Graduate Christian Fellowship – Page 5 – Christian Reformed Campus Ministry

March 8, 2011crc No Comments

Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF)

Dear friends,

As Geoff and I planned GCF for the month of March, we couldn’t think of a more appropriate way to wrap up the semester than by spending the next few weeks doing what has become characteristic of this community: sharing stories. As you know, we periodically invite members of GCF and some folks from outside the community to join us for an evening to tell us a bit about their lives-whether that be about academic pursuits or a passion for food, spiritual questions or life as a nun, travelling internationally or growing emotionally.

This week the first of those people will be sharing a bit of her story with us. Amber Aulen is a regular member of the GCF community who just completed her comprehensive exams for her PhD program in Russian Literature at U of T. Here’s a taste of what Amber will be talking about with us, in her own words:

“Since graduating from high school I have lived in eleven cities, spanning five countries and four US states. Travel has been a crucial component in shaping my story throughout this time and as a sphere of activity whose vitality derives from the journey rather than the final destination it provides an appropriate framework for talking about the unexpected twists and turns of my life. I would have predicted very few of the current realities of my life from the vantage point of my life circa 2001 (PhD in Russian literature? Really?) and I will be reflecting on how I got from there to here…and where ‘here’ is – geographically, emotionally, psychologically, spiritually.”

As we begin the liturgical season of Lent tomorrow, we recall and live through Christ’s life and passion-His story.

What an appropriate time to continue to journey with us through the telling of and listening to our stories–starting with Amber’s story this week Thursday.

Looking forward to traveling with you!

Take care,
Sara

March 1, 2011crc No Comments

Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF)

The Graduate Christian Fellowship invites you to:

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A Bible Study and Discussion
Revisiting themes and texts arising from our conversations about singleness

An evening of eating, reading, listening, discussing, laughing, praying, etc.

with the GCF community

Thursday, March 3, 2011
Chaplain’s office, Wycliffe College (basement)

6:00 – Dinner
7:00 (or so) – Something After Dinner – discussion, etc.

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Friends,

This week’s GCF will be a Bible study looking at some of the themes and passages that have come up in the course of our discussion about singleness. Throughout our various conversations we have mentioned, read, talked briefly about, or been prepared to discuss a number of biblical texts, but there have been so many other things to talk about as well, that the texts have not received the attention they need. This Thursday is our opportunity to address that.

Here are some of the possible themes and/or texts I have in mind:
– the importance / centrality of the body in the New Testament and Christianity:
– Jesus’ incarnation as God’s choosing to take on human physical form
– the metaphor of Jesus’ followers and the Church as “the body of Christ”
– the radical physicality – both actually and metaphorically – of the Last Supper / Eucharist
– Discipleship / the Church envisioned as a new family, superceding biological relations (parents, siblings, spouses, children)
– Christian ethical virtues as a framework for shaping how we express our sexuality
– Galatians 5 (Fruit of the Spirit), Ephesians 4, Philippians 2, Colossians 3

Let’s be clear right away that there’s no way we’re going to get to all of these texts / themes, and this isn’t even an exhaustive list. I’m not sure yet whether we’ll spend our entire time on one of the themes or passages, or look more briefly at a number of different ones. If you have a significant preference one way or the other, please let me know between now and Thursday evening.

What I’m much clearer about is the conviction that all of these texts have significant contributions to make toward our ongoing conversations, not only about singleness, but also more broadly about how best we can express ourselves as the sexual beings God has made us to be. I hope you will join us for that conversation, and that you will bring along any friends whom you think would benefit from being part of the conversation.

Shalom,
Geoff

February 22, 2011crc No Comments

Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF)

The Graduate Christian Fellowship invites you to:
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Readings for Reading Week

An evening of eating, reading, listening, discussing(?), laughing, praying, etc.
with the GCF community

Thursday, February 24, 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,
In order to ensure that some reading actually does get done this week, we’ve decided to devote our Thursday evening to sharing some readings with each other. We’ve occasionally read aloud at GCF – Biblical books (esp. New Testament epistles), letters from former GCFers, even children’s stories – and always it’s been a worthwhile and enjoyable experience. The difference this time is that we’re inviting you to contribute to the selection. We’re open to (even hoping for) a variety of genres: short stories, poetry, plays, excerpts from longer books, children’s stories/literature, something you have written, or even a story wish to tell.

If you have something you’d like to share with the group, please let either Sara or me know what it is, and roughly how long it will take, so we can gauge how much will fit in the time we have available. Some readings may invite further discussion, or you may prefer that we just listen and don’t discuss. You can also decide whether the reading will be improved if others have the text, or whether the hearing is most important (e.g. I personally prefer to hear plays/drama, and see poetry). And our sense of what’s “appropriate” for this community covers a wide range from serious to funny, thought-provoking to whimsical, sublime or down-to-earth.

Dinner will be potluck, so our eating will be another form of sharing.

And while we’re on the theme of listening, it turns out the conversations that were recorded last Thursday during dinner by Tina from CBC’s Tapestry program didn’t actually make it onto the air on Sunday. Apparently the interviews that made up the bulk of the program went longer than anticipated, but she was “really happy” with the comments she received from people at GCF. “The folks I spoke with were generous and thoughtful with their ideas. … Please pass along my thanks to the group.” They’re considering a future episode specifically on singleness, in which case some of the recorded material may yet appear on air.

If you’re able to join us this Thursday for a relaxing and enjoyable evening together, I look forward to seeing you there. Please feel free to bring a friend (or 2) along with you. And if you’re busy or travelling out of town, I wish you a blessed and fruitful reading week.

Shalom,
Geoff

February 15, 2011crc No Comments

Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF)

The Graduate Christian Fellowship invites you to:
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Singleness … again
Continuing the Conversation

An evening of eating, discussing, laughing, discerning, praying, etc.
with the GCF community

Thursday, February 17, 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 we will continue the conversation about singleness that we started last week. We’ll reflect together on what we heard from that discussion, and perhaps review some of the important themes that were highlighted by the four remarkably open and insightful reflections that opened the evening. Then we’ve invited Shannon Blake to share some of her thoughts, not only about her own experience of singleness, but also about some larger themes around the topic and some observations about how we might engage it in hopeful ways within the GCF community. We’ve specifically asked Shannon to consider how being part of the Sanctuary community ( http://sanctuarytoronto.ca/) has shaped her thinking about the ways we accept and support each other and ourselves.

We’ll also consider some biblical texts that can help inform our perspectives. In all of this, including our engagement with scripture, we want to wrestle with the task of finding balance amidst some of the tensions we named several times last week

between affirming and embracing who we are now
and longing for the person we would like
(or that we believe God has called us)
to become
between celebrating
grieving
and hoping
between our understanding of God and God’s work in the world
and what we see in our own and others’ lives
between the “desires of our hearts”
what we pray for and long for
and what actually happens

Please join us Thursday for dinner and the next part of this important discussion. And if you know of anyone else who needs to be part of this, please bring them along.

Shalom,
Geoff

February 8, 2011crc No Comments

Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF)

The Graduate Christian Fellowship invites you to:
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“So what’s a nice person like you…”
Starting a Conversation about Christians and Singleness

An evening of eating, discussing, laughing, discerning, praying, etc.
with the GCF community

Thursday, February 10, 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,
Our society, popular culture, churches and families have plenty to say about coupling up. Even the university is in on the action, complete with a concert and published research (see The Bulletin‘s Feb 8 Valentine’s Day issue). With or without either marriage, sexual activity or clear answers (and the many possible combinations of these), romantic relationships in their many forms are pretty thoroughly discussed in a variety of contexts.

Singleness, by contrast, seems to be something of an un-topic. It is seldom addressed as a discussion of its own, and when it is, it’s typically understood in terms of what it’s not: singleness defined by the absence of romantic relationship, as in “Why isn’t a nice young woman/man like you married by now?” It’s especially surprising given that a growing number of North American adults are single, whether waiting longer before getting married, being single again after a divorce, or simply remaining single.

I must admit that our campus ministry hasn’t been all that different. Although characteristically comprised mostly of single young adults, we have not had an intentional discussion specifically about this topic as long as I’ve been involved here. So starting this week we’re aiming to address that gap with at least a couple GCF Thursday evenings.

This week we’ll try to open up the topic in a broad way, exploring some of our own experiences, the many facets and nuances of the theme, and the diverse – often contradictory – messages that we get from our families, churches and culture. Next week we’ll look more deeply at what the Bible has to say that can be helpful in guiding our thoughts, actions and relationships.

It’s worth acknowledging at the outset that this is complex topic fraught with all manner of dilemmas and potential tensions. We come from so many different places: female and male, in a “relationship” or not, married or unmarried or divorced, sexually active or not, entering or leaving relationships, content or dissatisfied with our situation, with emotions anywhere from ecstatic to profoundly miserable, feeling like we’re part of the GCF community or on the periphery, coming from God-only-knows how many different theological positions or sexual orientations, having thought deeply about these matters or coming to them for the first time. More often than not, as Facebook states so succinctly, “it’s complicated.”

Despite all that, or more accurately, because of that very complexity, we believe it’s important to have this conversation at GCF, so we’re prepared to accept the risks. Our hope is that, in the context of a diverse, caring and insightful Christian community, guided by the Spirit, scripture and compassion, we can explore the too-long-neglected theme of singleness in ways that can be both life-giving and redemptive.

If that sounds like something you want to be a part of, then please join us for dinner and discussion this Thursday. And if you know of anyone else who needs to be part of this conversation, please bring them along.

Shalom,
Geoff

January 25, 2011crc No Comments

Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF)

The Graduate Christian Fellowship invites you to:

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Reading the Book of Revelation as a Witness to Jesus Christ

with special guest

Dr. Joseph Mangina
Associate Professor of Systematic Theology
Wycliffe College

An evening of eating, hearing, reading, discussing, discerning, praying, etc.
with the GCF community

Thursday, January 27, 2011
Chaplain’s office, Wycliffe College (basement)

6:00 – Dinner
7:00 (or so) – Something After Dinner – discussion, etc.

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For centuries the Book of Revelation has intrigued and puzzled Christians. It has also fueled their imaginations, which should come as no surprise to us. With its rich cast of characters – sinister horsemen, devastating plagues, mysteriously sealed scrolls, epochal wars, a red dragon with seven crowned heads and ten horns, and that arch-villain, the Anti-Christ – Revelation is like the biblical equivalent of a superhero action cartoon. As the old saying (adapted) goes, if I could have a nickel for every interpretation of a horseman, beast, or Whore of Babylon that’s ever been offered, I’d be a rich man.

But what on earth (or in heaven, for that matter) does any of that have to do with us?
Read more Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF)

January 18, 2011crc No Comments

Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF)

Dear friends,

Early last semester as we were planning for GCF, we asked Sylvan Gerritsma to come to share parts of his story on Thursday, November 11, 2010. Since Remembrance Day fell on a Thursday, we wanted to intentionally observe it at GCF, and Sylvan was looking forward to sharing a bit about his reflections on war, peace, and faith from his perspective as a veteran of the Vietnam War.

As regulars at GCF know, Sylvan wasn’t able to make it that night because he was hospitalized for a heart condition the week before his was scheduled to join us.

However, Sylvan has now been home from the hospital for a month, is feeling much better, and is ready to join us this Thursday, January 20^th for an evening of sharing his reflections and engaging in dialogue with us about his experiences as a soldier and as a veteran.

Sylvan was essentially drafted into military service by his country after he graduated with a BA in English and German from a Christian liberal arts college in 1968, at the height of the conflict in Vietnam. After basic training, and advanced infantry training he successfully completed the gruelling requirements to become an officer, excelling intellectually and physically to enable him to receive his commission in Military intelligence. After a year of doing research in the intelligence centre of the Army, he was selected for an elite airborne division – paratrooping – and would have gone on to Green Beret training if an injured ankle hadn’t interfered with his training. He served in the 101^st Airborne Division in Vietnam before giving up offers for a military career and returning to civilian life in 1971.

Since that time, Sylvan has spent much time and energy reflecting on his experiences during these few years of his life, and the ways that these experiences have affected him and other soldiers. Like many veterans, Sylvan has experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, and has sought to make sense of the many nonsensical situations one is subjected to during war and while training for war. As a life-long learner with a keen interest in philosophy, Sylvan continues to ask questions:

What really is the nature of war?
What is the effect of war on people-not only on civilians, but also on soldiers?
Is it possible to create and abide by “rules” for war?
As Christians, how ought we to respond to international injustice and war?

