“Extreme poverty is living off of less than $1.25 per day…It's the challenge for 1.4 billion people,” Alan Liu shared during Wednesday’s presentation, “1.4 Billion Reasons (To End Extreme Poverty).” Alan Liu is the Canadian Director of Operations for Raising the Village, a not-for-profit organization that aids in humanitarian recovery work in Uganda. Dr.
Recently, Tyndale professors and an alumna attended the 63rd Annual Meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) and the Annual Meetings of its affiliate, the Evangelical Philosophical Society (EPS), in San Francisco, California. Professor of Religious Studies, Dr. Craig Carter; Research Professor of Church History, Dr. Donald MacLeod; Lecturer of Philosophy, Professor Paul Franks; Professor of Christian Thought and Ethics, Dr. James A. Beverley; and Tyndale alumna, Aylish Chantler, attended the conferences. They presented papers, delivered lectures, and moderated sessions.
The Annual Meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) is the largest conference of biblical scholars in the world. It draws scholars from all corners of the globe including Canada, the U.S., Israel, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, and Africa. This year six Tyndale University College & Seminary professors attended the Annual Meetings in San Francisco with several presenting papers.
Over 100 students from Tyndale University College & Seminary participated in the 2011 fall graduation ceremony. This fall graduation included the third cohort of Tyndale’s Bachelor of Education program with sixty students graduating and becoming Certified Ontario Teachers.
Twenty-nine students graduated with master’s degrees or graduate diplomas from Tyndale Seminary, and Tyndale University College students graduated from the Bachelor of Religious Education and the Bachelor of Arts programs as well as the Bachelor of Education.
In November, students fill the lounges and the library pouring over textbooks, coffee in-hand, as deadlines approach. Yet on Thursday mornings, the majority of seminary students on campus make their way to the Tyndale chapel, Kairos (καιρός). Kaarina Hsieh, Seminary Dean of Students, notes, “Seminary students know that when they’re too busy, they need chapel.”
Dr. Wafik Wahba, Associate Professor of Global ChristianityAn estimated 70,000 Egyptian Christians gathered on November 11, 2011 for praise, worship, and prayer at St. Simon Church in Cairo...
Although worship and missions have often been separated, Eleanor Kreider explains that they are “absolutely intertwined.” During this November’s conference, Worship and Mission After Christendom, Alan and Elanor Kreider expounded upon this relationship. Alan Kreider, retired professor of Church History at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, and his wife Eleanor, a musician, are both ordained Pastors and were missionaries in England for 30 years. The conference explored the facets of worship and mission through worship, lectures, and group discussions.
The Church in Toronto is diverse, containing members from every corner of the globe. Traditional denominational and cultural lines are often blurred and sometimes removed altogether. The challenges facing the global and intercultural church are a daily reality for Toronto churches. Tyndale recently hosted a conference, titled, “Mosaic Minstry: Exploring the New Church,” presenting research gathered by Asbury Theological Seminary on revitalization movements in the global Church.
On October 25 and 26, Tyndale hosted its fifth annual Faith Talks lectures in Christian Spirituality. This year’s guest was W. David O. Taylor, former Arts Minister at Hope Chapel, Austin, Texas and current Th.D. student at Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina. David is the editor of For the Beauty of the Church: Casting a Vision for the Arts. Faith Talks 2011 was titled: “Art & the Formation of our Humanity.” David spoke on the arts and how they engage with culture, human identity, Christian theology and spirituality.
In anticipation of Tyndale’s move to the Bayview campus in 2013, Tyndale students, faculty, and staff met to discuss values and ideas to consider when renovating the new campus. The Tyndale representatives present at the meetings were eager to voice their thoughts about how the new campus can express the culture of Tyndale and be a place of learning, beauty and community. CS&P Architects, met separately with groups of university college students, seminary students, faculty, and staff to get a sense of the various needs that the new facilities have to meet.
This past summer Tyndale University College & Seminary conducted a survey on how churches in Ontario use and view technology. 368 churches responded to the survey ranging from rural congregations to urban; and from 20 members to over 5,000. The churches represented a variety of denominations, and their members represented a broad range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
Dr. Christian, director of World Vision India, called Tyndale students to deal with the questions and issues that people are facing “out in the streets,” and to learn to, “theologize with our feet on the ground and our hands dirty” in his seminar at Tyndale. World Vision India works to alleviate poverty in a country where over 800 million people live on less than $2 a day; their poverty perpetuated by cultural and religious beliefs, corruption, lack of opportunities, and broken relationships.
The United Nations estimates that over 27 million people are enslaved globally as forced laborers and prostitutes. To increase students’ awareness of this growing issue, Dr. Leah McMillan joined with Partner’s International to host guest lecturer, Smita Singh. Ms. Singh runs an aftercare home for underage girls rescued from forced prostitution in Kolkata, India.
Recognizing that a changing world requires changing perspectives on ministry, the Chinese Chapter of the Alumni Association partnered with the Alumni Association to host a two-day ministry fair at Tyndale, “Ministry in the New Horizon.” Students and alumni attended workshops and a plenary session, and churches and mission organizations hosted booths featuring various ministries.
