Category: Graduate Christian Fellowship

Formation In and Out of the Academy
or How we come to be the people we are (or hope to be)

Thursday, September 20, 2012
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Dear Friends,
I’d like to start by restating the vision of this campus ministry:

The Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF) seeks to challenge, mentor, and enable students to think, work, and live as Christian disciples in the academy and in their professions. Rooted in the confession that all truth is in Christ, we seek a radical Christian discipleship in all of life.
Read more Graduate Christian Fellowship – Formation In and Out of the Academy

[These reflections, collected and written down by Geoff Wichert over a couple of years, were first presented to the Graduate Christian Fellowship on Nov 25, 2010. They can also be downloaded as a Word document.]

Introduction

These stories and reflections are rooted in the re-creation of the Graduate Christian Fellowship 5 yrs ago (Sept 2006). At that time we wanted to reshape the community, a change that we named in several different ways: a shift from program to community, from a focus on worldview (which is often primarily intellectual) toward character formation (a more holistic approach).

We noted that the Wine Before Breakfast community was characterized by a high level of personal investment, a sense of belonging, and strong loyalty/faithfulness, often showing itself in the enthusiastic invitation of friends and newcomers. We suspected this has something to do with continuity and rhythm, the routines and habits of discipleship cultivated in the regular weekly liturgies

We also supposed it was connected to WBB’s emphasis on hospitality – the regular practice of eating together. Over the years we had tried having “soup & bread” before GCF a number of times, but it was always optional, and never particularly successful. So we decided to make it central to our gatherings, and essential to what we did. We also aimed to establish other practices that would give the community a deliberately distinctive character and “feel”, such as our own weekly worship time.

Out of all that came the model of GCF that we have today. It has certainly evolved over the years, but one feature that has remained constant (for obvious reasons) has been the practice of washing dishes. Because it happened early, and was closely tied to deliberate reflection on the shape of the ministry, I have had plenty of opportunity to reflect on it, and these are some of the thoughts that have emerged.

There are 3 stories about the practical side of washing dishes: both FYI, but also presented here under the notion of “logistics as pastoral practice.” There is a biblical analogy from Jesus’ teaching, and finally a reflection on liturgical practice. Read more A Theology of Dishwashing

Hi everyone,

After a lovely hike last week, we’re back in the office this week for GCF (though we can still share a baked chicken by tearing it apart with our hands if you want, for memory’s sake).

Here’s the low down, since I know you all just skim these emails 🙂

When: 6:30pm
Where: The office, basement of Wycliffe
What: shared pot’luck’ dinner (go to http://ietherpad.com/summer-gcf to share what you’re sharing… please), followed by a time of hanging out

Looking forward to seeing all of you this week!

Hello friends,
This week, GCF goes outside! We’re going to have our conversations while hiking one of Toronto’s many lovely ravine trails, and the weather looks like it might just cooperate with us. Here are the details:

Where?
Rosedale ravines: George Balfour Park, Park Drive Reservation, Evergreen Brickworks, Chorley Park, Moore Park

When?
Meet at 6:30 sharp at the St Clair Subway station (Yonge + St Clair) on the north side (St Clair St exit, by the little McDonald’s outlet). We only have so much time until it gets dark, so let’s try to get going on time

Food?
As usual, bring something to share, but try to make it portable (e.g. finger food, no cutlery/dishes required). We’ll either munch while walking, or find a place to sit and eat. I know it’s fun to lurk on the food sign-up sheet ( http://ietherpad.com/summer-gcf), see what other people are bringing, and then decide last-minute what you’ll bring, but it’s also helpful to have at least some folks add their food to the list (or it’s no fun lurking!).

Also, please be sure to bring some WATER!

Depending on how much time/energy we have, we may
a) get through all the parks I mentioned, end up at Moore Ave and take the #88 bus back to St Clair Station
b) detour part way through and head up to the Sherbourne subway station
c) return the way we came and end up back at St Clair Station.
Read more Summer GCF: Hike!

Hi all,

I hope you have been enjoying these recent days of consistent sunshine and warmth…I know my garden has been getting more attention than usual because I actually want to spend all my free time outside!

For GCF this week (Thursday, May 12th), we will be eating together at the office at 6pm and at 7:15 we will depart Wycliffe to walk to Sanctuary (25 Charles Street East, just east of Yonge and south of Bloor) to experience the play Wonderful. If you haven’t yet reserved/bought your tickets, I encourage you to do so before Thursday, just to guarentee you’ll get one! You can get info about tickets at http://thebenchtheatre.com/wonderful/.

Wonderful is written and directed by Shannon Blake, a GCFer and playwright and member of the Sanctuary community. Here’s the teaser:

“Three women in heated debate. One is in labour, about to deliver a child — her fifth, as it turns out. All three are fast friends — in street terms, one is the mother-to-be’s street mother, the other is her street-sister. The conversation is fast-paced, lively, colourful, witty, intense, mostly friendly, at times confrontational… Welcome to ‘Wonderful!'”

