Insight Magazine - The Fall/Winter 2021 edition

Insight FALL/WINTER 2021

LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

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“SPARKS OF LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS...”

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“HOPEFUL FOR A MISSIONAL MOMENT”

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“GRATITUDE AS AN EFFECTIVE MOTIVATOR...”

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“WHEN COMMUNITY GIVES RISE TO COMMUNITY”

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“LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER?”

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S PEN

“Light, more light!”

By The Rt Rev Dr. Stephen G. W. Andrews

Dear Friends, It is reported that on his deathbed, the great German romantic poet, Goethe, cried, “Light, more light!” There is no indication of whether these final words were uttered in the form of a demand or a plea (it has been taken both ways). But Goethe was the individualist’s poet. His writings are imbued with confidence in the human capacity to work out one’s own destiny. And so one might have thought that this quintessential Enlightenment figure would crown his days with words of triumph. Instead, the brilliance of his intellect was not enough to pierce the twilight of his life’s end.

It is hard to make sense of life. Part of the human condition is that, for all of our voracious appetite for knowledge and experience, we understand so little.

This is even the case for Christians, as we look for some kind of meaning in the midst of suffering, sadness, and the secularism that surrounds us. As our new Professor of Theology, Justin Stratis, explains, the conditions of the pandemic have intensified our gloom, making us nostalgic for the past and wary of the future. When we emerge from our Covid cocoon, we may wonder if we shall be greeted by the light Goethe sought.

grandeur and His beauty (Ephesians 5:8). come a day, St John tells us in his final Much of this issue of Insight is given to book of the Revelation, when “The throne the theme of light. Here you will read of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, stories of how God illumined the paths of and his servants will serve him. They will those called to serve Christ’s church, and see his face, and his name will be on their how that call led them to Wycliffe College. foreheads. There will be no more night.

Professor Marion Taylor examines the They will not need the light of a lamp or Book of Esther, and exposes the working the light of the sun, for the Lord God will of the divine in this “godless” story. give them light” (22:3–5).

History professor Alan Hayes carefully guides us into the shadowy world of With this destiny before us, let us take the Indian residential schools and there courage, for this same God has “caused identifies sparks of light, for God is never his light to shine in our hearts, the light without witness. And in his interview with which is the knowledge of the glory Karen Stiller, Dr Ed Stetzer draws on his of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 knowledge of mission and evangelicalism, Corinthians 4:6). reminding us that, at the end of the Yours in the Light world’s story, the Light will overcome.

The Bible says that people naturally “feel after” God (Acts 17:27). While our beclouded minds are by themselves incapable of apprehending God’s reality, the glory of the Christian story is that heavenly light has condescended to take on our nature in order to show us who God is. Jesus Christ comes to us as “the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5), revealing both the truth about God in His In the middle of that story, of course, splendour, and the truth about the world we shall never have a full vision of in its darkness. And we who are followers Jesus Christ. Indeed, now it would be of this Light are meant to reflect His impossible for us to bear. But there will

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Stephen Andrews Principal

Discipleship beyond the crisis

By Justin Stratis

Nothing tends to bring out the tenacity of the human spirit more than a crisis.

In the early days of the first lockdown, ministers scrapped their planned sermons and addressed the pandemic directly. Together, we read and wrote think pieces about “the new normal,” debated the promise and perils of online church, and became armchair experts on infection rates and vaccine technology.

We were in crisis mode, and so we all stepped up to do our part to survive with our health and our faith intact.

But as the crisis kept going—month after month—soon the adrenaline rush began to fade. As it turned out, we were in this for the long haul. And so, we began to ask ourselves: do I really want to go to “Zoom church” again? Do I really want to wash my hands for 90 seconds, indefinitely?

At a certain point, it was easy to let the malaise of the pandemic wash over us.

This shared experience of moving from passion to lethargy in the midst of an extended crisis is a teachable moment for disciples of Jesus. Often in the Christian life, we tend to relish those times that call for heroic acts of faith.

We think of Daniel’s friends refusing to bow the knee to King Nebuchadnezzar, Dietrich Bonhoeffer standing up to the Nazi church, or Martin Luther King Jr. prophesying to the moderates from a Birmingham jail. In these times, we imagine, our resolve to follow Christ is truly tested, and the strength of our faith is most clearly revealed.

But what this pandemic has reminded us, I think, is that we can’t rely on the rush of the moment alone. Christian discipleship is a long haul, and those who keep the faith to the end don’t simply ride the crest of a wave, but carefully prepare for the long journey ahead.

not seem like a Daniel-esque act of spiritual heroism, but in truth, it’s just this sort of commitment that bespeaks a long-haul kind of faith. It’s the sort of faith that doesn’t wait for a dramatic test, but which battles on a different plane entirely.

Jesus once asked his followers, “Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?

Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish’” (Luke 14:28–30).

The fourth-century eastern father Evagrius of Pontus knew something of this. In his manual for ascetics, the Praktikos, Evagrius spoke of what he called the “noonday demon,” that is, the temptation of acedia (or “sloth”), which entices the monk to let his spiritual practices slide in the absence of any perceived conflict. Why should I pray fervently today, he might say, when life is going so well and all seems to be right with the world?

Certainly, the Lord often spoke about the great cost of discipleship. Those who answer his call should be prepared not only to lose their power, status, and wealth in this world, but even their very lives. But I like the way Jesus puts it here: it takes careful planning to raise a building, and likewise it takes a good measure of intentionality and honesty with oneself to serve Christ to the end of one’s life.

When I arrived at Wycliffe, I learned that our principal, Bishop Stephen Andrews, spent every morning this summer in the chapel praying the daily office and interceding for our community. At this time, recall, the pandemic had fully settled in, and in-person chapel services at Wycliffe had long since ceased. We were still in crisis, but the crisis had become stable. Now, daily prayer might

In a spiritual crisis, it’s relatively easy to drop everything and turn to God, even if only in lament or anger; it’s much harder to keep turning to God, day by day, no matter what, simply because that is what discipleship demands.

As we emerge from the pandemic, I pray we remember this experience and learn well from all it has taught us. But more than that, I pray that we learn something again of what it means to follow Jesus in the everyday, in the grind of life, beyond the crisis.

Dr. Justin Stratis is Professor of Systematic Theology at Wycliffe, and the College’s newest faculty member.

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Sparks of Light in the Darkness of Indian Residential Schools

By Alan L Hayes “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” The gospel of John describes darkness as the default of our fallen condition, but it recognizes that within that darkness, as Calvin puts it in his commentary on this passage, “some sparks of the brightness still shine.”

Indian residential schools in Canada were a world of darkness for most of their pupils. The schools removed children from their communities, submerged them in Euro-Canadian cultures and languages, and taught them to despise their families as ignorant and their nations as primitive, in order to hasten the day when “the Indian problem” would disappear.

