WSC UPDATE Magazine Spring 2021

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westminster seminary california

LAUNCHING LAUNCHING THE the NEXT N E X40 T YEARS 40 YEARS F R O M A F I R M F O U N DAT I O N

from a Firm

Foundation

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16 16

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RESIDENTIAL EDUCATION

CALLED FROM MEXICO

GRANDPA'S GRANDPA'S PRAYER PRAYER ANSWERED ANSWERED

UP UPCLOSE CLOSE

by Chuck Tedrick

by Diego Román

by byDerek DerekBuikema Buikema

with withBrett BrettWatson Watson

PRESIDENT'S CORNER

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“And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”

1 Cor. 13:2

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s WSC begins its next 40 years, we are reminded that we are an old school in a new age. While relatively young, WSC is an “old school” in its steadfast commitment to biblical Christianity as expressed in the Reformed confessions. And yet we find ourselves in a new age that chases seemingly every new trend and fad. The recent pandemic has pushed most schools, including many seminaries, further toward permanent online education. Indeed, remote education has its benefits, such as convenience for students and increased tuition revenue for schools. Online degree programs even make sense for certain secular professional degree programs.

Despite recent trends, WSC remains fully convinced that effective theological education, especially preparation for pastoral ministry, requires face-to-face, residential instruction in the context of a community of faith. In fact, the pandemic has only strengthened this commitment to residential education. During this academic year, state regulations only allowed hybrid or entirely online education in California. Several students have expressed similar sentiments: “While we understand that WSC is forced to do online education this year, please do not make this the new normal. Online education pales in comparison to the personal, in-person education we love about WSC.” These students recognize what is lost in remote theological education – the spiritual formation that only comes through discipleship, meals, conversations on campus or at the beach, and other personal interactions with professors and fellow students outside the classroom or Zoom room. Seminary education is not a data dump; it is preparation of the mind and heart. It is this holistic approach to ministry preparation that drives WSC’s commitment to face-to-face, residential theological education. This was the vision of the seminary’s founding professors and trustees. This remains our vision as we enter our next 40 years.

In this issue, Dean of Students Chuck Tedrick discusses WSC’s commitment to residential theological education (p. 4).

We also remember Professor Emeritus of Practical Theology Derke Bergsma, who entered glory last November (p. 22).

WSC alumnus Derek Buikema, a grandson of Dr. Bergsma, reflects on his time at WSC preparing for pastoral ministry (p. 16). Finally, current student Diego Román describes his journey from Mexico to WSC (p. 8).

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support for Westminster Seminary California. We are honored to labor with you in our Lord’s service.

Cordially in Christ,

Joel E. Kim WSC President UPDATE | SPRING2021

UPDATE | SPRING2021 PRESIDENT Joel E. Kim EDITOR Marcus McArthur DESIGNER Megan York

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SPRING2021

CHUCKTEDRICK

PRINTER Precision UPDATE magazine is a publication of Westminster Seminary California.

For address changes, duplicate mailings, or additional magazine requests, please write or call.

Westminster Seminary California 1725 Bear Valley Parkway Escondido, CA 92027 PHONE (888) 480-8474 FAX (760) 480-0252 EMAIL development@wscal.edu WEBSITE www.wscal.edu PERMISSIONS: UPDATE grants permission for any original article to be photocopied and distributed, permitted that the wording is not altered in any way, no fee is charged beyond the cost of reproduction, and no more than 500 copies are made. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by Westminster Seminary California. Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: This article originally appeared in UPDATE, a publication of Westminster Seminary California (WSC) and is reprinted with permission. For more information about WSC, visit www.wscal.edu or call (888) 480-8474.

MISSION: The purpose of UPDATE is to showcase Westminster Seminary California’s distinctively Christ-centered, graduate education through the work of its faculty, students and alumni who are serving as pastors, teachers, missionaries, and leaders worldwide in light of our overarching mission “to glorify God through graduate theological study. . . for those who will serve in the Christian community and the larger society.”

Since 1979, Westminster Seminary California has offered a distinctly Reformed and rigorous education in order to glorify Christ, promote His Gospel, and serve His Church. The strength of our degree programs lies in our faculty’s unified commitment to the inerrant Scriptures and the Reformed confessions. Westminster Seminary California is the only dually accredited seminary in the Western United States serving confessionally Reformed churches.

2020-2021 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Mr. Richard J. Blauw, Jr Mr. Daniel J. Bryant The Rev. CJ Den Dulk Mr. Lyle Faber The Rev. Thomas K. Groelsema The Rev. Dr. David W. Hall The Rev. Dr. Terry Johnson The Rev. Dr. Lloyd H. Kim The Rev. Scott R. Korljan Mr. Mark Memmelaar Mr. Ronald W. Prins Mr. Peter Sara Mr. Roger A. Swets Mr. Kent Van Groningen The Rev. Eric B. Watkins ©2021 Westminster Seminary California All rights reserved.

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8 DIEGOROMÁN

16 DEREKBUIKEMA

INFOCUS

ONMISSION

4. Residential Education

16. Grandpa's Prayer Answered 17. Alumni News Updates

ONCAMPUS 8. Called From Mexico 10. Introducing Jason W. Barrie 12. den Dulk Lectures 14. Westminster Village

INPERSON & INPRINT 19. 2021 Annual Conference 22. Remembering Derke P. Bergsma 24. Honorarium and Memorial Gifts 26. Up Close with Brett Watson 3

INFOCUS

Residenti

by C H U C K T E D R I C K

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ial Education “Learning to preach, teach, evangelize, counsel, discuss, defend, and dialogue thoughtfully takes time, feedback, and presence.

These are all interpersonal and communal activities. ”

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re we crazy, nuts, or insane?

While most of the academic, educational, and commercial world is rapidly converting to a virtual mode of education and commerce, why is Westminster Seminary California (WSC) doubling down on residential education?

Why are we so committed to face-to-face (even mask-to-mask) education? We believe that residential education offers the most robust and well-rounded seminary education and formation. While recognizing and utilizing the technologies available to us for distance learning, we believe that face-to-face interaction is ideal when training men and women for Christian ministry and service.

WSC remains committed to fostering a vibrant community in which we learn, live, and love together. The “we” in that sentence is not merely the students, but the faculty, the administration, our families, our churches, and our community.

Certainly, like us, you have appreciated the benefits of being able to work, learn, and participate in your church life while at home during the pandemic. We are grateful to live in an age when these technologies are available to us. However, we would be surprised if you did not recognize that while they were a helpful substitute, it was just that – a substitute. You longed for the opportunity to sit across the table from one another at work, in school, or at the coffee shop. Undoubtedly, you prayed to be gathered next to one another in the same sanctuary. Being seen and heard is good; being there is better.

This has been and continues to be a core conviction and commitment of WSC.

LEARNING IN COMMUNITY

Our foundational commitment to providing a thoroughly Reformed theological education and training includes the highest academic standards. Integral to these standards is the recognition that theowscal .e d u

logical training is communal. Our classes encourage participation as an essential ingredient to our academic and spiritual formation. We want to watch, learn, and listen, but we also want to repeat, reflect, and respond to the professors, as well as to one another. Learning to preach, teach, evangelize, counsel, discuss, defend, and dialogue thoughtfully takes time, feedback, and presence. These are all interpersonal and communal activities. We believe learning and honing them in community will only enhance their practice and participation in community. For example, learning to receive and give encouragement, correction, and criticism are best done in person.

Though some of these things are difficult, they are imperative to developing the gifts and character of men and women called to serve.

Learning does not start and stop during the scheduled class hour but is ongoing. WSC students, alumni, and faculty all count their interactions with one another in the student lounge, library, local coffee shops, outdoors (beaches - we must say something about beaches when talking about San Diego), and homes among their fondest memories of seminary. It is in these settings where the classroom instruction is nurtured, matured, and nuanced.

This familiarity and access is one of the reasons we keep our student-teacher ratio low, 11:1. In our conversations with one another we clarify, encourage, correct, and engage one another as we seek to comprehend and communicate the rich truths taught in the classroom.

There is a saying that suggests 90 percent of communication is non-verbal.

This estimate may be high, but the point is germane. Our bodies and minds/mouths are not disconnected entities, but part and parcel of an integrated whole. We increase our potential of understanding one another and communicating clearly with one another by being present. As those who are 5

“Our intention is not to isolate ourselves or our students from the world, but to take a few concentrated years to help prepare them for their service throughout the world.” preparing to teach, preach, shepherd, and serve those who are created in the image of God and have been fashioned with a body and soul, we believe that our time learning in community helps shape us for service.

LIVING IN COMMUNITY

WSC has been and remains intentional in its commitment to residential education and formation. We are building upon a firm foundation and visionary planning of our past decades of board members, donors, faculty, administration, graduates, and friends. In particular, they planned and sacrificed for the building of Westminster Village. The Village affords students myriad opportunities to learn and live in community. Furthermore, the Village has significantly reduced one of the most pressing challenges of previous generations of students seeking to attend WSC: the cost of housing in Southern California. As planned, the Village has drastically decreased the cost of housing to below market value, while increasing community and convenience. We are thankful to the Lord for his providence and to our friends for their generosity.

Perhaps it would be prudent to acknowledge that WSC is sometimes said to be a “bubble,” particularly now that we have the Village. Our intention is not to isolate ourselves or our students from the world, but to take a few concentrated years to help prepare them for their service throughout the world. Our commitment to residential education includes participation in the local communities as we work, shop, play, serve, love, and worship with our neighbors. Furthermore, WSC is not exempt from the suffering, trials, tribulations, and difficulties of the world. We face many of the same challenges and opportunities as do our neighbors. Neither the seminary nor the village are meant to be permanent homes for students. They are meant to serve for a specific time and purpose in the life of the students as they prepare to serve and be sent by their churches to various places throughout the world.

