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Volume 30, Issue 1
Monday, February-02-15
MORNING STAR
WYCLIFFE COLLEGE
Admin Staff:
Noah an Epic Story? - Peter Robinson
We recently watched
the movie Noah. My first
reaction (in spite of the
number of good reviews
the film received) was
that it simply wasn’t a
good film. Instead it is a
mishmash of reluctant
hero meets Star Wars
with a message not as
much about dark and
light/good and evil as a
challenge to human
beings regarding the
way we care for the
environment.
The film’s director,
Darren Aronofsky, has
exercised a free hand in
his use of the biblical
story. Indeed he was
quick to proclaim that it
is the most unbiblical
biblical movie ever
made. For example just
as Noah and his family
are scrambling to
escape onto the ark,
giant waterspouts and
huge misshapen ‘fallen’
angels force back the
attacking mob that is
chasing them. On the
ark it is only the eldest
of Noah’s three sons who
has a wife. That subtle
change in the story
allows Aronofsky to
raise the (optimistic?)
possibility that humanity
might die out shortly
after the flood in order
that the rest of the world
might be set free to
flourish.
Yet, even though the
film was not entirely
coherent, after watching
it I found myself
continuing to ponder the
many questions it raised
even to the point of
thinking of watching it
again. So, while I cannot
recommend it as a great
movie it is worth
watching for the way it
engages with the
biblical story. In spite of
his claim to an unbiblical
interpretation,
Aronofsky, a professed
atheist, displays a far
more thought provoking
reading of the story than
one might suspect.
Aronofsky, who grew up
in a conservative Jewish
home, engages with the
story of Noah in a way
that raises questions
both about the text and
contemporary readings
of the text. Justin Chang
in a review for Variety
magazine goes so far as
to suggest:
‘In his flawed,
fascinating and
altogether extraordinary
“Noah” this everaudacious filmmaker has
given us a bold and
singular vision of Old
Testament times — a
picture that dares to
handle a sacred text not
with the clunky messages
and stiff pieties we’ve
come to expect from so
much so-called
“Christian cinema,” but
rather with a thrilling
sense of personal
investment and artistic
risk.’
At a time when our
tendency in the church
has been to ignore the
Old Testament or to
distil it down to support
basic moral lessons it is
refreshing to see
someone engage the
story as a story. To prod
and to poke at it in a way
that allows us to hear it
again in a new way.
The questions
Aronofsky raises about
God, creation and
humanity are certainly
fundamental to the story
of Noah: where is God,
how is God engaged
with creation, what role
has God given to human
beings in this world and
what have we done to
the world? For example,
a brief glimpse of human
depravity part way
through the film was
reminiscent of Cormac
McCarthy’s dystopic film
The Road (a movie that I
am not sure I could ever
watch again). That
portrayal of complete
depravity gave me, for
the very first time, a
sense of how the story of
the flood could be
conceived as an act of
mercy – destroying a
(Continued on page 3)
Accountant
Sophia Chen
Room 105, x3522
Business Office
Peter Patterson
Room 106, x3549
Paul Patterson
Room 107, x3546
Wycliffe Serves!
John Bowen
Room L301, x 3534
Beth Fisher
Room L301, x 2558
Chaplain
James Robinson
Room 233, x3540
Communications
Rick Maranta
Room 229, x 3548
Development
Rob Henderson
Room 102, x3538
Angela Mazza
Room 101, x3524
Florence Chan
Room 101, x2559
Front Desk
Andy Witt
IT
Matt Glandfield
Basement, x3531
Maintenance
David Durance
Paul Mason
Basement, x3543
Principal’s Office
Karen Baker-Bigauskas
Room 104, x3521
Registrar/Admissions
Barbara Jenkins
Room 226, x3530
Sean Otto
Room 228, x3525
Jon Clemens
Room 230, x3547
Residence Don
Lane Scruggs
X 3030
MORNING STAR
Page 2
Wycliffe News & Notes
Faculty:
Principal
George Sumner ++
Room 103, x3521
Academic Dean
Terry Donaldson
Room L304, x3537
AD Director
Ann Jervis ++
Room 232, x3539
BD Director
Glen Taylor *
Room 218, x 3541
Librarian
Tom Power
Leonard Hall, x3526
Permanent Faculty:
Annette Brownlee *
Room 233, x3540
Alan Hayes ++
Room L302, x3532
David Kupp
Room 233B, x2561
Wanda Malcolm
Room L303, x2557
Joseph Mangina
Room 231, x3523
Judy Paulsen
Room L302, X2560
Ephraim Radner *
Room L301, x3533
Peter Robinson
Room 225, 3529
Christopher Seitz
Room L305, x3551
Marion Taylor
Room 227, x3542
* on sabbatical Fall 2014
++ on sabbatical Winter
2015
News for our International
Students
Wycliffe College recognizes the huge
change in your life leaving family and
home to study here. We want to stand
beside and support you to make your
experience most meaningful and
rewarding. Thus, Wycliffe College is
happy to announce the hiring of Mr.