But here I don’t want to talk about the darkness. I’d like to point to some sparks of light: Christians who dissented from the destructive thinking of the day. They believed that Christ’s commission to the 4

church wasn’t to erase some nations in favour of others, but to make disciples of all the nations.

Much has been written about Peter Bryce (1853-1932), the federal medical officer who in 1907 began to expose the unsanitary conditions and high mortality rates at the Indian residential schools.

But less widely known is the work of his distinguished partner in the early crusade to close Indian residential schools: Samuel Hume Blake (1835–1914), who was also the chief founder of Wycliffe College.

Blake, a leader on the board of management of the Anglican Church’s missionary society, collected reams of data between 1905 and 1908 on the residential schools. He found that they weren’t safe, weren’t educationally effective, and weren’t even truly missionary. He thought that they should

be closed. He also opposed policies of the federal government that he believed “pauperized” Indigenous peoples. He published pamphlets, wrote scores of letters, filed memoranda, and convened conferences in an effort to rally opinion.

For a while it looked as if he might be successful. One of his supporters was Frank Oliver, the federal cabinet minister in charge of the residential schools, who wrote, “The mutual love between parent and child is the strongest influence for the betterment of the world, and when that influence is absolutely cut apart or is deliberately intended to be cut apart as in the education of Indian children in industrial schools the means taken defeats itself.”

Ahenakew helped found the League of Indians of Canada in 1919 with the purpose of pursuing “equality for the Indian,” improved health conditions, and Indigenous control of education. Pressed by the federal Indian department, however, Ahenakew’s bishop ordered him in 1931 to cease advocating for Indigenous justice.

As we know, Blake failed. Canny though he was, western bishops and missionaries were more powerful, partly because they played into the fears of Protestants that if they let down their guard, the Roman Catholic Church, with their far greater number of residential schools, would sweep Indian country.

Ray Horsefield (1902–1985), an Anglican missionary to the Cree in Manitoba who was fluent in the language, became a thorn in the side of the bureaucrats in the missionary headquarters in Toronto. He criticized their policies in letters not only to them but also to the Canadian Churchman.

“I used to be an enthusiast for Indian residential schools,” he wrote the church newspaper, “but I find myself beaten back at point after point in my defence of them.” He hated how the schools broke up home life, and how the children there “miss all the irreplaceable treasures of traditional knowledge and tribal wisdom that are their rights and their need.”

Nevertheless, Bryce’s and Blake’s campaign did force the federal government to strengthen health standards at the schools.

Robert Renison (1875–1957), a Wycliffe graduate of 1896 who retired as archbishop of Moosonee, grew up among the Ojibwe of Nipigon Bay

(his father was a missionary), and began his ordained ministry at James Bay. He loved the Cree language, and he was baffled as to why residential schools prevented children from speaking it.

In 1947, when Parliament was considering a revision of the Indian Act, he joined some other Anglican leaders before a parliamentary committee. “With all due respect to the very efficient and hardworking director of the Indian branch who is here, and the policy outlined,” the transcript of his testimony reads, “I want to say I hope it will not happen soon that the Indian language will be unknown.”

We sometimes imagine that in past ages people had no choice but to think within the constraints of the prevailing systems. In imagining that, perhaps we hope that future generations will forgive us for accepting the conventional wisdom of our own day. But Bryce, Blake, Ahenakew, Horsefield, and Renison were sparks of light who remind us that, after all, we do have a choice. Following the counsel of St Paul, instead of being “conformed to the world,” we can seek to “discern what is the will of God.”

Blake didn’t really know Indigenous cultures, and his opposition to the schools was mainly humanitarian, strategic, and financial. But there were other sparks of light—people who sought alternatives to the residential schools because they positively appreciated the knowledge and spiritual treasures of the First Nations.

One was Edward Ahenakew (1885– 1961), an Anglican priest from the Cree First Nation of Ahtahkakoop (Sandy Lake), Saskatchewan, who attended Wycliffe from 1905 to 1907. He had a side vocation collecting and publishing Cree stories.

One of his reasons for opposing residential schools was that they left a student “in a totally false position. He does not fit into the Indian life, nor does he find that he can associate with the whites.”

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STUDENT FOCUS:

OF INKLINGS AND INTERSECTIONS

By Xenia Chan

Pursuing a doctorate seemed a pipe dream—if even that–when I first started seminary. I was coming off a stint of campus ministry, finding my academic feet again. To my surprise, I revelled in my first semester courses, particularly learning Biblical Hebrew and soaking in as much of the Hebrew Bible as possible.

While I thrived academically, more important was the connection I had with the Scriptures—a resonance of the Spirit at work in my life, speaking to me, in me, and through me. Out of this profound experience, the Lord confirmed the inklings that there might be more to this love for the Scriptures than (simply) a pursuit of pastoral ministry.

The inklings solidified alongside a desire to remain in Canada—to be a theologian for the sake of the Canadian church. I’d also become captivated by the trauma/

STUDENT FOCUS:

Xenia Chan is a second-year doctoral student in Hebrew Bible and serves as Lead Pastor at Selah, a Free Methodist church-plant started during the pandemic.

A graduate of Tyndale Seminary and the University of Ottawa, she is also a co-host of the Canadian Asian Missional Podcast with three other pastors.

EAGER TO TEACH AND RESEARCH

By Justin Lam Five years ago, I would not have considered seminary education. I was 18 years old and ready to begin an undergraduate business program with hopes of gaining a successful career. As a result, I spent my first year working extremely hard to increase my chances of reaching the upper echelon of business.

However, after only one year, I was left empty and confused. I had reached the goals I had laid out for myself, yet I felt emptier than before.

It was during this time that I became more involved with the campus fellowship and started to lead different ministries. Where business had left me unfulfilled, I found greater purpose leading others closer to Christ through Bible studies and discipleship groups, while also experiencing the personal

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disaster reading of the Scriptures— particularly in Jeremiah—due to a paper I was writing and because I had been ministering in several traumatised diaspora contexts. A friend had been taking Dr. Marion Taylor’s Jeremiah course while I was diving into the trauma/disaster hermeneutic, so when my supervising professor asked at the start of my last year in seminary if I would be interested in studying with Dr. Taylor, I replied with a resounding ‘Yes.’ (I’d heard wonderful things about her as a supervisor at that point, in addition to her reputation as a stellar scholar). Wycliffe, I’d heard, was also interested in how the life of the church and the academy intersected. In the end, the only school I applied to was Wycliffe—trusting that I’d be challenged to be an excellent scholar for the sake of the church, especially in an increasingly post-Christendom context. Thus far, I have not been disappointed.

presence of God myself through the love and support of the community. With all of this in mind, I began to consider a life of full-time vocational ministry.