There are currently more than 15 countries represented in our student body. What an incredible opportunity our com6

munity has to engage in and out of the classroom with one another. We are granted the opportunity to learn and experience different cultures, sharpen and soften one another as we hear about Christ’s church throughout the world, become aware and sensitive to the joys and sorrows of our brothers and sisters throughout the world, pray for and with one another, and fellowship together. The relationships that are forged in seminary endure throughout ministry.

In addition to academics, we provide opportunities to pray together. Every Wednesday each faculty member meets with a group of students to pray for one another, our churches, and our world. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings the WSC community is invited to participate in chapel. We welcome our faculty, ministers from our churches, guests, and graduating seniors to lead a devotional from God’s Word. Chapels often include singing and praying together as well.

Several times throughout the academic year we host convocations in which guest speakers come to address a topic of interest to our community. These convocations have included every department of the seminary curriculum and beyond: historical theology, systematic theology, biblical theology, practical theology, linguistics, and philosophy. Augmenting the convocations UPDATE | SPRING2021

are opportunities to share a meal with the guest speaker and Q&A discussions.

Seeking to care for the body as well as the mind, football (as in soccer), basketball, softball, golf, running, hiking, walking, and surfing are a few of the activities in which the community participates. Sometimes these are organized activities and tournaments for the whole community, while most of the time they are ordinary and organic happenings between neighbors.

We care about our students while they are with us for a few years, but we are not a destination. We are a training ground where we endeavor to see them launched into faithful service in their various callings and vocations. To that end we host recruitment, training, and placement opportunities. Sometimes these are discussion or training sessions from various church denominations or federations. At other times educational and service-oriented ministries and organizations will come to share their opportunities and invite participation. It is a blessing of our residential model to be present to explore these options.

Integral to residential education and formation are internships, or field education. We recognize the value of hands-on training and face-to-face mentoring. Master of Divinity students are required to participate in 700 hours of field education with their local church. They will teach, serve, learn, and counsel in their local churches and communities. Furthermore, all students are afforded the opportunity to participate in mission trips, service projects, and student associations. All of these are designed to help inform, shape, and form them, as well as helping those whom they serve.

LOVING IN COMMUNITY

Why are you writing about being a loving community? After all, aren’t you an academic institution? The answer should be obvious in the context of preparing men and women to serve Christ, his Gospel, and his Church. We love because we have been loved by the one who is love, in order to love. True faith manifests itself in our love of God and love of neighbor. The Scriptures teach that Christians are to be known by their love, which is a fruit of faith. 2 Corinthians 5:14 notes that it is the love of Christ which controls us. How wscal .e d u

lovely. How humbling. How glorious.

The Apostle Paul wrote that without love we are nothing (I Corinthians 13:2).

What a staggering and humbling statement. Sometimes we may be tempted to think that if we have all the right data, dogma, or facts that we are good to go.

However, that is not how Scripture portrays the reality. Paul noted that the church in Corinth was not suffering from a lack of giftedness, but a lack of love. He posits a series of conditional statements highlighting some lofty gifts: if I could speak with the tongue of angels, if I had faith that could move mountains, if I knew all things, that would be amazing. But, without love these hypotheticals would not merely be diminished, they would be worthless, useless, harmful, damaging.

Paul does not say that the truth without love is admirable, good, praiseworthy, or noteworthy. Rather, it is nothing; worse, we are nothing. The truth without love is noisy, it is deadly, it is coercive, it is sinful. Without love we produce nothing of value, we gain nothing of value, and we are nothing of value, according to Paul, in the context of the church and Christian fellowship. Granted, WSC is not the Holy Spirit nor the church, and WSC cannot make anyone love. However, as those who are made in the image of the one who is love and recreated in Christ to love one another, we want to encourage, model, and shape a loving community in which learning and living with one another happens. Of course, we do not do these things perfectly, but we look to the one who is perfect and is perfecting his people.

In summary, we are committed to residential education because we believe it is the best way to engage, inform, and form the next generations of servants of Christ, his Gospel, and his Church. Of course, we are empathic and understanding of those who in God’s providence cannot attend a seminary in person and must pursue their studies online. There are many situations in which this might be the case, and we

rejoice at the opportunities afforded to our brothers and sisters in these situations. We also want to be clear that we do not look down upon any students, the institutions who serve them, or the education they receive. We are grateful for our partnership in training and serving the next generation of pastors, missionaries, scholars, teachers, and servants. Rather, our hope and encouragement here is for those who are able to attend in person but recognize that it may impose some challenges, inconveniences, and difficulties. We are not naive to these challenges and objections. We want to help mitigate them if we are able. We also want to encourage you to consider the benefits to you now and the community you will serve in the future by being fully immersed in a residential education program. A good seminary education is not just taught, but caught, by learning, living, and loving in person and in community. We would welcome you to come learn with us, live with us, and love with us.

By way of analogy, Paul wrote letters to churches that were instructive and helpful. They were loving and thoughtful. They were informational and formational. More so, in our understanding of Scripture they are divine and all of the aforementioned by being so. However, the point of the analogy is Paul and the churches longed to be together, in person. They wanted to be with one another in the same place at the same time. Being seen and heard is good, being present is better. We believe that is true of our churches, our families, and our seminary.

Pray for WSC CURRENT STUDENTS Please pray for the spiritual formation of WSC students as they prepare to serve Christ's church.

Chuck Tedrick is Dean of Students at WSC and lives in Rancho Bernardo with his wife, Michele.

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ONCAMPUS

CALLED FROM MEXICO

by D I E G O R O M Á N

M

H O M E T O W N : Mexico City, Mexico P R O G R A M : 2nd year M.Div.

arcos Mercado, an elder at my home church, Iglesia Berith, back in Mexico City, had just come back from the US. He had spent a few months with his daughter in California and used this time to take the Greek IIII courses at Westminster Seminary California. He was quite impressed with the high academic standards, the knowledge and Christian character of the professors, and spoke wonders of the library. He ended his panegyric with an invitation: “I want to help other people go there. If you are interested, I’ll help you with the process.” He also wanted to teach what he had learned, so he began translating Dr. Baugh’s Greek Primer.

At that time the offer seemed to me more like a dream.

Just living expenses alone went far beyond what I could pay; my wife, Esther, was finishing her Ph.D.; and I had a stable job teaching music, conducting, and playing the piano at Iglesia Berith. I would sometimes meet Marcos in the aisle of Iglesia Berith and he would insist, “They have scholarships…. You might find churches that can help you.”

At the time I also served as professor and academic dean at Seminario Teológico Reformado de México (STRM), a Bible institute in Mexico City. Marcos soon started teaching Greek there. I had never taken Greek, so I signed up for the course.

Marcos was teaching with Dr. Baugh’s Greek Primer (although in a year-long course, it was a much more relaxed pace) and translating a lesson per week. But Esther had a difficult pregnancy, and we had to go to the hospital for check-ups every two days. Thank God, our first son, Bernabé, was born healthy, but I had to quit the Greek course after a couple of months.

My interest in Reformed theology and the intersection

“I answered: 'Why are you trying to stop me?

If God wants me there, He will provide.'”

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UPDATE | SPRING2021

with my own profession had led me to Iglesia Berith and to its pastor, Dr. Gerald Nyenhuis. I had taken several courses with him, which I complemented with other courses at the STRM. So now, I asked for support from Berith to study full-time at a seminary in Mexico and prepare for pastoral ministry. However, because I had been the church pianist for more than a decade, they thought I would be misusing my gifts or confusing my calling. I was quite disappointed. In Berith’s history, no one who wanted to pursue further theological education had ever been rejected, and I needed the support of my local church to be accepted into any seminary.

Soon after that, in June 2018, came Dr. Charles Telfer, former professor in Biblical languages at WSC. He was teaching a course on Isaiah at the STRM on Marcos’ invitation. Dr. Telfer was staying at the home of an American missionary and professor at the STRM, David Gifford; but David was unable to drive Dr. Telfer around, so I offered. I did not only enjoy the course but also many conversations. I shared with Dr. Telfer my disappointment and desire to study, and he encouraged me to apply to Westminster.

So I registered again for Greek I and started preparing everything to come to WSC. The process of application was great. Mark MacVey, WSC Vice President for Enrollment Management, was kind, helpful and encouraging. And as soon as I got the admissions letter, I sent an email to Berith’s consistory. I informed them that I would be quitting in June to go to WSC and asked for their financial support. But again my request was rejected. I went to my pastor Pedro Arcos, tearfully asking why I had been the only one in the history of our church wanting to pursue further theological education that had been rejected (and twice).

He first questioned my calling. Then he told me it was very expensive to live in the US, that I would put my family in risk, lose my job and my belongings. But I answered: Why are you trying to stop me? If God wants me there, He will provide. He told me how when he studied, many people had promised to help him, but the money never arrived. But Pastor wscal .e d u

Pedro, seeing both my pain and resolution, promised my petition would be reconsidered.

Praise God, a month later we got a scholarship, their support and the support of other church members and churches, both in Mexico and the US. So, in June 2019 we drove 1,800 miles from Mexico City to Escondido, California, with most of our belongings (a few books, clothes, toys, and basic kitchen utensils) in our car trunk.