[Strong language is used; not recommended for children (in case you were thinking of inviting your young friends….)]

Re: Pot’luck’ dinner: Thanks to the timely problem-solving suggestion from Jeff, we have an easier way of arranging for food this week. Instead of replying all (and filling everyone’s mailboxes with emails about bringing tomatoes and cheese), click on the following link to see what others are bringing, and to add your contribution to the list:

http://ietherpad.com/summer-gcf

I’m looking forward to seeing you all again, and to seeing what is sure to be a stunning play!

Take care,
Sara

Hi all,

Our first summer GCF will be this week Thursday at 6:30pm at the office (Wycliffe College, 5 Hoskin Ave). I’m looking forward to seeing you after almost a month break from GCF!

As we usually do during the summer, we’re asking all of you to contribute to dinner if you are able. We usually have sandwiches, so you could bring bread, cheese, sandwich meat, lettuce, tomatoes, or anything else you want to contribute. Alternatively, you are welcome to bring any kind of salad or dessert. Please email Sara (see staff bio page) to let her know what you will be bringing. That way we can be sure we’re not just going to be eating tomatoes and mustard, or something random like that 🙂

As many of you have seen, I just sent out an email to the entire GCF email list regarding this week’s first summer GCF on Thursday. You are already on my summer GCF list, so don’t worry about replying to that email as I requested.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Take care,
Sara

The Graduate Christian Fellowship invites you to:

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Ending Well:
Marking Our Transitions Together,With Gratitude and Prayer

An End-of-Term Potluck Celebration
of eating, reflection, discussion, and prayer with the GCF community

Thursday, April 7, 2011
Chaplain’s office, Wycliffe College (basement)

6:00 – Dinner
7:00 (or so) – Something After Dinner – discussion, etc.
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Dear Friends,
This week at GCF we’ll be revisiting some themes that have emerged in the months since September: Sabbath, gratitude, rest, and the ways we mark the milestones of our lives. We want to create a deliberate opportunity to reflect on what has happened, what’s been accomplished, and what we’ve learned, both individually and together. We want to

Stop.
Reflect.
Listen.
Share food.
Recognize.
Thank God.
Grieve.
Rest.
Celebrate.
Pray.

Thursday is the last GCF of the semester, and in the past I would have been inclined to call this the end of the year. We’ve often marked these occasions with farewells and blessings for those who are graduating or otherwise leaving us.

But that’s not actually where we find ourselves right now. Hardly any in our regular GCF community are graduating (please let us know if you are), and we’ve already been discussing and planning our continued summer gatherings for the past month. So what do we say at the beginning of April, with the flurries and the buds battling for dominance (fortunately we know who will win that struggle), classes ending, deadlines and exam marking looming, theses moving along (or just beginning), work continuing? Read more Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF): Ending Well

Living Stones:
An Architect Reflects On Building Shalom

with special guest:
Craig Handy

– Bachelor of Applied Math (UWaterloo)
– Master of Architecture (UToronto)
– Master of Theological Studies (Regent College)
– Practicing architect

and in conversation, eating, reflection, discussion, and prayer with the GCF community

Thursday, March 31, 2011
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Good news! Here’s this week’s introduction question in advance:

Craig writes: “Tell us about a place/space/building that comes to mind as somewhere tangible that announces ‘good news’. I suspect many places will likely have a strong connection to your personal story and I look forward to the descriptions we’ll hear. I hope with a little lead time you’ll be able to bring a photo or illustration so we can picture the places with word and image. Feel free to email me digital pictures as that is probably easiest. And if you are reading this but will not be at GCF, please send an image anyways – I’d love to see what places this evokes for you.” Read more Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF) – Living Stones

Dear friends,

This week at GCF we once again have the opportunity to hear and interact with a story.

Like many of our guests and story-tellers so far, this is a life story that doesn’t really follow any “traditional” trajectory.

But then, Joanna Manning is not your “traditional” Anglican priest (to be)!

And yet, in looking back and reflecting on her life, it is immediately apparent that God has been working through her and shaping her, leading Joanna “full circle” to this point in her life when, in her mid-sixties, she is preparing to be ordained as a Deacon (and then as a priest) in the Anglican Church.

Without giving too much away, here is just a sampling of the many roles and identities Joanna has experienced in her life:

Nun
Mother (and grandmother!)
Teacher
Theologian
Social Activist
Feminist
Writer
Critic

I could elaborate on all of these, telling you about how Joanna left the religious orders after falling in love with a Jesuit priest, or about how conversations with women in Africa left her critical of the Roman Catholic stance on women and contraception, or about how her persistent calls for structural reform of the Roman Catholic Church caused her to lose her teaching job at York University, or about how she rose to national and international prominence as a writer and activist, calling on the Church to address the issues arising from the sexual abuse scandals that came to light in the 1980s in Canada… Read more Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF)