Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Seminary A learning community in the Reformed tradition that forms church leaders.

Calvin Theological Seminary is a Reformed seminary that is globally recognized for its theological richness.

Convocation Chapel is live now! (Link in comments) Join us as we launch our 151st academic year! President Jul Medenblik...
09/09/2026

Convocation Chapel is live now! (Link in comments)
Join us as we launch our 151st academic year! President Jul Medenblik delivers a sermon titled “Lasting Legacy: Be a Community of Encouragement,” drawing from Romans 15:5-7.

When Calvin Seminary's PhD program launched in 1992, it was built with the whole world in mind. The idea had been formin...
09/07/2026

When Calvin Seminary's PhD program launched in 1992, it was built with the whole world in mind. The idea had been forming since just after World War II, as students began arriving from South Korea, Indonesia, and across Africa. They were sent by churches that wanted to train their own leaders and strengthen their own institutions.

In his new Forum article, Ronald Feenstra, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology of Calvin Theological Seminary, tells that story. Over three decades, the program's students have come from some seventeen nations: Brazil, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Korea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and many more. These students go on to serve as teachers, seminary presidents, pastors, and denominational leaders around the globe. None of it would have been possible without the donors and faculty who invested in the vision early.

Now the program enters a transition: as Feenstra retired in June 2026, leadership passes to Professor Yudha Thianto, who first came from Indonesia to study here and graduated from the program more than twenty years ago. Watch for Thianto's own reflection in a companion piece coming later this week as the new director tells his story in his own words.

Read the full story on the Forum Plaform: theforum.calvinseminary.edu/media/a-doctoral-program-serving-the-worldwide-church

Where in your own ministry do you feel the pull between planning for the future and living with holy urgency today? Ask ...
09/04/2026

Where in your own ministry do you feel the pull between planning for the future and living with holy urgency today?
Ask Jesus' first followers whether anyone would still be waiting 150 years for his return, and most would have said, "no chance." There wasn't supposed to be time for centuries of tradition, let alone theology "with footnotes."

And yet here we are. In his new Forum article, Daniel Daley, Associate Professor of New Testament at Calvin Theological Seminary, reads the seminary's 150th anniversary through that surprising fact. Celebrating a long legacy is good and right. But the earliest Christians teach us something we're prone to forget: the mission is urgent, and it's "too crucial to be passed off to an uncertain future." Gratitude for the past and urgency in the present aren't opposites. They belong together.

We might have another 150 years. We might have more, or less. Either way, the call is the same: hands to the plow, pursuing Christ-like flourishing now.

Read the full article on the Forum Platform: theforum.calvinseminary.edu/media/calvin-theological-seminary-at-the-end-of-history

In a season of transition, what has helped a community you're part of build trust rather than anxiety?Times of transitio...
09/02/2026

In a season of transition, what has helped a community you're part of build trust rather than anxiety?
Times of transition can go in very different directions, and Scripture shows us both the hopeful and the sobering possibilities.

In his new Forum article, Calvin Theological Seminary Old Testament professor, Wilson de Angelo Cunha, traces three generations of Israel: the first, which never learned to trust God and forfeited the Promised Land; the second, which under Joshua built a new culture of obedience; and the third, which lost its identity and drifted into civil war. Three transitions, three very different outcomes.

Calvin Seminary reads that story from inside its own moment of change, looking back on 150 years of God's faithfulness and forward to the institution we're called to become. The prayer is a simple, ancient one: that we would be "strong and courageous," and grow ever more like the second generation.

Read the full article on the Forum Platform: theforum.calvinseminary.edu/media/from-wilderness-to-promise

What are you up to on a Tuesday in early September?With the plethora of annual back-to-school photos out there, we thoug...
09/01/2026

What are you up to on a Tuesday in early September?
With the plethora of annual back-to-school photos out there, we thought we’d participate as well!
We are welcoming another fantastic group of students to our community for this, our 151st fall semester. We are excited to have them here (and online!) for our orientation week. They join a long lineage of academic excellence and reformed formation at Calvin Theological Seminary. Welcome to the community!

Where has your community made space for honest lament, and what came after?Many of us were taught, quietly, to hurry pas...
08/31/2026

Where has your community made space for honest lament, and what came after?
Many of us were taught, quietly, to hurry past grief and get to praise. Cory Willson gently makes the opposite case.

In his new Forum article, Willson, Professor of Missiology and Public Theology at Calvin Theological Seminary, reflects on the spirituality of the Psalms, which give us honest language for doubt, anger, and sorrow. He writes candidly: "I am a Christian because of Jesus. But I don't think I would still be a Christian if it weren't for the Psalms." Drawing on years of teaching, a prison classroom where one man's lament opened the way to receiving God as Father, and his own family's grief, he shows how lament isn't the enemy of hope. It is the path into it.