We have been at WSC for a year and a half. We have made friends, found a home church, and a helpful and beautiful community in Westminster Village (WSC’s on-campus housing). And our second son, Esteban, was born in September 2020. We have found WSC to be an ideal environment to flourish. Listening to the lectures, asking hard questions, disagreeing and agreeing passionately, reading primary sources, writing papers, and discussing theological problems with both professors and students has been challenging and enlightening. Even if I disagree, I can see that the faculty and staff love the Lord and His church. And Marcos was right, the library is great. I am amazed at how many incredible people work to make the WSC dream possible (including professors, staff, board members, and donors). A team using their unique callings and gifts to further the education of reformed ministers, missionaries, academics, and lay leaders.

WSC is a prime example of theological education coming to its fruition.

As a Dean in Mexico I realized that, although there were many “seminaries” in the city, none could provide the training that the capital needed. At STRM we had no staff, almost none of the professors had the equivalent of an MDiv, our library was tiny and outdated (with no good encyclopedias, lexicons, or Old Testament commentaries), and the students had a very poor educational background (some had barely finished high school and had never read a whole book in their lives, not even the Bible). I know this is the case with many other developing countries. WSC is the kind of seminary you only dream of.

“It truly has been a blessing to live in the midst of other families and to study alongside people who have a deep love for Christ and his Church.”

After seminary I want to pursue further studies and become a pastor-scholar.

I want to engage the biblical text deeply, defend the truth, refute error, engage contemporary thought, teach, write and research, but also preach the gospel with passion and tenderly care for the flock.

And for this I know of no better seminary training than Westminster Seminary California.

Like Marcos, I want many other Mexicans to come here and profit from this wonderful institution. I also dream that I can help build a seminary in Mexico City where you can find at least a glimpse of the quality of WSC. I am grateful for the opportunity to study here and to share my experience, and I pray God will continue to use WSC as a bastion of truth.

Pray for WSC GRADUATING SENIORS Please pray for WSC’s graduating seniors as they seek placement to begin their ministries.

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JASON W

Named Associate Professor Of Practic

W

estminster Seminary California (WSC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Rev. Dr. Jason W. Barrie as Associate Professor of Practical Theology, effective July 1, 2021. For the past eighteen years, Rev. Barrie has been serving as Associate Pastor and Pastor of Family Life at Rocky Mountain Community Church in Billings, Montana. During that time, he has taught as an adjunct and visiting professor of practical theology at WSC for thirteen years.

President Joel E. Kim commented, "We are delighted to have Dr. Jason Barrie join the faculty as we prepare pastors for Christ's church. Dr. Barrie is an experienced pastor and counselor who has taught our students for over a decade with faithfulness and effectiveness. We give thanks to the Lord for His gracious provisions for our institution.”

“Dr. Barrie is an experienced pastor and counselor who has taught our students for over a decade with faithfulness and effectiveness.”

QUICK FACTS

JOEL E. KIM

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Attended high school in

Poway, CA

Pastored for 18 years in Billings, MT

Married with 3 adult children and a son-in-law UPDATE | SPRING2021

W. BARRIE

cal Theology

W H AT I H O P E T O I N S T I L L IN MY STUDENTS

INTERESTS & HOBBIES

Dr. Barrie grew up near the seminary in Poway, California, before attending the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. After receiving a B.S. in Political Science in 1994, he served five years as a strategic intelligence officer in the U.S. Army in Arizona, Georgia, and overseas in Germany.

Dr. Barrie served as a ruling elder in the PCA for 4 years before attending WSC, where he completed an M.Div in 2003. During his eighteen years of ministry, Dr. Barrie has emphasized counseling and discipleship. He earned his D.Min in Pastoral Counseling in 2013 from Westminster Theological Seminary with a capstone project titled, “When Two Become One: Preparing for Grace-Based Marriage.”

Dr. Barrie has taught practical theology at WSC as visiting lecturer and adjunct professor since 2009. He has also served as Project Advisor for the Doctor of Ministry Program for Westminster Theological Seminary for the past six years.

Dr. Barrie has spoken at conferences around the country for Peacemaker Ministries and the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. He has also lectured internationally in Malaysia and Bangladesh and throughout Northern Mexico.

Dr. Barrie is married to his high-school sweetheart, Kristin. They have three grown children and a son-in-law. He joins Dr. Craig Troxel as a full-time faculty member in the Practical Theology department at WSC.

traveling

“Mindful that we commend to others what we cherish most, I aim to instill in my students an abiding hope in the sure promises of Christ and a zeal to be conformed to his image. I pray that my students grow in their love and personal awareness of the diverse people of God in the local church, and gain wisdom to preach, teach and counsel those saints from the Word with humility, compassion, clarity and boldness.”

downhill skiing

spinning classes

Mexican food

skimboarding

Heidelberg, Germany

watching movies

Padres baseball

T H E R O B E R T G . A N D N E L L I E B . D E N D U L K L E C T U R E S O N PA S T O R A L M I N I S T R Y

The Pastor as Apologist, Theologian, & Bible Scholar How What You Learn in Seminary Can Inform Your Preaching

with

REV. DR. KIM RIDDLEBARGER LECTURE SERIES:

Preaching and Apologetics Preaching and Systematic Theology Preaching and Biblical Theology Audio and video from the 2021 den Dulk Lectures are available online on the WSC website or Youtube page.

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n 1993, Westminster Seminary California established the Robert G. and Nellie B. den Dulk Lectures on Pastoral Ministry in honor of Dr. den Dulk and his wife, who both were instrumental in the founding of the seminary. The annual lecture series brings an experienced pastor to campus each year to address current and future ministers in order to encourage them and offer wise counsel regarding the rigors and joys of shepherding Christ’s flock. The seminary established the lectures in appreciation for the den Dulks’ years of service to WSC and in recognition of their passion for the preparation of pastors to preach the Word of God faithfully and powerfully.

Over nearly three decades, the “den Dulk Lectures” have become one of the highlights of the academic calendar for the seminary community.

The 2020 den Dulk Lectures were scheduled to be held last spring with special guest Rev. Dr. Kim Riddlebarger.

Sadly, the seminary had to cancel the lectures due to the pandemic. Thankfully, Rev. Riddlebarger agreed to deliver the 2021 den Dulk Lectures on the theme, “The Pastor as Apologist, Theologian, and Bible Scholar: How What You Learn in Seminary Can Inform

Your Preaching.” Currently serving as Visiting Professor of Systematic Theology at WSC, Rev. Riddlebarger served as senior pastor of Christ Reformed Church (URC) in Anaheim, California, from 1995 until his retirement in December 2020. He also served as co-host of popular radio/internet talk show “The White Horse Inn” alongside WSC professor Michael Horton. Rev. Riddlebarger is an alumnus of WSC. He later earned his Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary, where he worked under Richard Muller.

Spanning April 6-8, 2021, Rev. Riddlebarger delivered three lectures to students, titled “Preaching and Apologetics,” “Preaching and Systematic Theology,” and “Preaching and Biblical Theology.” The seminary community was thrilled that local regulations allowed students, faculty, staff, and local friends of WSC to attend the lectures in person, though people around the world were able to view them live online. After the final lecture, Rev. Riddlebarger spent time with students in order to field their questions and share his wisdom on pastoral ministry. Such interaction between the guest speaker and WSC students is a hallmark of the annual den Dulk Lectures and a highlight of the week for students.

UPDATE | SPRING2021

CARL TRUEMAN TEACHING SUMMER COURSE

W

estminster Seminary California is pleased to announce that Dr. Carl Trueman will teach a summer course on the topic of his recent book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution (Crossway). The big questions of our day are questions of identity, particularly sexual identity. Yet to address these questions in an appropriate manner, we need to understand how the various intuitions and ideas that shape our thinking on identity have come to take the forms they have. In this course, Trueman will lead students in exploring the origins and development of modern identity politics and reflecting on how this affects the church, as well as how Christians should respond.

This course will take WSC students behind the veil of the cultural context into which they will enter the ministry.

Trueman’s The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self has received widespread acclaim and publicity, including winning The Gospel Coalition’s 2020 award as the best book in the “Public Theology and Current Events” category. Rod Dreher, senior editor at The American Conservative and author of The Benedict Option, contributed the foreward. The book examines modern culture’s increasing obsession with identity.

Sexual identity has dominated public discourse and cultural trends, especially since the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2015. Yet the modern understanding of the self has far deeper historical and ideological roots. Trueman’s book traces these roots from Augustine to Marx and beyond. Trueman argues that the sexual revolution is a symptom of the search for identity, not the cause. His book brings clarity to the present by surveying the past and offers a remedy for the future from a biblical perspective.

“This volume will richly reward readers who don’t mind thinking hard about important (though sometimes unpleasant) topics.”

DAVID VAN DRUN E N

In addition to serving as Visiting Professor of Church History at WSC, Trueman also serves as Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Grove City College. Previously, he was the William E. Simon Fellow in Religion and Public Life at Princeton University. The course will take place August 10-13, 2021, on the WSC campus. Also scheduled for this summer at WSC, David VanDrunen will teach a course based on his recent award-winning book, Politics after Christendom: Political Theology in a Fractured World (Zondervan Academic).

SEMINARY for a DAY V I S I T. M E E T.

LEARN. EXPLORE.

This is a free, campus-wide event that is all about prospective student visitors and offers a unique opportunity to experience seminary life. Join us at one of our upcoming events!

wscal.edu/visit wscal .e d u

SEP. 17, 2021 | OCT. 29, 2021 JAN. 14, 2022 | MARCH 11, 2022

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WESTMINSTER VILLAGE It takes many hands to build a village

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he 64 apartments in the Westminster Village remain fully occupied! The on-campus housing was completed and first open to students in the summer of 2018. While this community was envisioned and prayed about for many years, the fundraising efforts were launched just a decade ago.

