Report Features Impact of Calvin Seminary in 2017

Hannah Saxton was nervous when she began serving as an intern at Mayfair Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., as part of Calvin Theological Seminary’s new vocational formational initiative.

A first-year master of divinity student, she had worked at only one church, Fourteenth St. CRC in Holland, Mich., and that was the congregation in which she had grown up.

“I knew everyone, and everyone knew me,” writes Saxton in the just-released Calvin Seminary 2017 Impact Report, an annual report on seminary life that highlights stories, activities, statistics, and new programs that took place in the past academic year.

When first assigned to serve at Mayfair CRC, “I suddenly felt the weight of this new reality,” Saxton writes. “I worried that I wouldn’t be able to succeed, that I wouldn’t be able to do what Mayfair wanted or needed me to do.”

Elsewhere in the impact report, Geoff Vandermolen, the newly installed director of formational ministry at the seminary, discusses why a well-documented, perceived lack of good leadership in the church today calls for linking students to churches even as they begin their studies.

“We want to place students at the intersection of academic learning and real-time ministry as a crucible for their formation as leaders,” he said.

“We want our emerging leaders to live at this crossroads with a seasoned, engaged leader to help them so that when they are on their own, they are better equipped to be well prepared and successful.”

It was Elaine May, lead pastor at Mayfair, who served as Paxton’s mentor and helped to dispel her nervousness.

“She is an amazing leader who was able to take my timid self and push me to step out of my comfort zone,” writes Saxton. “Elaine is the type of leader who can see my strengths even before I can see them.”

Seminary student Derek Ellens recalls in his story how he had prepared to help lead worship on Sunday morning as an intern at Fuller Ave. CRC in Grand Rapids.

When he arrived, he learned that a church member had just passed away unexpectedly, and Ellens watched as Nate DeJong, the pastor, adapted the service, announcing the death and leading in prayer.

“I then led the congregational prayer later in the service, adjusting my prepared words in light of the situation,” he writes, adding: “Taking an internship while also taking coursework has been integral to my learning.”

As part of the report, Bailey Sarver, a master of theology student, described a study tour she took with several others to Washington, D.C., as part of a Pastoral Theology at the Margins class taught by associate professor Danjuma Gibson.

In the U.S. Capitol, they spent a day visiting the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. They also spent a day at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

“It was wonderful and invaluable to me,” writes Sarver, “to have a variety of perspectives and experiences walking through and processing these spaces together.”

According to the impact report, the seminary had a total of more than 420 students last year in its programs, including those studying for an M.Div., Hispanic pastors in the seminary’s Spanish-language certificate programs, 28 Ph.D. students, and 82 students enrolled in program that takes place, in conjunction with Calvin College, at Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia, Mich.

Also in the impact report is an update on the seminary’s Center for Excellence in Preaching, which recently had a record-setting month of activity on its website, with more than 19,000 pastors from around the world visiting the site a total of over 30,000 times.

In addition, the seminary celebrated the work of Calvin College graduate and philosopher Alvin Plantinga, who received the 2017 Templeton Prize for his groundbreaking work in establishing a philosophical framework for belief in God.

Writing about the mission of Calvin Theological Seminary, Jul Medenblik, president of the seminary, states: “In a world of brokenness, we share a gospel message of healing. In a world of division, we share how unity can be found in Jesus Christ. In a world of diminishing hope, we share a confidence that is founded on the sovereignty and providence of God.”