Receiving the affirmation of trusted pastors and friends, I decided to take a leap of faith and begin my MDiv at Tyndale Seminary.

Interestingly, it was through my time at Tyndale that I was encouraged by caring professors to pursue a path of research.

I realized that as a researcher, I would be able to teach, while continuing to experience the depths of God through the study of his Word. It was at Wycliffe that I believed I would best be able to explore this calling.

Consequently, as an MDiv student eager to teach and research, I hope to have one foot in the Church, training lay people in the Word of God, and one foot in the

academy, experiencing God through the task of research.

Justin Lam is a 2nd year MDiv student passionate about biblical studies. In his free time, he likes to take pictures and spend time with his new chocolate Labrador, Woody.

STUDENT FOCUS:

STUDYING TO BECOME A BETTER SERVANT

By Michael Chhangur Not everyone feels the same way I do when they walk into a library. For them, the library is boredom and drudgery incarnate. No talking in the library means “No fun here!”

For me, being in a library gives a sense of wonder and delight. Hello, and who are you? What’s your story? I didn’t realize anyone could think like this!

Do I have time to read this one too?

Ah, that one reminds me of this one. I should keep digging.

This matches well with the experiences various Canadians have when approaching the church and the life of faith. Is it No fun here; keep quiet and bide your time, or How exciting! Where do I begin?

The prospect of studying at Wycliffe

STUDENT FOCUS:

College, encountering and diving into new and old ideas, being sharpened by students and faculty, excited me. Personally, getting back into academics is an enjoyable challenge.

But pastorally, I hope it will allow me, with greater precision and confidence, to point people in my church and city to the joy and wonder of faith in Christ.

Michael and his wife Britney moved from Ottawa to Halifax two years ago to plant a new church, Christ Church Halifax. Together they have five children (ages nine and under), one cat, and a trampoline out back. Michael began the ThM program at Wycliffe College this fall.

How many in my city ignore the church, unaware of the precious treasure it holds out? How many are longing for a home and sure foundation in an anchor-less world?

However much I enjoy “the feels” I get in a library or church, my hope is that studying at Wycliffe will make me a better servant in the church—one who labours to see my neighbours encounter Christ and finally say, How exciting! Where do I begin?

ROOTING DEEPER

By Matthew Lee Born in South Carolina to two Korean scientists, I have lived as a perpetual outsider most of my life. The faith was first taught to me in the “thick” ecclesial life of Korean Christianity, but like so many other Canadians of my generation my faith was extinguished during my teenage years in a nominally Christian school system.

An unintended encounter with Kierkegaard in a bookstore during my freshman university year piqued a serious rethinking of the faith of my childhood, and soon after I met a professor of historical theology who so patiently entertained my incessant and tiresome questions. This man, the Rev. Dr Peter Widdicombe, taught me the faith for the next eleven years. It was under the protection of his gentle

guidance that I was led back to the church. I thank God for granting me the privilege of my mentor’s friendship, for his teaching and love helped me see that the Christian evangel really was good news.

I first considered applying to Wycliffe’s MDiv program about seven years ago because it was my mentor’s alma mater, and I desired to follow in the footsteps of my teacher whom I loved as a father.

high hath visited us; to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

H. Matthew Lee began his MDiv at Wycliffe College in Fall, 2021. Baptized with the name Paul as a child, he is a former Lay Reader and Catechist, and a lover of the Divine Office. He is concurrently writing his doctoral dissertation on political theology.

Unexpected twists in life conspired to make this difficult, but in retrospect I am grateful that I spent the past five years elsewhere because it granted me the time to pray, contemplate, and root deeper into the life of the church. But I have now found my way here, finally, to learn and for my character to be tested, with no desire other than to serve the church, because the day-spring from on

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“Hopeful for a missional moment”

By Karen Stiller

Dr. Ed Stetzer is a professor and dean at Wheaton College and Executive Director of the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center.

An author, pastor, trainer of pastors, church planter, missiologist, and host of the radio show Ed Stetzer Live, he was a featured speaker at this year’s Principal’s Dinner where he spoke on “The Future of Theological Education in a Post-Pandemic World.” Journalist and honorary alumna Karen Stiller spoke to him for Insight.

ES: Ministry is more complicated today than at any time of my life; the need for robust theological education has never been clearer. It’s also a challenging time for seminaries, as increasingly some churches don’t see a need for that level of education. I see a greater need.

Some don’t, and then they’re navigating very complex situations without the theological grounding to face the issues of the day.

KS: The heart of your work seems to be about equipping leaders well. What does a well-equipped church leader look like now in North America?

I’d say to continue to root deeply in the gospels and the Scriptures and produce the kind of students who love the church and want to live on mission. That’s always the challenge for those of us who lead the seminary: the seminary is the tool, but the church is the means.

ES: I’m a missiologist. My job is to help people understand and engage culture.

Cultures are moving targets. The preparation of 20 years ago, the tools that got us where we are, are probably not the tools that will take us where we want to go.

Equipping in 2021 and beyond will need robust understanding of the gospel and mission and a deeper understanding of the cultural tumult and turbulence we are going through.

The old expression was the pastor needed to have a Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Now, the pastor has a whole set of questions about culture along with that.

KS: How can seminaries do better at preparing students for this cultural moment?

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Dr Ed Stetzer KS: You’re a regional director with Lausanne North America, which tells us you have your eye on the global church. What can we learn?

ES: I think the irony is, while we are discouraged sometimes in North America about the state and reputation of evangelicalism, the state and reputation of evangelicalism around the world is a better story. We can take solace there, but we can be inspired and learn. Particularly in the Wycliffe world, Anglicanism around the world is a reminder to us of what a church can look like on mission.

KS: What are the opportunities now, for the church?

ES: The West seems to go through a cultural convulsion every 20 years. Often it is around those cultural tumults that we see unique moves of God, that we talk about decades later.

The pillars of modernity have not helped … I think that when the world is shaken, the recognition that what is secure is Christ, is perhaps more evident.

People ask me if I’m discouraged, but I actually think that the more we lean into the cultural turbulence, the more likely it is people will be more interested in the gospel. I’m hopeful for a missional moment; an evangelistic opportunity. I’m always encouraged. I’ve read the end of the book. Jesus wins.

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Faith-Based Community Development Certificate offered through School of Continuing Studies

By Alex Newman

Wycliffe’s newest offering—a Certificate in Faith-Based Community Development— is a feature of the College’s emerging Institute for Community Engagement and is presented through the generous support of the Selah Charitable Trust and in partnership with the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies.

The Certificate is designed to be highly accessible and to “build critical skills,” says one of the architects of the program, Professor of Urban and Community Development David Kupp, so that those who take the Certificate “will better lead non-profits, community, and church organizations.”