The history of this capital initiative is but one reminder of God’s perfect timing and of the faithfulness of God’s people to accomplish a vision. WSC’s second president, Dr. Robert G. den Dulk, was Chairman of the Board of Trustees when the initiative was first approved in 2006 for 48 apartments to be built on two acres of land at the back of the campus.

Dr. and Mrs. den Dulk made a lead gift to provide momentum for the campaign.

Mrs. Nellie den Dulk states, “We believed that seminary housing would enhance the growth and education of students, while eliminating the barrier to the cost of living in Southern California.”

Many friends believed in the benefits of this project and made the Village a reality. Dr. Derke P. Bergsma (see his memorial on p. 22) chaired the internal campaign with a gift that was matched by

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full participation of the faculty. Building plans had been approved by the City of Escondido, but the campaign was put on hold in 2009 when the U.S. economy was in a recession. At that time, a committee was formed to look for additional land near the campus. In 2014, the 9.5 acres of land adjacent to the 10-acre campus went on the market, and the committee of wise and dedicated trustees purchased the property and deeded it to the seminary. Plans were revamped and approved by the city to include 64 apartments on the 9.5 acres, and the fundraising campaign started in 2015.

This project was now more than doubled in scope and went from a $10to $20-million campaign. The Lord continued to provide the funds and to keep the workers safe through the building process. Thank you for being part of this ambitious project! There was never doubt about the original vision of building a community of faith that would be a blessing for students. But we couldn’t have imagined a pandemic that would close college campuses across the country and send students home in March 2020. As you know, that was not the case at WSC where students were able to remain in their apartments while continuing their seminary studies.

The two acres of land that were the original site of the housing plan have now been turned into a soccer field with a generous gift from alumni donors – and a playing field for children in the Village!

The Westminster Village enhances the already vibrant community of faith that has been the hallmark of WSC where students thrive on face-to-face education. It provides a community where fellowship and families flourish, and life-long relationships are established for a life-time of ministry.

189

Total Residents

74

Students

64

Children

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SEMINARY FOR A DAY RECAP On Friday, March 12, the Admissions team at Westminster Seminary California hosted prospective students for a virtual Seminary for a Day event. While these events began as a response to COVID-19 restrictions, they have been a great avenue for students who would otherwise not be able to visit campus. A total of 12 prospective students were present, tuning in from Zambia, Uganda, Nebraska, Arizona, California, Michigan, Colorado, and Massachusetts. But even then, students were representing home countries such as Brazil and Malawi.

Rev. Tedrick began the event by welcoming attendees, facilitating introductions, and leading everybody in a devotional, emphasizing his desire for students to “land well” in seminary. Visitors then were treated to a faculty Q&A panel, led by Dr. Glomsrud and composed of Drs. Estelle, Clark, and Bitner. Prospective students asked questions about how to prepare for seminary, about school and church life in the area, and about our school’s distinctives. Dr. Estelle emphasized the importance of “reading well” before, during, and after seminary. In addition to Bible reading and knowledge, he impressed upon students that reading literature and poetry likewise can be great tools for understanding Scripture and its composition. The Bible is filled with poetry, prose, and narrative, and being well read in these areas can only enhance one’s seminary experience.

Additionally, the attendees were able to see the lighter side of life at Westminster through the professors. Dr. Clark was encouraged to have a fellow Cornhusker calling in from Nebraska, while Rev. Tedrick’s hopeful ally from Michigan was in fact a Chicago and New York sports fan.

And as always, the professors were always

quick to joke around with one another and helped the prospective students feel welcome and encouraged.

Given COVID-19 restrictions and conflicting schedules, the students were unable to sit in on live classes. However, they were able to watch recordings from class sessions from the fall semester. They were able to “sit in” on Dr. Bitner’s Greek II class and Dr. VanDrunen’s Soteriology class. It was a helpful way for the attendees to see how Westminster’s curriculum is both comprehensive and integrated.

WSC’s curriculum brings insights from each class into every other class, and the prospective students were able to catch a glimpse of that in these classes.

Finally, our visitors were able to participate in two other Q&A sessions regarding enrollment questions and student life.

Our registrar, Ryan Thomas, was able to join for the first session and helpfully answered several questions about our application and enrollment processes. Thankfully, many students had already applied to WSC, so many of the questions were regarding the “next steps” to get here.

The second session opened with a video presentation of the Westminster Village and was followed by general questions about student life at Westminster. There were some female prospective students in attendance, and one of our Admissions Counselors, Cassady Schulte, was able to share her perspective on the unique joys and challenges of being a female seminary student. The last session was a great time for visitors to ask questions from the event and for the Admissions team to learn more about the visitors. Overall, the event was a very encouraging experience that allowed inquiring students to learn more about what one can expect of life and studies at Westminster Seminary California.

notice of nondiscriminatory policy as to students The Westminster Seminary California school admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

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WSC Receives Rare Book Dear friends of Westminster Seminary California gifted a very rare book to the school in February. The book is a 1648 preliminary draft of the Westminster Larger Catechism.

Only 600 such drafts were printed, with a note of warning on the preliminary pages forbidding any additional printings. In essence, this served as a review copy of the larger catechism before the assembly adopted the final version. It is likely that a member of the assembly held this very copy during its adoption.

Imagine holding a preliminary, draft edition of the U.S. Constitution. For Reformed Presbyterians, this is an equally special document – a draft edition of one of our Reformed confessions! While Reformed Christians do not venerate relics, this rare book serves as a physical reminder of the wonderful legacy of faith passed down to us throughout church history. It marks an important product of the Protestant Reformation, which recovered the biblical gospel of grace.

WSC is thrilled to display this rare book as inspiration for students as they prepare for faithful gospel ministry in the Reformed tradition.

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ONMISSION

GRANDPA’S PRAYER ANSWERED

by D E R E K B U I K E M A

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he moment I decided to attend Westminster Seminary California remains vivid for me. For months I had been of two minds: uncertain of the correct destination and feeling the heavy weight of the choice. This decision would be one with substantial implications for my formation as a minister, and I wanted to choose wisely. I had two seminaries remaining under consideration: WSC and another.

So I made a trip to the other seminary. It was closer to my home and I was able to attend a weekend they put together for me wherein I would experience classes and a little bit of student life and sit with a professor to find out about what sort of formation I could expect there. The message they decided to craft for this visit was that if I attended this seminary, I could expect cutting edge, relevant instruction and a whole lot of fun.

Now believe me when I tell you that I appreciate relevance and have a great appreciation for fun. But as I drove home from that visit I couldn’t help feeling as though the priorities that had been articulated were askew. I visited the apartment of one of my dearest friends to talk about the weekend. During our discussion, I pulled up the Westminster Seminary California website and was greeted by one simple phrase: For Christ, His Gospel, & His Church.

I read those words and breathed deeply. Now this was a seminary with its priorities in order! It was in that moment that I knew I needed to be formed for ministry at WSC. I knew that if I was to be a faithful and effective minister and preacher, I needed to have my priorities in order. I needed to be a minister who cared about Christ Jesus, the gospel, and the church.

This was the moment I made my decision, but the leadup to the decision to go to Westminster had been facilitated throughout my life by my grandfather, Dr. Derke Bergsma. For as far back as I could remember he would speak to me about the

“Strengthened by the faithful instruction I’ve received from my grandfather and my alma mater, I continue on in the power of the Holy Spirit for the cause of Christ Jesus.”

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fundamental necessity of trusting and following Jesus and the absolute necessity of being in a church where the pastor preaches Christ. He talked about how this commitment brought him to WSC, where he was asked to give a lecture. After the lecture, Bob Strimple came up to him and exclaimed “You’re so Westminster! You’re so Westminster!” and offered him a job, which my grandpa took and where he felt he did some of his most important work - training men to preach Christ.

No one was happier to hear of my decision than grandpa.

He was the biggest fan of the institution I’ve ever met. He was exuberant! And grateful. And certain I had made the correct decision. And he was right.

The best part of being a student at Westminster was being instructed by professors who cared deeply for Christ-centered ministry. “For Christ, his gospel, and his church” was not simply a slogan; it was a lived reality for the professors under whom I sat and from whom I learned. And that important vision for ministry took hold among my fellow students. This was applied most notably in preaching class.

You should have seen us M.Div. students get up to preach for the first time in class, watched us walk to the front of the class - stomach knotted, heart beating a little faster. Clutching our notes that we had run through over and over and over again throughout the semester (and mind you, these were NOTES! Notes I tell you! Not manuscripts. Grandpa would fail you if you brought a manuscript. A minister must communicate his sermon, not bury his head in a manuscript.). We were boys then, just beginning to understand what it meant to exposit a text. Not yet aware of how to make the text sing for the members of the congregations we would be serving. Unsure of how to invite the nurse, attorney, garbageman, teacher, middle schooler, retiree, mother, father, the broken, the mourning, the afraid, the sick, and the downcast into the beautiful world of the text. But standing up certain, because of the instruction of those professors we trusted and the great God who had redeemed us, that as we opened the Bible, we would need to invite people to meet Jesus. To encounter the one of whom the whole scriptures speak. So that, whoever they might be and wherever they might be, they might deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Jesus in obedience and love.

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I wish every pastor presently serving had the privilege of being taught preaching by the professors I had at WSC. I wish everyone could know what it was like to preach for the first time, humbly offering to your fellow students, to your professor, and to God your best efforts. Meager, but sincerely given. To preach and receive the loving smile of Dennis Johnson and hear the kind, “Thank you, brother.” Before being warmed as he explained what you did well, how you blessed him. How you honored God. Before being encouraged as he lovingly pointed out places you may have misstepped or texts that you could have brought in to strengthen the flow of your sermon.

I wish they could have had the experience I had after preaching Mark 7 in Dr. Julius Kim’s class.

“Derek, your biblical exposition was great. Your delivery was excellent, and I appreciated your application, but I feel like you missed something big in this sermon.”

“What was that?”

“The cross, Derek. You forgot to tell us about the cross.”

“Yeah, that’s a big miss, Dr. Kim. I’m sorry about that.”

“I understand. Next time you preach it, make sure you don’t miss the cross.

And every time after that.”

I wish every preacher had been able to sit under the preaching instruction of my grandpa. By the time I got to his class, he had long been retired. He was 84. And as a professor emeritus, he was still teaching one section of preaching at WSC for seniors – our last preaching class. The last preaching class he would teach. Grandpa taught mostly through stories. He had a bunch of them. Each mined from the wealth of experience he had as a pastor, first in rural South Dakota, then in urban Chicago, last in suburban Michigan. After a student would preach, grandpa would rarely give direct feedback, but instead respond by telling a story. More than once a student would ask me during the break “so…did he like my sermon? Did that story mean it was bad?” I would shrug and encourage them to just take the story for what it was, an experienced minister sharing his wisdom.

When I preached in his class, grandwscal .e d u

pa didn’t offer any feedback. He dismissed us for a longer break than usual. As the students exited and I looked back at him sitting at the back of the classroom, I understood it was because he was overcome with emotion that his grandson was about to become a minister of the gospel.

He had been praying throughout my life that I would become a pastor. And so at that time he was bowed low with tears of gratitude.

At my ordination my grandpa gave the charge to preach Christ. And then he wept. More tears of gratitude. Bob Godfrey preached the sermon – a Psalm! And he conveyed to Orland Park Christian Reformed Church, where I serve as lead pastor, the fullness of faithfulness, humor, and love for Jesus, which characterizes the best of Westminster Seminary California. I was ordained and installed to lead a precious group of Christians. I have served them for 8 years now. And I have sought to make the motto of my alma matter my own – for Christ, His Gospel, & His Church.

Last November I had the privilege of preaching the sermon at my grandfather’s funeral. I told a lot of stories. I received messages from my professors who cared for him and reached out to care for me. And I heard several comments from other ministers who had themselves been encouraged to come to Westminster by my grandfather, who had sat under his instruction, who had been charged by my grandpa to preach Christ. This time the tears were my own. Tears of sorrow and loss, certainly. But also tears of gratitude.

For the prayers grandpa had prayed, the world of Christ-centered exposition he had first opened to me. And the mentors I had met because of his direction.

And so, strengthened by the faithful instruction I’ve received from my grandfather and my alma mater, I continue on in the power of the Holy Spirit for the cause of Christ Jesus, endeavoring to invite people into the beautiful world of the text of Scripture. Calling them to meet the Jesus we find in every part of the Bible. To take up their cross and follow him in obedience and love.

And, Dr. Kim, I don’t believe I’ve ever forgotten the cross again.

ALUMNI NEWS 1988 John Vermeer is currently serving as

pastor of the Doon United Reformed Church in Doon, Iowa. I have served there for nearly three years, and the Doon URC congregation just recently helped me celebrate 30 years in the gospel ministry. My ministerial anniversary is September 30, 1990.

Tom Carter retired in 2020 after 44 years of ministry as a pastor. For 38 years he served as the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dinuba, California.

He is the author of more than ten Christian books.

1990 Bruce C. Mawhinney retired from the

pastorate December 31, 2017. He serves on the Ministry Relations Committee of the Susquehanna Valley Presbytery of the PCA and resides in Lancaster, PA, with his wife, Carol. Bruce recently contributed a chapter to a Festschrift for Jay Adams, entitled Whole Counsel:The Public and Private Ministries of the Word, Essays in Honor of Jay E. Adams, Donn R. Arms and Dave Swavely, Editors (2020.

Institute for Nouthetic Studies).

2000 Matt Holst serves as pastor at High Plains

Fellowship (PCA) in Falcon, CO. The Lord blessed the congregation with their first building in the Spring of 2020 after the school they had been meeting in could no longer accommodate them due to COVID restrictions.

2001 Rev. Stephen Donovan who served the

congregation at Escondido United Reformed Church for over 19 years, retired on December 1, 2020, and was granted emeritation by the EURC Council. Rev. Donovan and his wife, Suzzonne, continue to live in Escondido and worship as members of the EURC. 2002 Jason Kim is in his first year as senior

pastor of La Habra Christian Church.

Due to the pandemic, the church is doing outdoor worship in the parking lot.

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2003 Daniel Chong has been called to serve as

the senior pastor of Charis Mission Church (KAPC) in Glendale, CA, since Feb. 1, 2021, after serving as an assistant pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) for 16 years. Daniel has been married to Grace for nearly 7 years and has two children, William (4) and Karis (2).

Yuri Chun Lansinger and her husband were able to successfully complete their 2nd international adoption process during the pandemic to welcome Ethan (2 years old) into their family to join his half-brother, Carter, who is now 3 years old, and their biological son, Eric Jr, who is 9 years old.

2006 Jun Shik Park has been serving as senior

pastor at Suh Moon Presbyterian Church in Garden Grove (KAPC) since February 2020.

David Zadok has begun research on his

dissertation, Preaching Christ from the Minor Prophets, as part of the requirement for his D.Min. at The Master’s Seminary.

2007 John I. Kim was called and installed as

the head pastor of City Church of Honolulu (PCA) in July 2020 after serving as an RUF Campus Minister for the University of Hawaii.

Stephen Fix successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation, titled The Semantics of a Semitic Ventive in Cognitive Perspective: Akkadian Ventive Construals Based on Lexical Verb Types at Catholic University of America in December 2020. Stephen has been serving as Senior Pastor of Reformed Presbyterian Church of Bowie, MD, since 2019 and also serves as an adjunct faculty at Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia) teaching a number of their online courses throughout the year.

2008 Stephen Roberts is now in North Caro-

2010 Nathaniel Gutierrez moved back from

the mission field at the end of 2018 and now serves on staff as assistant Pastor at Faith Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Tacoma, WA. Nicole Noran was married to Eric Sink on March 30, 2021.

2011 Craig Marshall received a D.Min. in Pas-

Hospital, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, on 1st April 2019. The Haus family welcomed their first child, a boy, Joseph Elias Haus, in November 2020. Nikolas was examined before the Northern Presbytery of the Grace Presbyterian Church of New Zealand (GPCNZ) and received under care for the purposes of future gospel ministry and is now licenced to preach.

Brian Onstead welcomed a son, Isaiah James, on Feb. 7, 2020.

2016 Kaniela (Kani) Hughes is working as a teacher in Kailua, Hawaii.

2017 Eric Bradley has completed a Th.M. at

Erskine Theological Seminary (officially graduating in May 2021) and will be entering the Ph.D. program at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in September.

toral Counseling from Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, PA. His project is entitled "Seeing and Seeking Embodied Beauty." Craig is currently pastoring at Grace Bible Church in Escondido.

Evan Gear continues his service as Assis-

2012 Colby Painter is currently teaching West-

in October 2020 as Assistant Pastor at Christ Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Temecula, CA. Dan and his wife, Mariana, are expecting their second child in August 2021. They continue ministering in Cuba through the radio program El Faro de Redención.

ern Civilization at The Geneva School in Orlando, Florida.

2013 Jordan Huff and wife, Jana, had their sixth

child, Holly Taylor Huff, in June 2020.

Esther Woo and her husband, John, welcomed their third child, Samuel, back in November 2020.

Kalyn (Robel) Merriner and her husband, Matt, welcomed their third child, Theodore Joseph, on February 10, 2021. His big sisters are Elliana (5) and Sophia (3).

2014 Mike Awtry and his wife, Alisa, welcomed

lina with the Army chaplaincy, and is expecting his third child, Canaan Simeon, in March 2021.

their third child, Ada Ruth, in February 2021. He continues to serve as associate pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Santa Rosa, CA.

2009 Ariel Flores has been serving as the Pal-

2015 Nikolas Haus was married to Alicia Haus

liative Care Chaplain at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center in Los Angeles since July 2020 and will be seeking Board 18

Certification Specialty in palliative care in September 2021.

Jason Ching and his wife, Naomi Ching (MA 2008), are being sent by Grace Community Church in Minden, NV, where he served for 8 years, to plant Dayspring Church in Reno, NV. The first service was held on Sunday, Jan 3.

Donna’s (last name withheld) husband died in November 2019, and she has moved to Nashville, TN.

tant Minister at Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, GA. He has four children (3 girls and 1 boy: Elizah Jane, Maisie, Jobe, and Opal).

Dan Warne was ordained and installed

2019 Walter Brobst was commissioned in the

US Air Force Reserves as a Chaplain in March 2020 and is currently attending Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, where he was scheduled to graduate at the end of February 2021.

2020 Collin Welch was called in January 2021

by Westside Reformed Church (Cincinnati, OH) to be their home missionary in Madison, Indiana, and was ordained by the Eastern Classis of the URCNA in April.

on November 3, 2018, and has moved from the UK to New Zealand where he works as Consultant Anaesthetist at Whakatane

UPDATE | SPRING2021

INPERSON + INPRINT

THE CHURCH IN EXILE 2021 ANNUAL CONFERENCE RECAP

ONE THEOLOGIAN DESCRIBED CHRISTIANS AS ALWAYS PLAYING ‘AN AWAY GAME.’ As God’s people, we recognize that we are not yet home, we are awaiting our Homecoming at the King’s return. Yet we are neither aimlessly biding time nor left alone in our waiting. There is much to do, be, and learn as we journey between the time of Christ’s first coming and the time of his return.

