Seminary Publishes Impact Report

Calvin Theological Seminary has released its annual Impact Report providing a look at activities, projects and programs that took place both inside and outside the seminary in 2015.

The report is geared for Calvin Theological Seminary (CTS) supporters and others interested in the ministry of the school.

 “As you read, I hope you will see how God has been working both at and through Calvin Seminary,” writes Jul Medenblik, seminary president, in his introduction to the report.

“Please be encouraged to know your investment of time, talent and treasure is being stewarded well here at the seminary, helping to make an impact for the church and the Kingdom of God, whether down the street or around the world.”

The annual report recaps some of the stories of the last year that help to show the ministries and programs of the seminary at work.

Some of these stories include the graduation in May of the first cohort of 36 students in the seminary’s new Certificate in Hispanic Ministry Program.

Mariano Avila, professor of New Testament and the program’s project director, said the number of students is more than they anticipated when the program began in 2012. Currently, 41 students are enrolled in the program.

In all, the seminary had 106 graduates in its various programs in 2015.

Another story describes how CTS is participating with Seminaries that Change the World, an initiative of McCormick Theological Seminary that links seminaries and divinity schools in an effort to strengthen and transform theological education.

As part of the initiative, says the Impact Report, seminary student Kyle Kooyers “traveled across the country with the initiative’s New Faces of Ministry Tour last summer, joining representatives from other schools as they visited congregations, camps, and services corps to increase young adults’ awareness of theological education and its application to community development.”

Still another story tells of a celebration held at the seminary marking the 50th birthday of the New International Version of the Bible, the best-selling version of the Bible which has its history in the CRC and has been a project with which several seminary professors have been closely associated since its inception.

In September, says the report, the seminary “officially ushered in the new academic year with its convocation service. Mary Vandenberg, the first tenured professor at Calvin Seminary who teaches systematic theology, offered a moving message based on Psalm 1 and a prayer for the CTS body to be ‘like a tree’ rooted in and nourished by fellowship with the Lord and his Word.”