Just six courses are required to earn the Certificate, and each course can be completed in about 15 to 20 hours.

Course offerings include Leading Resilient Community Organizations, and Poverty, Ecology and Biblical Justice: CitizenBased Action & Advocacy. Four courses are available this year, with eight more in development for 2022–2023. At a cost of about $150 per course, the courses are much less than the cost of a university credit.

“We’re seeing this as a pre-master’s degree intro,” Kupp says. “You don’t need to be a student of the University to sign up for it.”

The team responsible for planning the Certificate held brainstorming discussions with church- and faith-based organizations, and with Wycliffe’s Master of Theological Studies in Development program.

They researched who might be interested, how much time they might have to commit, and appropriate costs. “We pulled together mostly leaders and managers of small- and medium-sized organizations, church and denominational workers in street ministries, people who are street change agents at non-profit agencies and community-based programs,” Kupp says.

A variety of denominations also expressed interest as a means to train volunteer leaders.

Some students are coming to the program directly from a church agency, Kupp says; others are based in national organizations, or with NGOs that have domestic and international programs. Kupp cites a case study of one pastor whose municipality compelled her church to work with the homeless, a project that was overwhelmed within a year because they didn’t have the experience to conduct a community assessment, or develop partnerships.

The Certificate fills a niche that Wycliffe

David Kupp is equipped to fill, as the College’s Masters specialization in urban and community development focuses on small- and medium-sized organizations, Kupp says.

“We’re not trying to train people for work at the United Nations, because large organizations like that tend to require a specialized graduate degree.”

Instead, this allows those already working in local community development to upgrade their skills and knowledge without taking on the time and financial commitment of a two-year master’s degree.

It’s kind of a “taster,” Kupp says, since some courses are smaller versions of what is already in the master’s program.

The catalogue description sums up the certificate’s benefits: “Leadership of faithbased organizations (FBOs) has always required a mix of vision, knowledge, attitudes, and skills. These days, societal upheaval, cultural shifts, and crises have heightened the essential role of healthy FBOs and resilient community organizations for urban wellbeing.”

For more information visit: https://learn.utoronto.ca/programs-courses/certificates/faith-based-community-development

Changes in the Office of the Registrar When Wycliffe’s beloved and long-time registrar, Barbara Jenkins, retires in January the College’s assistant registrar, Jeffrey Hocking, will take up the position.

Jeff, who says he likes “being at the nexus between students and faculty and helping them achieve their educational

goals,” is looking forward to the new challenge. The role of registrar is a team effort, he explains. “Faculty have research projects that attract students interested in the same sorts of things that they are. The students and their professors are going in the same direction, and you’re trying to help them get there.”

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Gratitude as an effective motivator for life-change

By Jeremy McClung

Receive, Lord, all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and all my will— all that I have and possess. You, Lord, have given all to me.

I now give it back to you, O Lord. All of it is yours. Dispose of it according to your will. Give me your love and your grace, for that is enough for me.

Traditionally known as the suscipe, this sixteenth-century prayer written by Ignatius of Loyola expresses the overflow of a heart so ravished by the grace and love of God that it cannot help but offer itself back to Him. In beautiful simplicity, it captures the foundation of Christian maturity: surrender of one’s whole life to God, recognition that all comes from him and should be returned to him for His will, and trust in the sufficiency of His love and grace.

This is precisely the kind of response that most pastors long to see arise in their congregations as they proclaim the good news of Jesus and His call to discipleship.

Yet one of the most frustrating aspects of preaching, particularly to the same people week after week, is the lack of heart-level response from listeners—those in the pew and the one in the pulpit!

It can seem as if, with the passing of time, Christians become immune to the gospel, unaffected by the grace of God, and unwilling to offer God even a tithe of their hearts and lives. Spiritual journeys that began with enthusiastic abandon drift into a compartmentalized Sunday religion that protects itself against even the most passionate appeals from the pulpit.

While ultimately it is the role of the Holy Spirit to produce spiritual fruit in the lives of our listeners, neither they nor we are passive in the process. It is important 10

modern preaching has largely moved away from this approach.

No doubt there have also been times when a preacher could appeal to a sense of Christian duty, simply telling their congregations, “This is what the Bible teaches,” or “This is what God wants,” and at least some would accept it as their responsibility to obey. However, concepts of duty and obligation are becoming foreign to today’s individualistic society and are no longer reliable stimuli for behavioural change.

for preachers to consider, therefore, just what it is that will spur their listeners on to “make every effort” to progress in their discipleship (2 Peter 1:5, 10, 3:14).

What is the motivator behind Christian obedience? How can sermons pierce the spiritual Kevlar so many listeners wear under their church clothes?

One compelling alternative to fear or duty as motivators in the Christian life is gratitude. The proper response to the grace of God in Christ is not guilt, fear, or a heavy burden of indebtedness. Rather, it is a sense of profound thankfulness expressed in both word and deed. Gratitude as a central motivation for a life of discipleship has been affirmed by many theologians (e.g. Calvin, Barth). Furthermore, recent scholarship on first-century conventions of reciprocity (e.g. Barclay, deSilva) has highlighted the fact that in the New Testament context, receiving grace always assumes a concrete response of gratitude.

Preachers have sometimes employed fear—of hell, judgment, or even earthly “chastisement”—as a means to provoke listeners into action. However, in today’s Western culture any hint of scare tactics is immediately and firmly rejected, and

In other words, the pattern of grace– gratitude–response is part of the biblical framework for the Christian life. Nowhere is this more clearly seen than in Romans 12:1, where Paul transitions from his extended description and celebration of

God’s grace into a call to radical discipleship: “Therefore, in view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices.” For Paul, this is the only appropriate (reasonable, logical) response to grace, and he does not hesitate to employ it as a motivator for obedience and surrender.

Preachers today can also tap into this dynamic of grateful response. To do so, we must consider how gratitude can be evoked (“inspired or drawn forth”) and invoked (“appealed to”) in sermons. Both are essential elements in preaching for grateful response.

In order to evoke gratitude, preachers need to raise awareness in their listeners of three things: the abundance of the gifts they have received, their own unworthiness as recipients, and the loving and gracious heart of the Giver.

First, people cannot feel thankful for benefits that they do not perceive.

Therefore, the preacher’s task is to point out the benefits—both physical and spiritual— with which God has so richly blessed their listeners. While it is easy to assume we are already aware of and thankful for God’s benefits, calling them to mind specifically (“counting” our blessings) allows us to experience them anew.