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very winter, hundreds of alumni and friends of Westminster Seminary California gather on the WSC campus from numerous states and countries to enjoy biblical teaching, fellowship, and the sunny Southern California climate. Due to state regulations related to COVID-19, however, an in-person conference this winter was impossible.

Though disappointing, the WSC faculty was committed to continuing the tradition of serving Christ’s church through this teaching opportunity. On Friday, January 15, the WSC 2021 Annual Conference commenced virtually through a series of pre-recorded lectures on the theme “The Church in Exile.” The slate of speakers included President Joel E. Kim and Drs. Dennis E. Johnson, Michael S. Horton, David VanDrunen, A. Craig Troxel, and Bradley J. Bitner. The sessions

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explored the Church’s identity, relationships, and responsibilities during this present, though passing, evil age. Please visit our conference page to view each conference session.

The seminary was blessed to have Dr. Dennis E. Johnson, Professor Emeritus of Practical Theology, open the conference from Tennessee with his session, “The Church as Exiles.” Jesus’s death and resurrection redefine our identity and our destiny – who we are and where we are going. Dr. Johnson acknowledged that our calling to be exiles is uncomfortable in that often it results in us being marginalized, mocked, and persecuted. To be an exile is to be neither isolated from nor absorbed into our environment. Yet our hope lies in that Christ came before us as an exile in order to bring us home. Dr. Johnson explained, “By His wounds we are healed, and we straying sheep are retrieved

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“A pilgrim is someone who knows we haven't arrived, but he’s not a tourist. He knows where he is going, he has a place, his eyes are fixed on a homeland.”

MICHAEL S. HORTON

by our Good Shepherd who brings us home to God our Father.”

J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Dr. Michael S. Horton, concluded Friday evening’s sessions by examining “The Church as Pilgrims.” Christian exiles are pilgrims, which by definition means we are on a journey toward a specific destination. As Dr. Horton noted, “A pilgrim is someone who knows we haven’t arrived, but he is not a tourist.

He knows where he is going; he has a place. His eyes are fixed on a homeland.” Graciously, the Lord has not left us alone in this pilgrim life. “Through His Word, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, and through the shepherding ministry of pastors, elders, and deacons, He carries His pilgrims to the Celestial City.” Indeed, Christ passed through the judgment waters so that we might pass through dry lands.

Saturday’s sessions began with Dr. VanDrunen’s “The Church as Neighbor.” This address explored how the church can remain faithful to preaching the gospel, which inherently is offensive, while living peacefully with all people. In other words, how should

the church relate to its unbelieving neighbors, especially knowing it has an offensive message for them? Part of our calling is to avoid offenses other than the gospel. We are to love our neighbors by living in peace and allowing our message of biblical truth to be our only offense. Dr. VanDrunen explained, “If we have to hold out an offensive message, let’s be sure that our neighbors don’t miss that message because they are so focused on other ways that we’re offending them.” This also means forgiving our neighbors when they offend us. He continued, “How will the gospel of forgiveness in Christ be plausible to our non-Christian neighbors if we don’t have a spirit of forgiveness toward others?”

Dr. Troxel followed by taking up the topic “The Church as Body,” which explored what it means for the church to be Christ’s “fullness.” Dr. Troxel’s message unfolded how this marvelous reality influences how we worship and serve Christ as creator, ruler, and redeemer. It may be tempting for the church to lapse into insecurity as if she pales in comparison to the expansiveness of Christ’s creation, but she can be comforted by the knowledge that

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hours of streaming

1,257

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peak viewers at any time

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she possesses in Christ everything necessary for her protection. Dr. Troxel exhorted, “The Church is the Body of Christ, so she is right to place her confidence in him, knowing her endeared place in his heart.”

Christ withholds nothing of himself to sustain his Body with new life and eternal life. In the midst of the life of an exile in this present evil age, this is great comfort to the Church. As Dr. Troxel explained, “We partake of a grace that can never be exhausted, from a fullness that can never be emptied, through a love that can never be measured.”

WSC President Joel E. Kim delivered the penultimate lecture of the 2021 Annual Conference, “The Church as Persecuted.”

This session considered what the sufferings of the church in the past around the world teach us as the present church. While we should not consider every suffering and affliction as persecution, believers who live under the cross will inevitably be led to the cross if they remain faithful. In the midst of our suffering, we can look back to our brothers and sisters who have come before us as examples of faithful suffering.

Even more, the church can look to Christ as our hope despite persecution. President Kim concluded, “We suffer because Christ suffered, and our sufferings point to a greater reality to come that transcends the one in which we find ourselves.”

President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Church History Dr. W. Robert Godfrey was scheduled to deliver the final address of the conference. Sadly, a family tragedy prevented him from participating.

On just a few days’ notice, new Associate Professor of New Testament Dr. Bradley J. Bitner stepped in to speak on “The Church as Confident.” The Bible encourages the church to have confidence despite the challenging conditions of her exile. No matter what the circumstances of our life or death that we face in the coming year, we can have confidence that God is indeed for us, even when our circumstances seem to say the exact opposite. The finished work of Christ is the foundation of this confidence. Dr. Bitner explained, “There is no condemnation for me when I stand on that last day before the judgment throne of my father because the verdict is justified.”

This year’s conference, though lacking the face-to-face interaction that has always been a hallmark of WSC, was filled with biblical and pastoral encouragement during a tumultuous time. It is our desire and plan to hold next year’s conference on campus, which promises to be a time of spiritual nourishment and Christian fellowship. Please plan to join us on campus next January for the 2022 Annual Conference.

Video from each of the Annual Conference sessions is available online at wscal.edu/conference or in the mobile app.

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countries represented

37

states represented

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IN MEMORIAM: REV. DR. DERKE P. BERGSMA

by R . S C O T T C L A R K

On November 17, 2020, my friend and professor the Rev. Dr. Derke Bergsma went to be with the Lord. You may not know who Derke was but you should. He influenced generations of parishioners, college students, and future pastors. I met him in the fall of 1984 at Westminster Seminary California, where he was my professor. He was also my academic advisor and prayer group leader. It was a smaller seminary then (approx. 75 students) and fairly intimate. I had Derke for all my preaching courses (except one with Bob Godfrey) and for most of my practical theology courses. He was a workhorse who carried an exceptionally large course load. When I returned as a faculty member (and Academic Dean) in 1997, we became colleagues and sometime golfing partners. He was also the faculty advisor regarding all things automotive. Until I met Derke I thought that no man traded cars as often or with as much joy as my late father-in-law, but Derke loved cars and was a great source of wisdom about them. Derke was raised in Wisconsin, a son of the Christian Reformed Church.

As a young man he entered the service during World War II where he was seriously injured in Guam. He would spend most of a year in hospital in Hawaii recovering. As a pastor, he entered the Naval Reserves and served for 33 years as a chaplain, retiring with the rank of captain. He looked terrific in his dress whites. He served all over the USA and beyond. The chaplaincy was a rich source of pastoral experience, which he shared with us readily. I am in a better position now to appreciate the sacrifices made by servicemen and women and how valuable it must have been to the men and women to have a faithful minister of God’s Word

to whom they could turn during basic or after deployment. Derke had been through it as an enlisted man and as a veteran, and he understood their experience and their greatest need: the Savior.

In his early ministry he served CRC pastorates in Colton, SD (1954–58) and Warren Park, IL (1958–62). After a period of graduate studies in the Netherlands he returned to the USA and served as pastor of the East Muskegon, MI, CRC (1965–67). He also served as associate minister in the Escondido CRC and later in the Escondido URC, where his membership remained in his retirement.

A CHEERFUL PRESENCE

He was, in my experience, relentlessly cheerful. He had a ready smile and an encouraging word. A midwesterner, who earned his spurs on the Plains, he was an endless fount of stories. This was a source of irritation to some of my fellow students, but on the Plains stories are a part of life. I am sure that I learned as much about pastoral ministry from Derke’s stories about ministry as I did from his lectures. I suppose not a day went by in my first years of ministry that I did not think of some maxim or story of Derke’s which helped me somehow. The stories were not mere filler. They were wisdom, hard won during years of experience in working with the sheep. It was he who warned us about turning off the battery on the microphone when leaving the pulpit, to use a (metaphorical) rifle “and not a shotgun!” when heresy hunting. From his stories I learned how to love the flock and how to communicate with them.

From Derke I learned that God has ordained to work through ordinary means: the preaching of the gospel, but I

also learned God is free to work as he will, even through irregular means. Among his many projects in the Chicago metro was to help with a Billy Graham Crusade in the 1960s. As a confessionally Reformed pastor he had his doubts, but as a chaplain and a student of world religions he had learned to talk to and even work with people with whom he disagreed. It was his great hope and fervent prayer that people would come to new life and true faith through Graham’s preaching.

He was loyal to the Christian Reformed Church—he not only served as a pastor but he also taught at Calvin College and produced a large Christian education program for them—until he could no longer support the direction of the denomination in the wake of their decision, in 1995, to permit the ordination of females. In 1996, he left the CRC to become a minister in the United Reformed Churches in North America; but he did not do so angrily but cheerfully. His ministry in the Escondido United Reformed Church was much appreciated, whether it was in the pulpit, speaking to a Bible study, or working with the consistory on a difficult pastoral issue.

“There are many opportunities in ministry to compromise one’s principles, but Derke taught us to ground our principles in the Word.”

