Summer 2022 Update and Prayer Request

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Now that the academic year is completed and most of the students have left town for summer assignments, the usual kind of quiet has descended on the seminary. There are not many people in the building. This time, however, there is something unusual about the quiet. It feels like the calm before the storm – the storm being the renovation of the ground floor of the seminary. As soon as the required permits are received from the City of Hamilton, demolition and construction crews will descend on the building, and things could get pretty noisy for a while. We would appreciate your prayers for this project. Ideally, we need to be able to use our lecture rooms when the Fall semester begins in September!

As for our seminary students, we rejoice with the graduates who have passed classis exams and are now receiving calls from churches (see the CanRC website for details). We look forward to seeing in what part of the Lord’s “vineyard” they will end up serving Him!
Many of our returning students are involved in summer internships in various parts of the country. Here is a quick summary of students and placements: Jacob Baijal (Attercliffe), Taylor Bredenhof (Lincoln), Faustin Emadjeu (St. Albert), Josh Peters (Edmonton-Immanuel), Mark Vanderlinde (Waterdown), Zach Vanderploeg (Winnipeg-Redeemer), and Kevin Wattel (Flamborough). May the Lord bless all these young men as they get a first taste of what it’s like to preach the gospel and shepherd the Lord’s flock on a weekly basis.
In addition to this, some of our students are involved in mission internships this summer. Again, a quick summary: Caleb Kos (Edmonton), Matthias Schat (Scotland), Tim Slaa (Cyprus), Adam Werkman (Kenya). May the Lord bless them all and grant that they will learn much about doing mission in various places in the world.

The bond between the seminary and the churches continues to be strong, as illustrated by various decisions made by the Synod of Guelph-Emmanuel last month. As seminary community we thank the Lord for the appointment of Dr. Reuben Bredenhof as professor of Ministry & Mission. May the Lord bless the transition process in such a way that Dr. Bredenhof will be able to commence his work at the seminary in 2023. Another important decision was Synod’s approval of a free will offering for the Foreign Students Bursary Fund, with a view to supporting students from our sister churches in South Africa to come and study in Hamilton. As always, we covet the prayers of our supporting community!