Second, people cannot feel thankful for benefits they feel that they deserve. This is one reason that preaching for conviction of sin is still relevant today, despite our culture having developed a severe allergy to it. While many preachers shy away from doing so, wanting to avoid an unhealthy emphasis on shame and guilt, it is essential that listeners understand biblical teaching about the sinfulness of the human heart— and where that should leave us in relation to

God. Of course, preaching sin is cruel and fruitless if the other two aspects of evoking gratitude are ignored. To understand the heart of the Giver and the generosity behind the gifts, we must be made aware of our own unworthiness.

Third, people cannot feel thankful for benefits that they perceive to be accidental or to have come from ulterior motives.

In other words, grace must be made personal. God gives to us and provides for us not flippantly, or as a way to bribe us into better behaviour. God’s blessings are motivated by love—for the human race as a whole, yes, but also for each individual.

The preacher must not only talk about the benefits that God showers on us, but also the deep agape love that stands behind every good and perfect gift.

Once they have evoked gratitude by highlighting these three things, preachers can invoke gratitude in calling for changes in behaviour. This is done by asking “the action question”: What are you going to do in response to all the good gifts God has given? Just as the apostle Paul assumes, and Ignatius’ prayer articulates, preachers must make clear to their listeners that the proper reaction to receiving grace from God is to offer oneself back to Him.

Where fear and duty are no longer effective, preaching for grateful response has the power to break through the body armour of entitlement and pierce the hearts of long-stagnant Christians. It offers a simple framework for discipleship, and an effective way to lead our listeners—and ourselves—to become living sacrifices.

May we learn to say, with utmost sincerity and overflowing gratitude, suscipe Domine universam: “Receive, Lord, all.” Amen.

Jeremy McClung is a Wycliffe PhD candidate in Pastoral Studies/Homiletics.

Currently serving as an interim pastor with the Meeting House’s Parry Sound parish, he has been involved in pastoral ministry and church planting for more than twenty years. This article is adapted from his essay, “In View of God’s Mercy: Evoking and Invoking Gratitude in Preaching,” which was declared winner of the “2021 Scott M. Gibson Emerging Scholars Grant” by the Evangelical Homiletics Society.

Appealing to gratitude as a motivator for obedience is not spiritually manipulative, but is in fact biblically and theologically justifiable. However, preachers must ensure that grateful response does not become transactional or mechanical. Rather, it should be framed in the context of a loving relationship, emphasizing intimacy above reciprocity. What we do and how we live matters not because it affects God’s feelings toward us, but because it expresses our feelings toward God.

Jeremy McClung

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When community gives rise to community

By Sharon Dewey Hetke

On a snowy morning in February, 2014 Tracy (Chui Fan) Yip felt the strength of the Wycliffe community. She and her husband, Kin Wah Wong, had moved to Wycliffe from Hong Kong almost five years earlier to study—Tracy for her MTS, and Kin Wah for his DMin. Within a year of their arrival, Kin Wah was suffering from Multiple System Atrophy (MSA).

Tracy, who didn’t drive, was desperate to get her husband to his appointment at Toronto Western Hospital that morning, and the Wheel-Trans service had called to say the roads were undriveable.

Wycliffe staff swung into action and soon Peter Patterson, Wycliffe’s then Business Director, was helping Tracy and Kin Wah into his car, and off they went—a treacherous ride but one that Tracy remembers with gratitude, to this day.

Within a few months of that drive the couple moved back to Hong Kong and, on Holy Saturday, 2018, Tracy lost her husband of 27 years. She would eventually

return to Toronto to continue her studies, and to be near her two sons, still living here.

Today, newly appointed to serve in Wycliffe’s ministry to international students, Tracy is reaching out to students who find themselves, as she was, in need of support and friendship as they navigate the challenges of graduate studies in a new culture, in a second language. Tracy, whose focus is on Asian students, shares the ministry with Katie Mentzer (whose husband is in Wycliffe’s PhD program, and who helps to build community among students from other cultural backgrounds).

Sometimes that ministry means simply making connections. When a daughter of one of the international students was in the hospital with pneumonia, Tracy realized that the family knew very little about the medical system in Toronto, and the student’s wife could not communicate well in English. So Tracy contacted

Professor Annette Brownlee (Chaplain and Professor of Pastoral Theology) and Professor Glen Taylor (the student’s thesis supervisor), who provided prayer support and pastoral visits. Meanwhile, Tracy and the Asian students’ fellowship provided meals and visited the hospital.

In the spring of 2020 Wycliffe’s ministry to international students pivoted, of course, to being mostly online. But the outreach is strong, with Tracy keeping in close touch with families from Taiwan, China, India, and Indonesia.

“I contact them directly by texts, Messenger, emails, to see what happens with them and to try to give them support.” At the beginning of the pandemic, she was particularly concerned for off-campus students. Once the usual activities—such as Wednesday dinner, and Christmas and Thanksgiving meals—were either suspended or became inaccessible to them, she did not want international students living off-campus to withdraw from the community, or to face life here without support.

Even now that things are opening up, Tracy finds that young families are particularly cautious about the virus, as they worry about their as-yet unvaccinated children, in Toronto, which has been a perpetual hotspot for the virus throughout the pandemic.

Tracy Yip (centre back) is pictured with a group of Wycliffe’s international students on a picnic this summer.

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Tracy Yip

As the 2021-2022 year takes shape in the midst of a fourth wave, Tracy will continue to lead an online Bible study on Tuesday evenings, and looks forward to holding some welcoming events—a picnic at Ramsden Park/High Park, celebrating the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival, and the Lunar New Year.

Alumni news Dear Friends, Thank you for taking a moment to update us on what has been happening in your life and ministry. It’s amazing how much changes from year to year. I pray that you might find rest in the unchanging love and mercy of our blessed Lord.

Grace and peace, The Rev’d Jonathan Turtle (MDiv, 2012)

From the 1970s Reg MacDonald (W74) Rev. Canon Reg and Sandy MacDonald celebrated their 50th wedding Anniversary on August 28, 2021.

Canon Reg (retired) serves as Priest-inCharge of Trinity-Sydney Mines, Cape Breton and is assisting with services in the absence of rectors in Cape Breton Region.

George Sumner (Faculty, Honorary DD, 2017) Sometime student, Sam HodgkinsSumner (left), spent the year at L’Arche in Saskatoon working under the Reverend Amy Bunce (WC 2002, on the right) and her husband, Wyndham Thiessen (far right).

From the 1980s Catherine O’Connor (W89) was appointed to the National Leadership Circle of the Roman Catholic Women Priests Canada movement. She was appointed in June and the appointment is for two years.

From the 1990s Ian Wetmore (W96) was instituted as 17th rector of St James Episcopal Church, St James, New York, in the Diocese of Long Island, on Michaelmas, September 29th, 2021. Ian took up ministry at St James on All Saints Day, 2019.

