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The first chapel of the year reminded students of the value of a liberal arts education and, in the spirit of that, provided a taste of philosophy, religion, and history.

As part of the history lesson, Dr. Steve Timmermans shared 12 snapshots of the development of liberal arts and the contributions from philosophers, theologians, researchers and others over the centuries. Timmermans framed the message, “Catching Up on Community and the Liberal Arts,” with verses from Galatians 6, explaining that the liberal arts allow people “to be best faithful to God’s call on [their] lives.”

Based on the verses, Timmermans expounded on four points from scripture that apply to the study of liberal arts:

1. Reach out, especially to the oppressed.

2. Carefully explore who you are.

3. Enter into community life with those who have trained you.

4. Be set free from stifling patterns.

Worship time was led by students; the scripture reading was given by a staff member; and the blessing was given by Chaplain Bill Van Groningen.

Parents, siblings, and friends of the College came to Trinity on October 26-28 to celebrate Family Weekend with a variety of events that highlighted campus life. Check out the photogallery for great pictures from one of those events!

The weekend began with a scholarship dinner on Friday night, where scholarship recipients and their families were able to meet and thank the donors who fund their respective scholarships.

Family Weekend also included several sporting events. “Troll Madness” introduced the men’s and women’s basketball teams in the DeVos Gymnasium before they began their season and included a 3-point competition and dunk contest. Other sporting events included the final regular season home games for the men’s and women’s soccer teams and the Powder Puff football tournament between the women’s residence halls.

Guests also heard music from vocal and instrumental groups with the Fall Choral Concert and Chamber Music Recital.

Alexis Warden ’14 of Pella, Iowa, enjoyed sharing her experience at Trinity with her parents.

“We had a great weekend visiting Chicago and finishing off the day with the beautiful music Trinity’s choirs have been working on this semester,” Warden said. “It was awesome to have my parents experience some of what I do every day.”

Trinity celebrated the Christmas season with holiday hymns and Christmas carols at its annual Christmastidecelebration on Saturday, December 1.

Students, family, and friends of the College gathered to listen and sing along with performances from the College’s Concert Choir, Honors Ensemble, Gospel Choir, Wind Ensemble, Strings Ensemble, and Brass Quintet.

Both the music and the readings at the concert focused on the theme “The Radiance of God’s Glory” based on Hebrews 1:3.

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

Whether they remain on campus or travel overseas during Trinity’s two-week Interim, students get the chance to develop their knowledge of unique topics not typically covered in the college curriculum.

This year’s on-campus courses covered subjects such as Exploring Chicago Crime through Film, a study of the history of college pranks, and a writer’s workshop.  Other classes focused on social justice issues like homelessness and the just production and distribution of healthy food. In nearby Harvey, Illinois, volunteers lived in the Tabitha House and Harvey House for two weeks while helping to minister to those living in spiritual and economic poverty.

In Costa Rica, Haiti, Cuba, and Ecuador, students discovered other cultures while lending themselves to be the hands and feet of Christ. Read blog posts from those who traveled outside of the United States.

Twelve students had the opportunity to study the culture and history of Italy. In this Interim course, led by Dr. Helen Van Wyck, professor of music, students journeyed through Venice, Florence, and Rome.

I was blessed during the trip by the people who I traveled with,
said Victoria VanHofwegen ’14.

“I was blessed during the trip by the people who I traveled with,” said Victoria VanHofwegen ’14, of Tolleson, Arizona. “Italy was a lot different than I expected, but I enjoyed the slow pace of life their culture holds. Seeing Michelangelo’s David, exploring the Coliseum in Rome, and having dinner on a Tuscany farm house were my favorite parts of the trip.”

Trinity Christian College celebrated the graduation of traditional and Adult Studies students during the Commencement ceremony on Saturday, December 15, 2012.

Families and friends of the graduates gathered in the Ozinga Chapel Auditorium to witness the presentation of the diplomas by Provost Liz Rudenga. The Commencement address was delivered by Dr. Bob Rice, professor of history who posed the question “What about Individuality?”

Rice was the recipient of the inaugural Professor of the Year Award in 2012 and will retire from Trinity in May.

Rice began with encouraging graduates to consider the Commencement event as a connection to “a long-enduring faith in American individuality.”