As you can imagine, there are not many communities where it is possible for a veteran to ask these questions. Among fellow veterans, especially of controversial wars like Vietnam, there is reluctance to be self-critical about the goals soldiers are commanded to pursue. Among philosophers or other academics, there is often an absence of understanding about the realities soldiers face ‘on the ground,’ and even less desire to think about these issues from a perspective of faith.

We know that GCF is a place where we can hear difficult stories and ask difficult questions. So we invited Sylvan Gerritsma to share some of his reflections with a community that will listen, think deeply, and ask honestly. And, we also happen to have a very personal connection to Sylvan; he’s my (Sara’s) Dad.

Please join us this Thursday for an evening of conversation, questioning, and prayer.

Take care,
Sara (Gerritsma) DeMoor

January 12, 2011crc No Comments

Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF)

The Graduate Christian Fellowship invites you to:

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Why am I here? What am I doing?
Reflections at the start of a new year

An evening of eating, discussing, discerning, praying, etc.
with the GCF community

Thursday, January 13, 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,
January is a hard month to narrate. It’s elusive, ambivalent. It’s the start of a new year, but all the really interesting stuff happened back in September, and now it’s just back to the same routines. We’re told the days are getting longer, but it’s also getting colder, and you know that the real winter stuff is still coming. There may be renewed resolve at the start of the year, but the biggest celebration of the year just ended, and many of us are left feeling tired, confronted with bills to pay and the work that was supposed to get done over the holidays but didn’t. A stack of unmarked exams or unwritten essays is not always a source of inspiration.

The same kind of ambivalence often characterizes the way we think, feel, and talk about what we’re doing with our lives, whether that’s academic study or some other form of work. Partly it’s the natural tendency to fall into routines, to keep doing something “because it’s there.” But there can also be very different ways of explaining the significance of what we’re doing. For example, your friends, your parents, your supervisor, your department chair, the university administration, the government, and the media, could each give a distinctly different reason why you should (or shouldn’t) be doing your thesis. And that’s even before getting to all the varied, and potentially competing, impulses you feel within yourself.

It’s not primarily a question of motivation, but a matter of imagination. How will you envision the purpose of your efforts? What’s more, that envisioning is an ongoing process, and we need the help of others – ideally a supportive community of others – to help us make sense of it. To shape an imagination that will sustain and give life. Read more Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF)

November 16, 2010crc No Comments

Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF)

Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF)
CRC Chaplain’s office, Wycliffe College basement
Thursday, November 18, 6:00pm

Giving Good Gifts: Biblical Insights and Fruitful Ideas for Christmas

Dear friends,

Last week at GCF we spent some time reading some Scripture passages about money and stuff and contentment; watched two short videos about consumerism, stuff, and sustainable design; and spent time discussing the connections between these.

This week we will be elaborating on the themes of money and stuff, and will move into a discussion of an ever-present theme at this time of year: Gifts.

We find ourselves in the busiest, biggest shopping season of the year as we approach Christmas.
We are inundated with advertisements for
the “best” gifts,
the “hottest” trends,
the “certain to bring a smile to her face” jewellery.

So we thought: maybe we should talk about gift-giving and gift-receiving at GCF.

What are your expectations around gift-giving and gift-receiving?
What is expected of you in terms of gift-giving in your family, for example, or among friends?

How do you experience giving or receiving gifts at Christmas–is the process
life-giving?
Stressful?
Joyful?
Burdensome?

Why do we give gifts at Christmas, anyway?
What are we trying to communicate with our giving?

Join us for an evening of discussing, Scripture reading, seeking, giving, receiving, and praying.
In this crazy fast-paced time of year, join us for an evening of resting and reflecting.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

-Sara

February 8, 2010crc No Comments

GCF: Let us pray

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” -Acts 2:42

As a GCF community, we frequently break bread together-literally. (Thanks to all the faithful bread-bringers for making this possible!) I’d say every week we spend time in fellowship together, connecting with and learning about each other. We periodically devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching (and to the other parts of Scripture) when we have Bible studies or discussions.

This week, as we approach Lent, we will be spending time in prayer together.

For ourselves.

For our communities.

For God’s world.

We don’t often have the opportunity to share our joys, our needs, our grief with each other and to pray for each other. We don’t often have the opportunity to join together to lament the brokenness of this world and to praise God for glimpses of hope in it.

Yet it is very important for us to do so. Read more GCF: Let us pray