From the 2010s Gordon Belyea (W12) and his wife Louise are beginning their sixth year of ministry in the Ottawa region, where Gordon is associate pastor (on both sides of the Ottawa River) of two churches of l’Union des églises francophones du Canada, the French convention of the Canadian Baptist Ministries.

He also serves on the Ministerial Commission of the Union.

Bishop George Sumner and his wife, Stephanie Hodgkins-Sumner, are in the process of retrieving him. He will work in Dallas before entering law school next fall.

John Bowen (Faculty, Honorary Alumni 2012) John Bowen wrote a book called The Unfolding Gospel: How the Good News Makes Sense of Discipleship, Church, Mission, and Everything Else, which is being well received.

This fall, he is teaching a course called “Reimagining Church” for the (new) Niagara School for Missional Leadership. (For more information, see: www.nsml.ca.)

Adrian Isaacs (W13) Adrian’s article “Eschatological Humanity as Triune” was published in the Fall 2020 issue of the Interdisciplinary Journal on Biblical Authority.

This marked Adrian’s first published article in a theological journal. The article’s subject matter is related to his current doctoral work at Wycliffe, which engages the dispensational theology of American theologian Lewis Sperry Chafer.

Robert Dean (W14) Robert Dean continues to serve as Associate Professor of Theology and Ethics at Providence Theological Seminary in Manitoba. He has recently had articles accepted for publication in the journals Pro Ecclesia and Cultural Encounters. In addition to serving as editor of the theological journal Didaskalia, he is the Project Lead for a Science for Seminaries Seed Grant that has been awarded to Providence for 2021–2022.

Lyndon Jost (W16) Lyndon is presently wrapping up his PhD at Wycliffe (supervised

by Dr. Radner), while serving as one of the pastors at Christ Church Toronto on the east side of the city. He will also begin teaching his first course as an adjunct professor with Ryle Seminary (campuses in Ottawa and Burlington) this fall. He and his wife, Lami, now have three children—Naomi (6), Knox (3), and Micah (1).

Andrew Witt (W19) Andrew has written a book that was published in April 2021 by Eisenbrauns. In A Voice Without End: The Role of David in Psalms 3–14, Andrew evaluates the significance of Psalms 3–14, and, in particular, the presence and function of the figure of David.

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Alumni news Leigh Evan Silcox (W19) Leigh continues in his second year as the priest in charge at Church of the Incarnation (Anglican), Toronto. Beginning in a new ministry job is always challenging – made ever more so by starting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Leigh began his ministry by calling through the parish list to introduce himself and to get to know his parishioners.

From the 2020s Nancy Springer (W2021) After having taken a year away from full-time church ministry to pursue writing and ministry in spiritual direction, Nancy accepted a call beginning October 1, 2021 as the Associate Rector of St. Francis by the Lake in Canyon Lake, Texas in the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas.

Attention all Wycliffe Graduates!

The Wycliffe College Alumni Association has its own group on Facebook! To access, “like” the Wycliffe College Facebook page, and then click “Groups.” Request to join the “Wycliffe College Alumni Association” group and you will be approved by one of our page administrators.

We encourage you to invite your fellow graduates, engage with one another, and post any interesting updates, articles, and news that you think would be of interest to your fellow alumni.

Calling all former residents!

Community is a hallmark of the Wycliffe experience—and not just for students. Are you a former resident of Wycliffe College who would like to reconnect with your fellow residents? We are building a community of former residents and would love to include you. Please email your current contact information to karen.selvaraj@wycliffe.utoronto.ca and we will be in touch. Please also help us get the word out by forwarding this copy of Insight to any former residents you know, and encouraging them to connect with us. Thank you!

Thank you for your generosity in 2021 Your support enables us to provide students with rigorous theological training and a deep understanding of Scripture in a supportive and rewarding community, while equipping a new generation of leaders to carry God’s Word of hope and healing to a world in need.

This year we have seen continued challenges due to COVID-19, but your support is an ongoing source of strength and a reminder of the devotion and dedication that Wycliffe College finds in its alumni and friends. You are appreciated!

We invite you to join us in furthering the critical mission of Wycliffe College in 2022 and beyond through your prayers and financial giving. Online donations can be made at www.wycliffecollege.ca 14

Harry St. Clair Hilchey Award Nominations Open

Nominations are now open for the Archdeacon Harry St. Clair Hilchey Award. This award is presented to one alumnus of Wycliffe College each year who has distinguished themselves in service to the Alumni Association, Wycliffe College, and/or the Church.

All nominations are to be submitted

by January 10th. Nominations will be considered by the Wycliffe College Alumni Association Executive Committee and the award presented to the successful nominee at Convocation.

Criteria: 1) Affiliation: Nominee must

be an alumnus or Honorary Alumnus of Wycliffe College. 2) Evangelical Ethos: Nominee is an outstanding example of Wycliffe College’s evangelical ethos, reflecting this in their social, professional, and/or academic circles. 3) Gospel Advocacy: Nominee has demonstrated outstanding service in the name of Jesus in social, professional, and/or academic circles. 4) Engagement with Wycliffe College and the Church: Nominee has shown strong and regular engagement in supporting Wycliffe College. Support can be defined here as spiritual, academic, and/or professional.

Please submit your nomination by filling out the form on the Wycliffe College website at www.wycliffecollege.ca/alumni/awards

BOOK REVIEW:

Living Vocationally:

“A deep volume written in an engaging way” Review By Shaun C. Brown While not denying that we can learn from non-Christian traditions, they root their understanding of vocation in salvation history—the narrative of God’s work in the world. Some may assume that “calling” only relates to those called to the priesthood or a monastery, but they demonstrate that all people have a vocation. One’s vocation is not reducible to a job or career, however, so instead of using the language of “having a vocation,” they speak of “living vocationally” in order to “emphasize that vocation pertains not just to certain areas of our lives, but is rather about all of life” (2).

In Living Vocationally, ethicists Paul Wadell and Charles Pinches provide an ecumenical theology of vocation, one that draws upon the best insights of the Christian tradition—both ancient and modern, Protestant and Catholic.

They describe living vocationally as a journey or a pilgrimage. We discover and discern our vocation(s) over time in community, and our secondary vocations should be in service to our primary vocation, the Christian life. They provide guidance on how to discern our vocations, as well as the stories of exemplars. Then in

the last section of the book, they commend some virtues (attentiveness, humility, gratitude, fidelity, justice, courage, hope, and patience) to help us persevere in the difficulties we face in our vocations.

Living Vocationally is a deep volume, but one written in an accessible and engaging way, so it will benefit not only scholars or those discerning a call to vocational ministry, but all interested readers.

Charles Pinches taught a class at Wycliffe on Christian calling—the subject of Living Vocationally, in 2014. His son, Jordan Pinches (W10), and daughter-in-law Allison Pinches (W11) are Wycliffe grads.

Shaun C. Brown (W19) is Associate Minister at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Garland, Texas.

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N E W FA C U LT Y P U B L I C AT I O N S

Alan Hayes. Christianity to 843. http://individual.utoronto.ca/ hayes/earlychurch/ An updated and refreshed website developed and published by Wycliffe’s Bishops Frederick and Heber Wilkinson Professor of Church History, Alan Hayes.

Intended to support a course at Wycliffe College in the history of early Christianity to CE 843. Although compiled for students, it is an excellent resource of some 40,000 words for all those interested in Church history. The website is organized into twenty-six themes, from Geography of the Roman Empire to Saints and the Holy, from Judaism and Christianity to Islam and Christianity.

Includes a helpful list of resources.

Ephraim Radner and David Ney, Eds. All Thy Lights Combine: Figural Reading in the Anglican Tradition. Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2022.

Figural interpretation has been a trademark of Anglican devotions from the beginning. Anglican readers— including Tyndale, Cranmer, Hooker, and Lewis—have been figural readers of the Bible. By paying attention to how words, images, and narratives become figures of others in Scripture, these readers sought to uncover how God’s word interprets all of reality. Every verse shines the constellation of God’s story. Edited by David Ney and Ephraim Radner, the essays in All Thy Lights Combine explore how the Anglican tradition has employed figural interpretation to theological, Christological, and pastoral ends.

Includes essays by Ephraim Radner, Marion Taylor, David Ney, and others.

Joy A. Schroeder and Marion Ann Taylor. Voices Long Silenced: Women Biblical Interpreters Through the Centuries. Westminster John Knox Press: Louisville, 2022.

Hundreds of women studied and interpreted the Bible between the years 100-2000 CE, but their stories have remained largely untold. In this book, Schroeder and Taylor introduce readers to the notable contributions of female commentators through the centuries.

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Christopher R. Seitz. Essays on Prophecy and Canon: The Rise of a New Model for Interpretation.

Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021.

Consists of twenty essays on the Prophetic Books, with a major focus on Isaiah, the Minor Prophets, and Jeremiah. Traces a methodological shift away from the excavation of the individual prophet and setting toward an appreciation of a book or a collection in its final form, as an intentionally shaped accomplishment. An introductory chapter places the individual contributions in their original settings-in-composition and in relationship to one another, and enables the reader to comprehend the “rise of a new model of interpretation,” now referred to as canonical reading or canonical interpretation. This new book comes alongside published commentary treatments of Isaiah and Joel, as well as public lectures delivered in the 1980s through the present decade.

They unearth fascinating accounts of Jewish and Christian women from diverse communities—rabbinic experts, nuns, mothers, mystics, preachers, teachers, suffragists, and household managers— who interpreted Scripture through their writings. This book recounts the struggles and achievements of women who gained access to education and biblical texts. It tells the story of how their interpretive writings were preserved or, all too often, lost. It also explores how, in many cases, women interpreted Scripture differently from the men of their times.

DONOR PROFILE

Happy to have a finger on the pulse of students

By Alex Newman Robert Boeckner may be long out of school but he’s very attuned to the realities of student life. Which is why he’s specified his monthly donations to Wycliffe College are to go toward student bursaries.

“I was lucky to have a scholarship when I went to university,” the retired actuary says. “A lot of students don’t get scholarships, bursaries or loans, so I would like my donation to be in the hands of students who really need it.”

Boeckner has had a lot of interaction with students. For many years, he has been involved in mentoring: working with graduate students at Massey College; chairing a mentoring program at University College for several years; and being part of a cross-campus

Even before retirement Boeckner was active on several boards, including the University of Toronto’s business board.

He got involved at Wycliffe after Jenny Andison, then rector at his home church of St. Clement’s Anglican, invited him and his wife, Diane, to an event. “The message got through to me that Wycliffe had a role to play in training future Anglican priests, so I decided to set up a monthly donation for student bursaries.

I’m happy the money is being used for a good reason.”

committee focused on mentoring students, which involved bringing university staff together to pool mentoring resources.

He sees plenty of Wycliffe alumni working part-time in parish duties at St. Clement’s. And he’s audited at least one course at the College each term—those have given him a fresh perspective on the life of real students, he says, and enabled him to go to the business board to convey what matters to students.

Student life is often worlds apart from the administration. Boeckner’s involvement on boards, such as the audit committee for the University of Toronto’s business board, has made him privy to huge budgets that administer the life of a school. “But they are unrealistic in the life of a student.”

He’s happy that Wycliffe’s smaller size allows it to have “a finger on the pulse of students.”

Annual Report Now Available Wycliffe’s mini annual report, “The Word on Wycliffe,” includes student statistics, information on operating revenue sources and expenditures, an overview of who gives to the College with a summary of where their gifts go, and more.

Once again this year, the report is available exclusively online.

To read “The Word on Wycliffe” for the 2020/21 fiscal year, visit: www.wycliffecollege.ca/mini-annual-report 17

Light in the darkness of the book of Esther?

By Marion Taylor are included in the longer Greek version of the story.

Esther has long been one of my favourite Old Testament books. It is a literary masterpiece that inspires and troubles readers. The Hebrew version of Esther found in Protestant Bibles does not mention God. It also does not mention prayer, miracles, or the promises to the patriarchs of land, blessings, and progeny.

The Greek version of Esther in the Septuagint is more explicitly religious.

God is present in this story. Esther and Mordecai are pious Jews and their prayers 18

Jews and Christians debated for centuries about whether Esther should be in the canon. And even after Esther was included among the canonical writings of the Bible, Christians continued to wrestle with questions about how to preach, teach, and live this book. Few early Christian reflections on Esther remain.

The first full Christian commentary on Esther was written in the ninth century.

When Protestants decided to accept the shorter version of Esther, questions resurfaced about Esther’s value, as it reads like a secular story. Luther expressed extreme hostility towards Esther and 2 Maccabees in his Table Talk: “I could wish they did not exist at all,” he wrote, “for they Judaize greatly and have much

pagan impropriety.” Renowned Old Testament scholar Bernhard Anderson said of Esther, “Surely this book is of the earth, earthy. As we turn to it from other books of the Bible, ‘we fall, as it were, from heaven to earth.’” But are Luther and Anderson right in their negative assessments of Esther? They are not alone in wondering how to preach and teach a book in which God is hidden, the vengeful acts of Mordecai, Esther, and the other Jews are not criticized, and ties to the gospel seem to require the use of allegory or typology.

Although some interpreters view Esther as revealing darkness rather than light, I believe that this book deserves fresh attention. I share the conviction of Canadian theologian Lee Beach that Esther is particularly valuable to the church today, as it wrestles with questions

about how to survive and thrive in a post-Christian context that resembles that of the exiled Jews in the Persian Empire.