He calls it "weight-bearing hope," and it's sustained in community, not alone. It's a timely word for a seminary and a denomination naming real losses.

Read the full article on the Forum platform: theforum.calvinseminary.edu/media/no-hope-without-lament

More than two-thirds of U.S. churches have plateaued or are in decline, and many of us in the CRCNA feel that reality up...
08/28/2026

More than two-thirds of U.S. churches have plateaued or are in decline, and many of us in the CRCNA feel that reality up close. It's tempting to respond with either nostalgia for the past or anxiety about the future.

In her new Forum article, Jessica Joustra, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Calvin Theological Seminary, reaches back to Herman Bavinck and Abraham Kuyper, who faced their own "crisis of the times" and charted a third way: not revolution, not simply recreating what was lost, but reformation. Grounded in God's sovereignty and enduring promises, it's a posture that "investigates everything and preserves the good, "that keeps working without despair, trusting that God has not abandoned the work of his hands.

As our contemporary testimony puts it, God has placed us here, in this time and place. Between nostalgia for the past and anxiety about the future, what helps your congregation do the steady work of "preserving the good" right now?

Read Joustra's full article here theforum.calvinseminary.edu/media/resting-in-gods-promises-the-antirevolutionary-work-of-reformation

We are excited to announce that Steven Van Zanen will serve as the next Missionary-in-Residence. Steve has served as a m...
08/27/2026

We are excited to announce that Steven Van Zanen will serve as the next Missionary-in-Residence. Steve has served as a missionary in Lithuania and most recently as the Europe Regional Mission Leader for Resonate Global Missions.

In this role, he will connect the student body to local missionaries and offer space for multi-cultural experiences through story telling as he continues our monthly Think Global Lunches.

"Having worked with students in three different institutions (in three different countries), I'm excited to begin my work at Calvin Theological Seminary. Mission is about seeking relationships so that others are included in the embrace of Christ. I hope to emulate my Lord by extending His welcome to all kinds of people." ~Steven

Three presidents have guided Calvin Theological Seminary across recent decades, and each will tell you the same surprisi...
08/24/2026

Three presidents have guided Calvin Theological Seminary across recent decades, and each will tell you the same surprising thing: they did not plan on the job.

In a conversation for The Forum, Jim De Jong, Neal Plantinga, and Jul Medenblik reflect on being called into leadership they had not sought. De Jong expected a call to church ministry; instead, "the Lord shut a couple of doors, and this opened up." Plantinga thought of himself as a teacher, not an administrator. Medenblik admitted he was "stunned," unsure he was qualified, yet stepped forward, trusting that "God often works" by choosing the unlikely.

Their conversation moves through the unexpected ministry of fundraising, the seminary's global growth, the weight of criticism, and the gratitude that sustained them. As Calvin Seminary prepares to welcome its ninth president in this 150th anniversary year, their shared testimony offers a steadying word: "We were surprised… but God's not surprised."

Read the full article here: theforum.calvinseminary.edu/media/surprised-by-calling-sustained-by-faithfulness.

Have you ever been drawn into a calling you didn't seek—and said yes anyway?

Have you heard? President Medenblik has announced his retirement, effective June 30, 2027. That date will mark the end o...
08/21/2026

Have you heard? President Medenblik has announced his retirement, effective June 30, 2027. That date will mark the end of 16 years of ministry as President of Calvin Theological Seminary.
Our community’s gratitude for his distinguished service to the seminary, and by extension the church, is matched only by his leadership through profound cultural changes over the past decade and a half.

In his internal announcement, President Medenblik shared, “When I was called as President-elect in 2010, I could not imagine all that would unfold. Along the way, I have been inspired by students and alumni from across the globe. I have been blessed by staff, faculty, and board members who encouraged and carried the vision for the work that we do – together.”

The Board of Trustees has formed a Nominating Committee, chaired by Board Member Tom Nobel, to lead the presidential search, nomination, and transition. As part of the process, the Calvin Seminary community will have an opportunity to provide input and help shape the profile of any future candidate for this important role. If you are a subscriber, keep an eye out for a special newsletter email.

If you are not currently receiving our newsletters and are an alumn, friend, or supporter of Calvin Theological Seminary, we encourage you to email us at [email protected] to either sign up or verify that your contact information is correct.

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3233 Burton Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI
49546

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Tuesday 8am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8am - 4:30pm
Friday 8am - 4:30pm

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