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UPDATE | SPRING2021

I only saw his countenance darken once: when I playfully addressed him as “Dominee.” The smile left his face and he warned me not to call him that again. I do not suppose that he would remember that moment, but I do. I meant it as a term of respect for a senior minister, but he carried the connotation of a domineering minister. He rejected that idea of ministry. In his view, the minister is a servant, not a master. He had a point.

A CHRIST-CENTERED PROFESSOR

Derke spent a good bit of his ministry in the academy. He earned his A.B. at Calvin College and his B.D. at Calvin Seminary. He earned an M.A. at Northwestern University. He completed coursework (Drs) for a Ph.D. in the Free University of Amsterdam and earned a D. Rel. in Chicago Theological Seminary in urban ministry. From 1968–82 he served as Professor of Theology at Trinity Christian College (Palos Heights, IL). He not only gave the first lecture in the college but he also served as interim president. In 1982 he accepted the call of Westminster Seminary California to become Professor of Practical Theology, where he served in both full-time (1982–97) and adjunct (2003–14) capacities until he finally retired once for all.

Some of the bromides he gave us he probably learned from R. B. Kuiper: “Men, there are three points to every sermon: the text, the text, the text” and “preach the text, the whole text, and nothing but the text, so help you God.” But beyond pushing us constantly to preach this text in its redemptive-historical context he was passionate that we should preach Christ. It is a truism in Reformed ministry, but I first heard it from Derke: if you could preach that sermon in a mosque or a synagogue, it is not a Christian sermon. One of his opening lectures in the Ministry of the Word course was to illustrate for us three types of sermons: moralistic, doctrinalist, and redemptive-historical.

He would give a brief example of each. Derke was much influenced by Geerhardus Vos (1862–1949) and other proponents of a redemptive-historical reading of Scripture. Unlike some redemptive-historical approaches to Scripture, however, Derke understood the value of the proper, textually-driven application of the text to the congregation. He taught us Samuel Volbeda’s “reconstructive” (not to be confused with reconstructionist) method of sermon preparation.

He was committed to the principle that practical theology did not mean pragmatic theology. He knew that Reformed theology, as our Reformed forebears taught us, is partly theoretical and partly practical. He worked diligently to work out a theory of ministry upon which to base his practice. There are many opportunities in ministry to compromise one’s principles, but Derke taught us to ground our principles in the Word (and the catechism, the confession, and the canons) and to stand on principle rather than to be blown about by every wind of doctrine.

Derke is missed and beloved (probably more than he knew), but as we miss him we should remember what he tried to model for us and to teach us, and we should look where he looked and trust the Savior whom he trusted and in whom he found his only comfort in life and in death.

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VANDRUNEN BOOK RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS AWARD David VanDrunen, Robert B. Strimple Chair of Systematic Theology at WSC, has received a prestigious honor. Christianity Today named VanDrunen’s recent book, Politics after Christendom: Political Theology in a Fractured World (Zondervan Academic), its 2021 Book of the Year in the “Politics and Public Life” category. The popular magazine selected VanDrunen’s book as the best on the topic published from November 2019 through October 2020.

Politics after Christendom examines the Christian’s role and status in contemporary pluralistic political communities, offering a biblical-theological model of political engagement and exploring themes such as race, religious liberty, justice, authority, and civil resistance. For more than a millennium, beginning in the early Middle Ages, most Western Christians lived in societies that sought to be comprehensively Christian – ecclesiastically, economically, legally, and politically.

That is to say, most Western Christians lived in Christendom.

But in a gradual process beginning a few hundred years ago, Christendom weakened and finally crumbled. Today, most Christians in the world live in pluralistic political communities. And Christians themselves have very different opinions about what to make of the demise of Christendom and how to understand their status and responsibilities in a post-Christendom world.

VanDrunen argues that Scripture leaves Christians wellequipped for living in a world such as this. Scripture gives no indication that Christians should strive to establish some version of Christendom. Instead, it prepares them to live in societies that are indifferent or hostile to Christianity, societies in which believers must live faithful lives as sojourners and exiles. Politics after Christendom explains what scripture teaches about political community and about Christians’ responsibilities within their own communities. As it pursues this task, Politics after Christendom makes use of several important theological ideas that Christian thinkers have developed over the centuries. These ideas include Augustine’s Two-Cities concept, the Reformation Two-Kingdoms category, natural law, and a theology of the biblical covenants. VanDrunen brings these ideas together in a distinctive way to present a model for Christian political engagement.

As this prestigious award reflects, WSC faculty are worldrenowned scholars, in addition to being faithful pastors and churchmen. Westminster Seminary California congratulates Dr. VanDrunen on this deserving honor.

B O O K S UM M A RY C R EDI T ZO N DERVA N ACA DEM IC.

23

HONORARIUM & MEMORIAL GIFTS IN HONOR OF

Rev. Dr. Steven M. Baugh Dr. and Mrs. Richard W. Bishop, III Mr. David W. Besenger Mr. and Mrs. Mark A. Kats Dr. Richard W. Bishop III Mrs. Diane B. Bishop Ms. Marilyn J. Frank Mr. Burton D. Santee, Jr. The Godfrey Family Mr. Thomas Allen Rev. Dr. W. Robert Godfrey Mr. and Mrs. Brad Chang Mr. and Mrs. Bill Dehaas Mrs. Mary S. Irwin Mr. and Mrs. Mark A. Kats Rev. Dr. Dennis E. Johnson Rev. and Mrs. Charles A. McCoy Mrs. Dena Prins Stout Mr. and Mrs. Jake Prins

IN MEMORY OF

Mrs. Noreen Abbot Rev. Robert D. Abbot Mr. and Mrs. Henry Doorn Mr. and Mrs. Mark A. Kats Mrs. Edythe Adams Mr. Gary B. Adams Dr. Jay E. Adams Rev. Dr. R. Scott Clark Rev. Dr. Derke P. Bergsma Dr. and Mrs. Derk J. Bergsma Ms. Kelley Bergsma Mr. and Mrs. Ronald W. Blackford Mr. and Mrs. Edward Brower Rev. and Mrs. Derek W. Buikema Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Buikema Rev. Dr. and Mrs. R. Scott Clark Mr. and Mrs. Tiddo den Boer Mr. and Mrs. Henry Doorn Rev. and Mrs. Robert M. Godfrey Rev. Dr. and Mrs. W. Robert Godfrey Rev. William C. Godfrey Rev. and Mrs. James T. Hoekstra Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Dennis E. Johnson Mr. and Mrs. Michael Kiledjian Rev. and Mrs. Joel E. Kim Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Julius J. Kim Mr. and Mrs. Leslie J. Kolk Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Korthuis Dr. and Mrs. Marcus McArthur Mr. and Mrs. Arlan F. Memmelaar Mr. and Mrs. Stephen R. Milbourne Mrs. Deborah Patterson Mr. Charles Perry Mr. Ronald W. Prins Rev. and Mrs. Charles A. Tedrick Mrs. Mary Vanderbyl Mrs. Beatrice Zandstra Mrs. Betty Jean Boerema Rev. and Mrs. Joel E. Kim 24

Mr. George Bootsma Mr. and Mrs. Edward Brower Mr. and Mrs. Henry Doorn Mr. Elko Brouwer Mrs. Clara Brouwer Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Brower Rev. Dr. and Mrs. W. Robert Godfrey Rev. William C. Godfrey Mrs. Ottilia “Tillie” Bruinsma Mr. Pete Bruinsma Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Korthuis Rev. Andrew A. Cammenga Dr. and Mrs. S. John Kanis Rev. Dr. James D. Carson Rev. and Mrs. Brent F. England Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Dennis E. Johnson Mr. John De Jong Mrs. Mary Vanderbyl Mr. Pete de Jong Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Brower Mr. and Mrs. William De Jong Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Dennis E. Johnson Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Korthuis Mr. and Mrs. Allan Oudman Mr. Huibert Den Boer, Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Tiddo den Boer Mr. H. Dustin Fillmore, Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Doorn Mrs. Candyce L. Glomsrud Rev. Dr. and Mrs. R. Scott Clark Dr. L.G. Hardwicke Dr. and Mrs. Alan Hardwicke Mr. Gary Heil Mrs. Mary Vanderbyl Mrs. Carol J. Hengst Mr. Murray L. Nonhof Ms. Sandra J. Nonhof Mr. James A. Hoopman Mr. Murray L. Nonhof Ms. Sandra J. Nonhof Mr. Arlyn Katje Mrs. Mary Vanderbyl Miss Johanna Kesting Mr. and Mrs. Tiddo den Boer Rev. Dae-Sik Kim Mr. and Mrs. Chung-Whun (David) Kim Ms. Deborah A. Kim Rev. and Mrs. James K. Kim Rev. Dr. William H. Kooienga Mrs. Marilyn Kooienga Mr. Bruce R. Lachenmaier Ms. Sandra J. Nonhof Mrs. Mari A. MacVey Mrs. Doris Bergsma Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Bohrer Mrs. Clara Brouwer Mr. and Mrs. John H. Brower Mrs. Mildred A. Cammenga Rev. and Mrs. LeRoy Christoffels Mr. and Mrs. Bill Dehaas