The book of Esther can help us learn what mission and church look like in a foreign culture. My recent experiences of reading Esther with students from a wide variety of denominations and cultural backgrounds have convinced me that Esther is a lifegiving book for the global church of the twenty-first century. We need to read this book within its historical and canonical contexts, with insights drawn from our faithful foremothers and forefathers, as well as from our contemporaries. Esther is, in the words of 19th-century Anglican Elizabeth Rundle Charles, “a sacred story” that “does not merely gossip about the external facts, but penetrates to the divine and human meanings enfolded in these.”

Early and medieval Christians commented on the longer Greek version of Esther using a variety of interpretive methods to uncover its hidden moral and spiritual senses. In about 100 AD, Clement of Rome used an exemplary approach, reading Scripture looking for examples for Christians to follow. Clement presented Esther as a model of piety and courage. He described her as “perfect in faith” and suggested that after God saw “the meekness of her soul, [He] rescued the people for whose sake she had faced danger.” In the fourth century, the Syrian writer Aphrahat used a figural approach to interpreting Scripture. He read Esther’s story in light of the New Testament, looking for parallels, types, and analogies that allowed him to reflect on the gospel message in Esther. Because Mordecai had been persecuted and was involved in saving God’s people, Aphrahat presented Mordecai as a type of Christ.

Similarly, he viewed Esther as a figure of the Church, the powerful Persian King Xerxes as a figure of God, and the rejected Queen Vashti as the typical outsider.

Esther also became a popular example of the virtues of wisdom, courage, and female agency in writings by both men and women, and her speeches were set forth as models to follow. Fifteenth-

century writer Lucrezia Tornabuoni (Medici), who was married to the de facto ruler of Florence, encouraged Christian noblewomen to use indirect means to sway their husbands to do what was needed, just as Esther had done. Tornabuoni viewed Vashti’s more direct approach as less helpful. She wrote: “Women, learn nothing from this queen: be prudent, and listen to my words with great care and discretion.”

Many reformers were critical of typological and allegorical readings of Esther. Calvin expressed contempt for those who tortured Scripture by “beating out allegories” from “under the outer bark of the letter” or literal historical sense of Scripture. I, too, am wary of excessive figuration. I am very uncomfortable with the idea that the intemperate and irresponsible King Xerxes represents God and am critical of those who fail to wrestle with the complexity of Mordecai’s character. I think that Esther’s willingness to risk her life to save her people “for such a time as this” (Esth 4:14) is a moment of great luminosity that points us to Jesus’ more perfect sacrifice—“the death he died, he died to sin, once for all” (Rom 6:10 NRSV).

New discoveries, new approaches, and new insights have changed how we read the book of Esther. Many post-Holocaust, post-modern, globally-aware readers call us to read the story of Esther with fresh eyes and appreciate its relevance for the present. There are similarities between Esther’s world and ours. We recognize Xerxes in the impulsive egocentric tyrants ruling empires today.

We encounter vile Hamans who are bent on destroying God’s people. The global “MeToo” movement that emerged in 2017 has drawn increased attention to issues raised in Esther regarding the abuse of power, the objectification of women, and sex trafficking. We can empathize with the Jews’ responses to the genocidal edict since the Holocaust and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Syria, Darfur, and Myanmar have starkly exposed humanity’s capacity to expel and annihilate those who are racially

and religiously different. We recognize in ourselves and others the human capacity for evil, vengeance, and violence. Like the Jews in the story, we often experience our world as a place where God is hidden, and only hindsight allows us to recognize coincidences as signs of God’s providence.

Other new approaches to reading biblical texts cast additional light on Esther’s story.

For example, reading Esther through the lens of disaster and trauma studies brings new challenges and theological insights.

If we regard the doubly-orphaned Esther as a victim and survivor of trauma, we understand her actions and reactions in a new way.

There is light in the darkness of the book of Esther. I invite you to read it again with the great cloud of witnesses—past and present—who spur us on to be challenged and inspired by this story that has an important place in Scripture.

Marion Taylor is Professor of Old Testament at Wycliffe College. She is the featured scholar in Zondervan Academic’s video series published this fall titled Esther, A Video Study: 11 Lessons on History, Meaning, and Application. She is also the featured scholar in Ruth, A Video Study: 5 Lessons on History, Meaning, and Application, which was published by Zondervan Academic this fall. Both series are meant to be used by individual and study groups. Small group Bible studies can use the lectures as lead-ins to further discussion of individual chapters of the books of Ruth and Esther. For information on how to purchase both series, visit zondervanacademic.com 19

ALUMNI PRAYER TEAM: We are building a team of alumni who are willing to spend some time calling fellow alumni on the phone—to check in with them, listen, and to pray with them. Is that something you would like to do? The timing is flexible and the number of calls you make is completely up to you. If you are interested, please email alumni@wycliffe.utoronto.ca

Thank you!

SHARE THIS MAGAZINE AN E-NEWSLETTER FOR ALUMNI

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We are always looking to expand the reach of the College and to share with others the exciting things that God is doing through Wycliffe. If you would like additional copies of this magazine to pass along to friends who are unfamiliar with Wycliffe College, please email us at alumni@wycliffe.utoronto.ca and we will be happy to send them.

Plans are underway to create an alumni e-newsletter. Please ensure that we have your current email address by sending a quick email to alumni@wycliffe.utoronto.ca

Insight EDITORIAL BOARD

Connie Chan Rob Henderson

The Wycliffe College Newsletter for Alumni and Friends November 2021, No. 91 ISSN 1192-2761 (Print) ISSN 2563-2892 (Online)

INSIGHT is published twice yearly by Wycliffe College Communications

Connect with us:

Barbara Jenkins Shelley McLagan

Patricia Paddey Marion Taylor

Justin Stratis

CONTRIBUTORS

Stephen Andrews Shaun C. Brown Xenia Chan Michael Chhangur Sharon Dewey Hetke Alan Hayes

Justin Lam Matthew Lee Jeremy McClung Shelley McLagan Alex Newman Patricia Paddey

Karen Selvaraj Karen Stiller Justin Stratis Marion Taylor

COMMENTS/QUESTIONS: Patricia Paddey Communications Director Wycliffe College 5 Hoskin Avenue, Toronto, ON M5S 1H7

patricia.paddey@wycliffe.utoronto.ca 416-946-3535 X 3548 www.wycliffecollege.ca

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Wycliffe College Development Office

alumni@wycliffe.utoronto.ca (416) 946–3549

FRONT COVER IMAGE: The image on Insight’s front cover is of the comet NEOWISE, captured from the North Woods of Wisconsin looking across Myrick Lake near Danbury on July 15, 2020 by J. Andrew Edwards, PhD (W16).

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