Changes at Trinity
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Changes at Trinity

A new president, a closing Theatre department, a massive influx in international students, and, as of March, the faculty are unionised. A lot has changed in the past five years at Trinity Western University (TWU) in Langley, B.C., Canada’s biggest Christian liberal arts school. On March 10, after covid-related delays, TWU faculty finally received confirmation…

Completing the third way
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Completing the third way

It was 1978 in Chicago. Prof. Nicholas Wolterstorff of Calvin College gave the keynote speech at the 60th anniversary celebration of the National Union of Christian Schools (NUCS). We Canadians were impressed with those Americans reaching 60 years of united action, since the Ontario Alliance of Christian Schools (OACS) was barely 25 years old. “Our”…

Fred Reinders (1930-2023)
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Fred Reinders (1930-2023)

Fred Reinders is a man whose work has blessed the lives of thousands of Christian Courier readers, and he did this by creating shelters for their study, work, worship and play. Philosopher Calvin Seerveld, who was born in the same year as Reinders, wrote that “God’s firm covenantal grip . . . has provided society…

It’s time for a course correction
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It’s time for a course correction

Professor Nicholas Wolterstorff once observed that to do justice to any tradition, one must understand how it interprets its vision, how it expresses that vision and the relevant highlights of its narrative. I accepted this daunting task when I decided to investigate and give an account of the tradition of alternative Christian education promoted by…

Going gradeless
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Going gradeless

This fall, British Columbia is moving to a gradeless system for kindergarten to grade nine and will continue to use letter grades for only the last three years of high school. This move affirms what many educators have long known to be true: we can do better than letter grades. Traditional grading systems are useful…

Life metrics
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Life metrics

“Christian schools create better citizens,” David Hunt says, “and you can verify that empirically.” Hunt is Cardus Education program director and co-author of a recent report focused on education titled Many Educational Systems, A Common Good. It’s the first Cardus report to compare Cardus Education survey results from three countries – Canada, America and Australia…

Are Christian schools worth having in a secular culture?
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Are Christian schools worth having in a secular culture?

Over the past century and especially during the last fifty years, much work has been done at both philosophical and curricular levels to justify and define the distinctive character of an education that takes place in reformed Christian schools. Most Christian day schools have vision and mission statements emphasizing their commitment to instill a Christian…

To My High School Teacher
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To My High School Teacher

There are many ways to tell you’re getting older. You hold your phone farther away to read it. Or you hear a song on the radio and don’t recognize the singer (that one counts as two – young people don’t listen to the radio). For me, it was a retirement. This year, the last person…

When God closes a church
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When God closes a church

For 70 years, Fruitland Christian Reformed Church (CRC) and its congregation in and around Fruitland, Ontario have given faithful witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ over four generations of mostly Dutch-born or -descended members. Before the church was built in 1952, the growing congregation worshiped in a local Legion Hall. Early on, the fledgling…

Learning Curves
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Learning Curves

“Mom, do we have any clean masks? Soph and I are headed out.” The times they are a-changin’. We are now required to wear a mask to go to the bank, and a grocery store’s recent radio ad boasts a delivery service that features food picked from a warehouse and packed by robots.

For Such a Time as This
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For Such a Time as This

Life is unpredictable. Your situation can change quickly. Has the COVID-19 disruption got you thinking about what your legacy might be? Has it made you rethink whether your financial arrangements effectively reflect your faith commitment? Might it be at “such a time as this” that you want to step forward to put things in place that will strengthen a robust Kingdom vision?

Edifide is Now Vocate
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Edifide is Now Vocate

The start of a new school year is an important transition for students, teachers and parents. Edifide has chosen this key moment in the school calendar to make a transition of its own. Edifide has rebranded to become Vocate, the Christian School Employees Association. This new name reflects an expanded new vision and range of…