Gifts Received from October 15, 2020, through March 12, 2021 Mrs. Debbie J. Den Boer Mr. and Mrs. Henry Doorn Mr. and Mrs. Joe Ellis Mrs. Garneth Faber Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Faber Rev. and Mrs. Robert M. Godfrey Rev. William C. Godfrey Rev. Dr. and Mrs. W. Robert Godfrey Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Dennis E. Johnson Mr. and Mrs. Mark A. Kats Mr. and Mrs. Michael Kiledjian Rev. and Mrs. Joel E. Kim Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Julius J. Kim Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Korthuis Mr. and Mrs. Scott Korthuis Dr. and Mrs. Marcus McArthur Mr. and Mrs. Arlan F. Memmelaar Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Oeverman Mr. and Mrs. James W. Onnink Dr. and Mrs. James D. Paauw Mr. Ronald W. Prins Dr. Elaine Tan Rev. and Mrs. Charles A. Tedrick Rev. Dr. and Mrs. A. Craig Troxel Mrs. Joyce E. Van Berkum Ms. Barbara A. Van Solkema Mrs. Mary Vanderbyl Mr. and Mrs. Ben Veenendaal Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Verhoeven Mr. Jan Paul Richter Ms. Ellen von Seggern Richter Mr. and Mrs. Alex Watson-Wong Mr. and Mrs. Gerald L. Wohlers Mrs. Beatrice Zandstra Mr. Wayne Mentink Mr. and Mrs. James W. Onnink Mrs. Martha Moore Mr. and Mrs. Alex Watson-Wong Rev. and Mrs. Melvin B. Nonhof Mr. Murray L. Nonhof Ms. Sandra J. Nonhof Mr. David Olson Ms. Sandra J. Nonhof Mr. Warren Reichel Mrs. Mary Vanderbyl Mr. A. James Stryd Mr. and Mrs. Edward Brower Rev. Jae S. Suh Rev. and Mrs. Sam S. Suh Mr. Nicolaas Van Dam and Mrs. Bea Van Dam Mr. and Mrs. Allan Oudman Mrs. Charlotte Verhoeven Mr. and Mrs. Henry Doorn Rev. Dr. and Mrs. W. Robert Godfrey Mr. and Mrs. James W. Onnink Mrs. Karen L. Watson Mr. and Mrs. Brett A. Watson Mr. Claude Wierenga Mrs. Lorraine Wierenga Mr. Cecilio Ybarra, Jr. Mr. Shawon Ybarra UPDATE | SPRING2021

GIVING REAL ESTATE Powerful, Tax-Wise Gifts

Give more to Westminster Seminary California (WSC) at a lower cost than you ever thought possible through a gift of real estate! Whether you're wanting to sell a vacation home, farm or rental property, giving real estate holds significant benefits for you AND God's Kingdom.

Benefits of Gifting Appreciated Real Estate

• RESOURCEFUL. Turn real estate

you no longer need or wish to manage into a charitable gift.

• TAX-WISE. Receive an income tax deduction for the fair market value of the property and eliminate capital gains tax.

• IMPACTFUL. Support the important mission of WSC.

HOW IT WORKS

Types of Real Estate • Rental property • Farm or agricultural property • Vacation home • Commercial real estate • Vacant land • Primary residence

Important Things to Consider When Giving Real Estate • A qualified appraisal of the property by a professional is required to claim your charitable deduction on your tax return.

• Property must be given before signing any legally-binding obligation to sell.

• It is best that the property is debt-free and marketable.

Donor completes a real estate gift application.

Barnabas Foundation reviews the application to approve acceptance of the gift. Once approved, donor signs a deed to transfer the property to Barnabas Foundation.

Barnabas Foundation liquidates property and directs proceeds to WSC.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS I am interested in making a gift of real estate. Do I have to give all of it, or can I give just a portion?

There are many options when gifting real estate. You can give the entire property or a percentage of the whole. There are even options that allow you to give your home, but still make use of it during your lifetime.

What other giving options are there?

How can I give securely through Barnabas Foundation?

While making an outright gift is the most popular way, others choose to make a gift that provides income for life or to make a gift to a donoradvised fund, such as Barnabas Foundation's Stewards Fund. The type of gift arrangement you choose depends on what best suits your personal and charitable goals.

WSC partners with Barnabas Foundation for the acceptance and administration of non-cash gifts, including real estate. Through Barnabas Foundation, you can give simply and securely, knowing that your gifts will be liquidated efficiently and distributed to WSC for ultimate impact.

LEARN MORE Explore how you can support Westminster Seminary California and reduce your taxes by giving real estate and other non-cash assets. Contact us today by calling 888.480.8474 or email development@wscal.edu.

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25

Up Close with

BRETT WATSON

1

YOU EARNED YOUR M.A. HISTORICAL THEOLOGY DEGREE IN 2006. WHAT STICKS IN YOUR MIND FROM YOUR TIME AS A STUDENT?

Many things stick in my mind from my time as a student at WSC, however the thing that sticks in my mind the most is the relationships developed with the faculty and my fellow students.

I was humbled to be able to develop lasting relationships with the faculty where I was able to see their passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ inside and outside of the classroom. The opportunity to meet with them outside of the classroom and to be mentored by them, as well as to see them in their homes, was an education in and of itself. The biggest impact that the faculty had on me was developing in me an understanding of “taking our theology seriously but not ourselves.” This was and continues to be evident in all my interactions with them.

Additionally, it was a joy and privilege to meet and develop friendships with my fellow students from around the country and the world. What I learned from them and from their passion to bring the Gospel to the world was an extremely important aspect of my education at WSC. I am so grateful to have been able to keep up some of these relationships over the years.

I now find myself walking around campus reminiscing about those days and how formative they were and continue to be to me and to my family.

2

DESCRIBE YOUR TIME SINCE GRADUATING FROM WSC AND JOINING THE STAFF LAST FALL.

Since graduating from WSC, my wife, Sara, and I have been blessed with two children, Owen and Emma. I have also had the privilege of serving as an elder in two different local churches, one here in San Diego and the other in Michigan. Professionally, after graduating from WSC in 2006, I had the privilege of working with Mike Horton and the rest of the crew at the White Horse Inn for four years in an administrative role. After my time with the White Horse Inn, I went back to school to pursue a degree in accounting (a natural transition, I know). I obtained my CPA license and worked for a few different public accounting firms in Minnesota and Michigan. Near the end of my time in public accounting I also had the opportunity to serve on the WSC Board of Trustees prior to being given the opportunity to be back at WSC on a day-to-day basis.

“We are really excited to have our family back in the WSC community.”

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CHIEF FINANCIAL O F F I C E R AT W S C

3

WHAT LED YOU TO LEAVE THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTING WORLD TO SERVE AS CFO AT WSC?

I had the desire to serve the local church on a more regular basis, in some capacity, for several years during my time in public accounting. I was overjoyed and humbled to be presented with the opportunity to serve on the WSC Board and was so thankful to be connected with WSC in an official capacity once again.

Once the opportunity to serve as the next CFO at WSC came about, I was really excited at the prospect of being able to bring together the various experiences through which the Lord has led me, both in my education at WSC and my experience in the world of finance and accounting. While it was an extremely difficult decision to leave family and friends, we are really excited to have our family back in the WSC community.

BRETT WATSON is Chief Financial Officer at Westminster Seminary California.

UPDATE | SPRING2021

FACULTY BOOKS AVAILABLE NOW NE W

!

NE W

With All Your Heart

Orienting Your Mind, Desires, and Will Toward Christ

by A. Craig Troxel (Crossway, 2020)

Monday Through Friday In The Word Weekday Inspiration

by Derke P. Bergsma (Christian Faith Publishing, Inc., 2018)

Rediscovering the Holy Spirit

God's Perfecting Presence in Creation, Redemption, and Everyday Life

by Michael S. Horton (Zondervan, 2017)

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!

Politics After Christendom

Political Theology in a Fractured World

by David VanDrunen (Zondervan, 2020)

Journeys with Jesus

Every Path in the Bible Leads Us to Christ

What is the Priesthood of Believers?

Basics of Faith Series

What is Man?

Basics of Faith Series

by A. Craig Troxel (P&R, 2010)

The Pastoral Theology of the Canons of Dort

by W. Robert Godfrey (Reformation Trust Publishing, 2019)

by A. Craig Troxel (P&R, 2019)

Echoes of Exodus Tracing a Biblical Motif

Aquinas Among the Protestants

by Bryan D. Estelle (IVP Academic, 2018)

Edited by David VanDrunen (Wiley-Blackwell, 2017)

The Majesty on High Introduction to the Kingdom of God in the New Testament

Justification

2-Volume Series, New Studies in Dogmatics

by Michael S. Horton (Zondervan, 2018)

Learning to Love the Psalms

by W. Robert Godfrey (Reformation Trust, 2017)

by S. M. Baugh (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017)

by Dennis E. Johnson (P&R, 2018)

Ephesians

Core Christianity Finding Yourself in God's Story

The Majestic Heart of Christian Faith and Life

by S. M. Baugh (Lexham Press, 2016)

by Michael S. Horton (Zondervan, 2016)

by David VanDrunen (Zondervan, 2015)

Evangelical Exegetical Commentary

Saving the Reformation

God's Glory Alone

Preaching the Whole Counsel of God

Calvin on the Christian Life

Design and Deliver GospelCentered Sermons

Glorifying and Enjoying God Forever

by Julius J. Kim (Zondervan, 2015)

by Michael S. Horton (Crossway Books, 2014)

Visit our campus Bookstore! | wscal.edu/bookstore

WESTMINSTER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN CALIFORNIA 1725 BEAR VALLEY PARKWAY ESCONDIDO, CA 92027 WWW.WSCAL.EDU

annual conference 2021

westminister seminary california

FROM FAITH TO FAITH J OEL E. KIM | M ICH A E L S. H O RTON

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1.14.22 1.15.22

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WSCA L . E D U/ CO NF E R E N C E

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W. R O B E RT GO D F R EY

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BRADLEY J. B IT NE R | A . CR A IG T R OX EL