Dhoui (Dewey) Chang as the International
Students Coordinator. Throughout the
year Dhoui will help with international
students’ orientation and transition to life
at Wycliffe and in Canada, organize
events (on and off campus), and offer
support where needed.
The first event will be the LUNAR YEAR
FESTIVAL DINNER on Feb 11th, 6pm for
all INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS. This will
be an intimate dinner at Wycliffe, a time
of community, of getting to know one
another and events, and of sharing
stories. Please email Dhoui
(dhoui@hotmail.com) to sign up.
‘Last Call for Graduands’
If you are expecting to complete
your program and have not
completed the Graduate
Information form please do so this
week.
Once the list of potential
graduands goes to Convocation
Hall it is very difficult to add a
name later.
If you didn’t have your grad photo
taken for the composite there is
still an opportunity to do so either
by visiting the Can Grad studio or
joining one of the sittings at other
locations on campus.
Please contact Sean Otto for more
details.
Help us welcome the Rev. Julie
Golding-Page to our staff. Julie, a
Wycliffe grad, has been named
Director of Indigenous Education
and will work with indigenous
bishops to plan theological
education, both at Wycliffe and via
distance learning.
Starts for Winter Term on Friday January 16th
VOLUME 30, ISSUE 1
Page 3
Editorial… (cont)
(Continued from page 1)
humanity so utterly twisted
and debauched that
destruction was grace –
wiping clean that which
could not possibly be
restored or renewed;
saving human beings from
a life that was horrific. And
surely framing our human
situation in a way that grips
us with a sobering sense of
corruption is vital for us to
begin to see the contrast
between the flood and the
cross with the power and
horror of the cross as the
ultimate demonstration of
grace.
That is not to say that the
movie is truly
representative of the story
of Noah nor does it offer a
coherent theology with
which to engage the story
of Noah. In his more
critical review of the film,
John Nolte argues that the
God represented in this
movie is more in keeping
with Gaia than with the God
of the biblical text. Nolte
contends that Aronofsky’s
Noah is the first
environmentalist and that in
the film the 10
commandments have been
replaced with one
commandment: Thou Shalt
Not Harm Mother Earth
Beyond What Is Absolutely
Necessary to Live In a Tent
as a Vegetarian. Nolte’s
review highlights one of the
weakest points of the film,
the unapologetic
proclamation of the gospel
of environmentalism.
Indeed Aronofsky’s
evangelical defense of
environmentalism is
unlikely to win any to the
movement because it is so
strident. Yet even here
there is a great lesson for
us to learn. For surely one
of the reasons why
‘Christian’ movies are so
often weak, or just plain
bad, is precisely because
the desire to ‘convince’ the
audience ends up
distorting what the film is
meant to communicate. A
more subtle hand could
have allowed some of the
potent and beautiful images
in the film to convey a value
for the physical world more
powerfully than the
overwrought scenes in
which humanity is chastised
for abusing the world.
In a paradoxical way the
most intriguing element of
the film was the way
Aronofsky portrayed God.
The God revealed in the
film is for the most part
silent while Noah, clearly
the main character, talks a
lot. God only ‘speaks’ with
Noah and that is a rather
murky and confusing
communication through
mysterious dreams. Noah
does his best to interpret
the dreams yet when he
gets a warning about a
coming flood he is left
utterly confused about
God’s intentions for
humanity. In the biblical
story it is exactly the
opposite: Noah is silent and
God, who is the main
character, is the one who
speaks. What is intriguing
about this reversal is that it
is so resonant with the way
we tend to think about
ourselves and God. God, is
largely silent, while we,
who are at the centre of
things, have to do the best
we can to figure things out
for ourselves – or so we
often assume. In the end
what is perhaps most
fascinating about the film is
that it exposes our upside
down cosmology, with
humanity at the centre and
God the silent and distant
player with only a bit part
in the drama. When we
begin there, with
Aronofsky, is it any wonder
we have difficulty making
sense of The Story?
This Wednesday @ Wycliffe
The Most Rev. Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican
Church of Canada, will be in the Reading Room for a
conversation with students (all Anglican M.Divs. are
expected to attend).
3:00—tea & cookies; 3:25—presentation
Archbishop Hiltz will also preach at Holy Eucharist in Founders’
Chapel at 4:45 p.m.
MORNING STAR
Watch for information
about events for Creation
Care Week in February...
Page 4
2014-15 Student
Council:
Senior Student
Martin Tam
VP Theology
Beard Montgomery
VP Spirituality
Orvin Lao
Secretary
Aidan Armstrong
Treasurer
Jeff Potter
Social Chair
Philip Stonhouse
2nd Year Rep
Terry Spratt
House Advocate
Tira Ingersoll
Day Student Rep
Sarah “Sorry Ms.” Jackson
Sports Rep
Danny McMullen
Green Chair
Deanna Hove
Mission Chair
Elizabeth Achima
1st Year Rep
Kira Moolman
WADSA
Lane Scruggs &
Joshua Martin
In the Residence:
Res-Don
Lane & Chantelle
Scruggs
Men’s Floor
Dan McMullen
Women’s Floor
Sarah Lee
Student Council News &
Notes...
Coffee and tea will be provided!
Bring your friends and hope to
see you there!
Sports
Spirituality
"Hey Team, we
are off to a good
start in
intramural
sports, lets keep
it going! This
Thursday Feb
5th 8 pm basketball. We will meet
in the Wycliffe lobby at 7:30 with
our T-Cards. And we will try and
keep our winning streak in
Ultimate alive this Saturday Feb
7th at 10:30am! We will meet in
the Wycliffe lobby at 10 with our TCards and blue shirts.
Shrove Pancake Tuesday
Breakfast Lunch (1:002:00pm, Refectory)
Orvin
February 10, 2015
Interested in mission or
representing families? Student
council is looking for individuals
to fill these very important
positions on council. If you are
interested please talk to the
Senior Student Martin Tam or
another member of council.
See you there!"
Thanks,
Dan
Pancakes, bacon, sausage,
eggs, fresh fruits, maple syrup
and the fixings! $4 per person, or
you can pay with your meal card.
Please RSVP at the Front Desk or
with orvin.lao@gmail.com
Wycliffe ESL Cafe
Need to practice your English?
Join us at the Soward Reading
Room on Monday Nights ,
7:00pm-8:30pm!
There will be group
conversations in English and a
brief look into Canadian culture.
Additional Announcements
Student Council Elections
Nominations for next year’s
Senior Student will open on
Monday February 2nd. See the
job description below.
Nominations for other position
will open after Reading Week.
The AT HOME is this Friday. There is still time for you to sign up for the supper. The sign up
is at the front desk and will be there until noon on Wednesday. Just to wet your appetite for the
dinner that the kitchen has cooking up for us, here is the menu:
APPITIZER: Spring mix with Mini Bocconcini Cheese, Cherry
Tomato And Balsamic Dressing
ENTRÉE’:
Prime Rib of Beef Au Jus
Potato Au Gratin
Green Beans with Carrots and Toasted Sesame Seeds
VEGETARIAN ENTRÉE’: Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
DESSERT: White Chocolate Raspberry Cream Cake with Raspberry Coulis
**Gluten free and Dairy free Options will be available
After dinner there will be Latin dance lessons, some time for Latin dancing that
will drift into modern music and dance.
Come dressed up. Dresses and suits are the norm, but all are welcome.
The description of the Role of Senior Student is as follows:
The Senior Student shall act as President of the Student Council and preside over its meetings as well
as General Meetings of the students. The Senior Student shall act as chief election officer and act as
liaison between faculty/administration, students, residents and the Student Council. In addition to
these responsibilities, the Senior Student may provide pastoral care, may support and direct student
events and programs, and facilitate the ministry and leadership the Council seeks to provide. The
Senior Student may be a Wycliffe theological resident or day student. The Senior Student must have
been a member of the Wycliffe student body for 4 semesters.
Nominations will be held: February 2-6th; with voting taking place after Reading Week. Other position
nominations and elections will follow election of the Senior Student.
VOLUME 30, ISSUE 1
Page 5
Check out these new Library Titles!
A short selection of new
titles added to our
collection recently.
Unless already signed
out, these are available
on the Recent
Acquisitions section on
the ground floor of the
library. Enjoy!
Tremper Longman III. Old
Testament essentials:
creation, conquest,
exile, and return.
Downers Grove:
InterVarsity Press,
2014. BS1194.L66.
Tom Power, Theological
Librarian.
Jacques Ellul . On
being rich and poor:
Christianity in a time
of economic
globalization.
Toronto: University
of Toronto Press, 2014.
BR115 .E3 E5513.
Brian Neil
Peterson. The
authors of the
deuteronomistic
history: locating a
tradition of
ancient Israel. Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 2014.
BS1181.17 .P48. [Brian is a
graduate of Wycliffe
College.]
Richard Plass and
James Cofield. The
relational soul:
moving from false
self to deep
connection.
Downers Grove : IVP, 2014.
BV4509.5 .P58.
Rebekah A.
Eklund, John E.
Phelan. Doing
theology for the
church: essays in
honor of Klyne
Snodgrass. Eugene, OR:
Wipf & Stock, 2014.
BS2397.A1 D64 [Includes
essays by N.T. Wright &
Richard Longnecker.]
NIV NoteTaker’s
Bible
FREE copies of
the NIV NoteTaker’s Bible are
available for all
students, faculty
and staff, at the
Front Desk. If
you would like a
FREE copy,
please speak to
Andy.
Wycliffe and the Churches
Wycliffe College is working to build stronger bridges with churches of different
denominations. One thing that will help us is to understand how we are presently
perceived by non-Anglican churches. So . . . if you are not from an Anglican
background, you can help by telling us how your church felt about your decision to
come to Wycliffe, and how they feel about it now. Below is a link to a very brief (6question) online survey.
And to inspire you, there will be a draw for a $100 credit at Crux, open to everyone who
submits a response (and leaves their name) by Feb. 7th!
You can complete the survey by visiting www.surveymonkey.com/r/325s7p8
If you have any questions, drop us a note at wycliffeserves@wycliffe.utoronto.ca
For all first year M.Div. and M.DivP:
A Lunch Meeting to Explain Field Education at Wycliffe
This is late notice but I’d like to gather you during lunch on
Wednesday to explain the Field Education Program at Wycliffe, and
begin to have you sign up for meeting with me to discuss your field
education placement for second year.
Bring you lunch to Cody at 1 p.m. on this Wednesday, Feb. 4.
Annette Brownlee
Chaplain & Director of Field Ed.
TST Biblical
Department Seminar:
4:00p-5:30p in Cody
Library
Thurs, Feb 26: Andrew
Knight-Messenger
(McMaster University)
“The Status of the Modern
Study of the Ancient Jewish
Court Tale: Analysis, Issues
and Prospects”
RESPONSE: DR. JUDITH
NEWMAN (Emmanuel College)
Thurs, Mar 12: Dr. Nadav
Sharon (post-doc fellow
at Univ. of Toronto)
“Contrasting GraecoRoman and Jewish Views
of the Future of the Roman
Empire”
Thurs, Mar 26: Andrew
Witt (Wycliffe College)
“‘In the Person Of’: An
MORNING STAR
Page 6
Proof-Readers Needed…
We are looking for some proof-readers to help our international students…
If you are interested, please contact Karen Baker-Bigauskas in the
Principal’s Office, Room 104, 416-946-3521,
karen.baker@wycliffe.utoronto.ca (There is a budget for this, so you will get
paid.)
Also, if you are an International Student needing help with proof-reading,
please let me know and we will try to connect you with someone.
Israel Trip—Orientation
Sessions
For the next four Wednesday
evenings—January 28 and February
4—there will be an optional
orientation meeting for the
forthcoming Israel Trip. The time will
be from 6:45-8:45 p.m. Location—WLR
Alternative Sessions
For students unable to attend the
Wednesday evening orientation
sessions for the upcoming Israel trip,
there will be two alternative sessions
offered by Prof. G. Taylor on Tuesdays
January 27th and February 3rd from
6:30—9:45 p.m. in the WLR
Those not travelling to Israel, but who
would like to learn more about the
geography and sites of Israel in biblical
times, are welcome to join us!
Glen Taylor will be leading the
sessions.
(Students going on the Israel trip are
strongly encouraged to attend either
the Tuesday or Wednesday sessions.)
International Wycliffe Student
Ministry Opportunities in
2015
Potential Student Placements:
1. Bangkok, Thailand, Cornerstone
English as a Second Language
Ministry
2. Hanoi, Vietnam, English Language
Coach
3. Colombo, Sri Lanka, parish based
ministry
4. Tarime, Tanzania, parish based
ministry
5. Gambella, Ethiopia, Theological
Education placement with a new
Anglican Seminary. Ministry with
refugees.
For more information, or an
application, please speak with Karen
in the Principal’s Office, Room 104.
Canon Kim Beard will be at
Wycliffe to talk to people interested
in International Ministry
Opportunities on Thursday
February 26th at lunch.
VOLUME 30, ISSUE 1
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MORNING STAR
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MORNING STAR
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MORNING STAR
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MORNING STAR
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Prayers Please …
Lana Joy Postma, born at home
Saturday weighing 8 lbs 9 oz.
She little sister to Sophie,
Logan and Samuel. Natalie and
Lana are doing well. It will be
a bit of an adjustment having 4
under age 5 in the house, so your prayers
are appreciated! Jason Postma
Wycliffe Community Prayer
List: We want your petitions
and Thanksgivings
Antoine Rutherford had cancer surgery January
21st please continue to keep him and his
medical team, and care givers in your prayers.
On the sideboard outside the Chapel
is a notebook for you to write down
prayer requests. They are gathered
up and lifted to God every Friday in
Morning Prayer. We encourage you
to bring all of your lives to God in our
Chapel and this is one way we try to
make that happen. Children,
residents, students, staff and
faculty—everyone.
Please keep those going to Israel in your
prayers as they plan and prepare for their trip.
It is our privilege to be trusted with
your prayers.
Please continue to pray for Terry Donaldson
who had a pacemaker implanted on Thursday
January 29th.
Annette Brownlee+
Chaplain
Coffee Hour
Please join fellow
students, faculty and
staff for coffee Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday mornings in
the Soward Reading Room
at 10:50 a.m.—11:10 a.m.
Bring your own mug (if you need a
mug, please visit the Development
Office to purchase a Wycliffe ceramic
or travel mug.) Brought to you by the
Interested in getting to know some of our
Trinity colleagues? Compline on Hoskin is
starting up again for the term, every
Monday at 9:10 p.m., alternating between Trinity Chapel and the Founders'
Chapel. If you would like more information or to get involved, contact Ilana at
ilana.isaacs@mail.utoronto.ca."
Wycliffe College Alumni Association.
Reminder to Chapel
Greeters:
Wednesday’s Schedule
3:00—gather for tea & cookies
(Lobby)
3:25—Archbishop Fred Hiltz
(Reading Room)
4:45—Holy Eucharist—The Most
Rev. Fred Hiltz (Preacher)
6:00—Community Dinner
Please remember to arrive
15 minutes prior to service
time, check in with the
Sacristan and light the
candles.
Reminder to Readers:
Please arrive 15 minutes
prior to service time and
mark your reading.
VOLUME 30, ISSUE 1
Page 15
Please note that we will be using the BCP for the Daily
Offices during February.
WYCLIFFE COLLEGE
Visionary leaders with Good News for a vibrant church in a
changing world.
January/February 2015
Sunday
1
Monday
2
Tuesday
3
9
5
10
11
12
Pancake Tuesday
Lunch
Lunar New Year
MP: A Witt
16
17
18
FAMILY DAY
Reading Week
Reading Week
ESL Cafe
15
4
Thursday
Friday
6 Playgroup
WE & Pr: Archbish- MP: J Paulsen
op Fred Hiltz
ESL Cafe
8
Wednesday
Saturday
7
AT HOME
13 Playgroup
14
19
20
21
Reading Week
Reading Week
Pr: Philip Der
College Closed
Shrove Tuesday at Wycliffe—Tuesday February 10th @ lunch
We will once again have a “Pancake Lunch” to recognize Shrove Tuesday at Wycliffe (a week
early). Please sign-up at the Front Desk to make your reservation (so the kitchen knows how
many pancakes to make) by Monday February 9th. $4.00 per person, or use your lunch card.
Do you know someone in grade 11 or 12?
Are they seeking to deepen their faith, form lasting friendships and be transformed? Awake is seeking students
to join us for an incredible week during March Break! We are inviting youth leaders, pastors and parents to
encourage their youth to attend.
Awake is a unique immersion experience at Wycliffe College during March Break. Through conversation,
community, worship, formal teaching and experiential learning, students will deepen their faith and build a solid
Christian foundation for whatever they will do. In addition to Wycliffe College’s top-rated faculty, students will
also be mentored by some of the most dynamic theological grad students at Wycliffe.
Awake is especially designed to give teenagers a safe and welcoming space to wrestle with big theological and
philosophical questions, to interact with students and faculty whose lives are centered around these pursuits,
and to build community with other youth seeking to understand how the Christian faith relates to life in 21st
century Canada.
For more information, check out our website: https://awake.wycliffeserves.ca