Calvin Seminary Named Seminary That is Changing the World

Kyle Kooyers was delighted when he learned that Calvin Theological Seminary was recently named to the 2015 list of Seminaries that Change the World.

“We have been welcomed into a conversation with other schools about the many forms in which ministry can take shape and how we can best equip students to serve in various ministry contexts for a time such as this,” says Kooyers, a second-year M.Div student who encouraged Calvin officials to apply for the designation.

Twenty-six seminaries around the U.S. were put on the list. Along with Calvin Seminary, they include Fuller Theological Seminary in California, Brite Divinity School in Texas, Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary in Illinois, and Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey.

“The selected seminaries and divinity schools have demonstrated great innovation in theological education, in integration with classical approaches for learning, even as they navigate negative stereotypes about organized religion and work to expand narrow definitions of traditional ministry,” said Rev. Wayne Meisel, director of the Center for Faith and Service at McCormick Theological Seminary, the seminary in Chicago that released the list.

Kooyers, who met Meisel before coming to Calvin Seminary, suggested that Calvin officials apply to Seminaries that Change the World, a program that began in 2014. Meisel says the goal behind Seminaries that Change the World is to develop a consortium of seminaries and divinity schools that work together to recruit, train, and launch a generation of world-changing leaders.

“Through Seminaries that Change the World, we seek to convene the ‘community of the willing’ to work together in our common cause to strengthen theological education so that it might transform faithful individuals to lead in the world,” he says.

In its application for placement in the program, Calvin described ways in which it is reaching beyond the classroom to become part of that “community of the willing.”

According to the application, Calvin Theological Seminary enables students to integrate service-learning into their education, provides cross-cultural and pastoral-ministry internships, has launched a distance-learning program, and is developing ministry and theological degree programs in Michigan prisons.

Calvin has also initiated an Institute for Global Church Planting and Renewal in which students take a variety of classes in such areas as organizational leadership and community development and then work in various ministry settings.

“This designation both represents where Calvin Theological Seminary has come from as an institution and where it is going into the future. It is less of a title and more of a trajectory. Exciting things are taking place,” says Kooyers.

Prior to attending Calvin Seminary, Kooyers was living in an intentional Christian community called the Common House, exploring spiritual formation, ministry, and community development with several other young adults in Waynesburg, Penn.

During his time in Waynesburg, he says, he began to see how he wanted to attend a seminary in which he could address all of these things.

“I was looking for a school that was engaged in a similar conversation and would equip me with a strong Reformed theological education to enter into this type of work,” says Kooyers.

“Ultimately it was the Lord’s leading that brought me to Calvin Seminary. … I can’t describe what I saw or heard in those three hours [during a visit to the seminary], but I left with this all-too-familiar feeling of certainty that the Lord was leading me to this place.”

Now that he is at the seminary, he is even more convinced that it is the place for him.

“Calvin is giving us a vision for how the church will look in the future,” he says. “It is challenging us with such questions as ‘How will we serve our ministry contexts, build up missional communities, and ensure that all people in those communities are treated equally?”

Above all, he says, the seminary is training its students – and giving them experiences – that are vital if students are to have an impact on a diverse and changing world.

A recent visit with other Calvin seminarians to Angola Prison in Louisiana underscored this point.

“It was amazing to visit Angola and to see the way the gospel is at work, transforming the culture of that place,” he said.

“We visited prisoners who will be in prison for the rest of their lives, and yet they live with a profoundly joyful identity rooted in the gospel. They have completely surrendered themselves to serving God.”

Rev. Jul Medenblik, president of the seminary, says Calvin Seminary is honored to be on the list of seminaries "that change the world” for the work it has been doing and will be doing into the future.

Also, he said, “We are especially encouraged that this recognition started with a student’s nomination. We are truly grateful that this honor recognizes our graduates who answer God’s call to serve the church around the world, leading communities of disciples of Jesus Christ and engaging the world that God so loves.”