfulness in their lives. If you would like more information, or a copy of “Planting for the Future” that lists suggestions for bequest wordings, please contact the External Relations Office at the College at 1-800-663-8664 or by e-mail at <external-relations@regent-college.edu>. We would be happy to work with you and your estate planner in providing more information on specific gifting areas. 10

seven years later, but that parttime job working in the bookstore was quite literally a life-changing experience for me.” Regent College Publishing also acts as a literary agency in developing manuscripts by faculty at Regent, pitching them at large publishers and recouping the cost through bookstore sales and royalty arrangements. Examples of some recent co-publishing projects are Gordon Fee’s Listening to the Spirit in the Text, and Bruce Waltke’s Finding the Will of God. Other new releases include Christian Perspectives on Gender, Sexuality & Community, edited by Maxine Hancock, and Experiencing the Trinity by Darrell Johnson. You can visit Regent College Publishing online at <www.regentpublishing.com>.

UPCOMING CONFERENCES Be stimulated and transformed with Regent’s Learning for Life conferences. Film Conference Oct. 4-5, 2003 Through a Lens Darkly: The Sequel

Speakers: David Cunningham, Scott Derrikson, Jack Hafer, David McFadzean, Bruce Marchfelder, Peter Chattaway, Robert Derrenbacker Creation Groaning: Nov. 14-15, 2003 Down to Earth Gospel

Speakers: Ghillean T. Prance, Bob Ekblad, Gordon Fee, Loren Wilkinson, Dave Bookless Christian in the Marketplace Feb. 7, 2004

Theme: Marketplace Spirituality Pastors’ Conference May 11-14, 2004 The Pastor and the Prophetic Ministry of Jesus

Speakers: Marva Dawn, Darrell Johnson, Rikk Watts, David Clemens and others.

For more information please visit our website: <www.regent-college.edu/conferences> or contact Felicia Uhm at <conferences@regent-college.edu> or 604.221.3377/ Toll free 1.800.665.8664 10

New from the Regent Bookstore New CD Sets: The Pastor & Healing: Pastor’s Conference 2003 (7 CDs) Darrell Johnson & Rod Wilson, $58.95 (US$43.67) This conference helps those called to the role of “pastor” think about how they can minister out of their brokenness and weakness.

Daughters of Islam: Building Bridges with Muslim Women Miriam Adeney $22.99 (US$17.03) Almost one-tenth of the world’s population are Muslim women. And they live everywhere on earth. In Daughters of Islam Miriam Adeney introduces you to women such as Ladan, Khadija and Fatma. You’ll learn about their lives, questions and hopes. And you’ll learn strategies for relating to Muslim women in your own neighbourhood or workplace.

The Bible and the Nations (5 CDs) Gordon Fee, Christ Wright, Miriam Adeney & others, Reg.$45.00 (US$33.33) By drawing on both Western & non-Western scholars, this conference examines the interplay between the authority, translation, reading and interpretation of the Scriptures, with particular reference to language and culture.

The Regent

Required Reading

Feature Book:

Ancient Wisdom for Contemporary Life: Studies in Proverbs (10 CDs) Phil Long & Bruce Waltke, Sale$45.98 (US$35.06), Reg.$60.00 This course introduces and applies the wisdom of Proverbs to specific areas of life, including speech, wealth, marriage, parenting and friendship.

New Books: The Place of the Lion (and other Williams novels) Charles Williams $19.95 (US$14.78) Four Charles Williams novels, including The Place of the Lion, The Greater Trumps, Shadows of Ecstasy, and All Hallows Eve, have now been reprinted by Regent Publishing. These classic fantasy novels explore supernatural reality in a materialistic age. Seek the Silences with Thomas Merton: Reflections on Identity, Community & Transformative Action Charles R. Ringma $24.95 (US$18.62) In this volume of short reflective pieces, Thomas Merton acts as a conversation partner for the author, who draws on Merton’s monastic experience in order to help us reflect on the motivational centre out of which we all live, work and serve.

NEW

Water Lines: New and Selected Poems Luci Shaw $26.99 (US$19.99) Water Lines includes sixty-three new and selected poems by Shaw, all reflecting the evocative nature of water. As with all her poetry on creation, Shaw sees the invisible, thinks the universal, and finds in the natural world superb metaphors for human life.

NEW

To order any book or audio set, please print title(s) and price(s) in the space provided. U.S. prices indicated apply to orders paid by cheque and money orders only. Items ordered by credit card are charged in Canadian dollars, then converted into U.S. funds by the credit card company. Canadian residents: add 7% GST; BC residents: add GST + PST for audio tape orders. Postage and handling (CDN$): Canada and the U.S. add $4 per book or audio set; $1 for each additional item; international orders add

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2004 Summer Programs list Anglican Studies brochure Sample of CRUX, Regent’s journal Sample of Vocatio, Regent College Foundation’s marketplace journal Sample of Regent’s Chinese Studies Journal (in Cantonese).

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Academic (General info) brochure 2003–2005 Regent College Prospectus Information on Wills and Bequests Information on how to provide Student Scholarships Monthly Donation Programs brochure