“What does this mean? In our culture, we rest in the certainty that society is comprised of capable individuals like you who act, achieve, react, and seek loftier goals. To ensure the continued vitality of this American culture, we struggle to liberate individuals from real or imagined restraints that obstruct the paths before us. …

“Through the curriculum and through every aspect of broader student development, we commit ourselves to make individuals whole. In colleges and universities across America, educators promise to guide in this transition so that their graduates will be fully prepared to participate in and to represent American culture.”

The invocation was delivered by Dr. Mary Webster Moore, associate professor of education; the song of response and the song of prayer were sung by the Trinity Gospel Choir; and the Commencement litany was led by Robin Clevenger ’12. Alumni greetings were offered by Travis Bandstra ’06 director of alumni relations, and the benediction was given by Chaplain Willis Van Groningen, Ph. D.

Commencement Address by Bob Rice, December 15, 2012

What about Individuality?

Provost Rudenga, President Timmermans, members of the Board of Trustees, faculty and staff, family and friends of graduates, and particularly the graduates of 2012:  We come to celebrate this significant accomplishment of the graduates of December 2012.  Each graduate has earned a particular bachelor’s degree, and each has a major or particular area of study.  All have begun and have continued to take prescribed courses that surround and frame their majors with what we call “liberal arts education.”  Altogether, you’ve taken up the call to scholarship and to engage the world in which you live.  And although this ceremony is the culminating episode of your undergraduate experience, we could also consider this graduation event to be connected to a long-enduring faith in American individuality. 

What does this mean?  In our culture, we rest in the certainty that society is comprised of capable individuals like yourselves who act, achieve, react, and seek loftier goals.  To ensure the continued vitality of this American culture, we struggle to liberate individuals from real or imagined restraints that obstruct the paths before us.  We assert the separateness of the individual and the autonomy of the individual; we guard the privacy of the individual; and we even praise the public virtue of the individual as well.

Through the curriculum and through every aspect of broader student development, we commit ourselves to make individuals whole.  In colleges and universities across America, educators promise to guide in this transition so that their graduates will be fully prepared to participate in and to represent American culture.

What makes this faith in American individuality even stronger is that it has been nurtured throughout generations of American history.  Alexis De Tocqueville noticed the prominence of individuality when he toured America on his visit during the early 1830s.  His observations and reflections became an American classic entitled Democracy in America.  He wrote that when he landed in America, he immediately noticed the busyness, the noise, and the activities of Americans.  Across the country he found the pervasive expression of individual freedom that led toward democracy.  Individuals participated in society – a society that was leveled by common education, that was accessible through the common law, and that exchanged common ideas that were the discourse of the land.

He said that in America, all were sovereign, all had rights, and all participated in this individualized democracy.  De Tocqueville also pointed to the deep, unresolved problems that he thought must be solved.  He noticed the inequities that persisted.  But his hope was in the presence of individualized democracy.

Sociologists have continued to write about the changes in American individuality and the impact that individuality has upon our culture.  But if we look closely as a Christian community can, we can discover two surprises about American individuality.  These surprises give me hope because they reveal the unfolding interconnectedness of community. 

What are these two surprises?  First, the achievements of these graduates – and their accomplishments are significant – rest in social institutions.  Their achievements are embedded in social institutions which are God’s gifts to us and which we are to use to shape and renew society.  Graduates’ achievements rest in the shaping and supportive work of their families.  These achievements rest in different church traditions that provide larger frameworks as graduates take up their work in the world.  Trinity’s educational vision has centered these achievements as responses to God’s ways and God’s longings for His people.  Your majors give current description of the development of academic disciplines such as art, biology, business, education, psychology, and theology, among many others.  These academic disciplines are themselves institutions by which you have taken up your work and by which you declare that you wish to make things new. 

The second surprise is that our individual achievements are faithful responses to God’s call to love God and love neighbor and to seek justice, peace, stewardship, equity, and shalom.  Even though our culture offers us an alternative individualized orientation, we are not disconnected after all.  We do not take up our work alone.  We do not so much carry our tasks but respond through them in faithfulness to God.  May we continue to take this work up together.

Trinity will be offering a seminar discussing aspects of dementia onSaturday, February 11, from 9 a.m. to noon in the Ozinga Chapel Grand Lobby.

The seminar, “Portrait of Dementia:  Helping People Live Well,” is an interactive seminar designed to provide insights into the diagnosis, experience, and progression of dementia.  It will also include explanations of early warning signs and types of dementia, with a special focus on Alzheimer’s disease. 

Tickets cost $15 per person and $5 for full-time students. To register for the event, email Jan Visser at jvisser.csm@gmail.com or call 708.307.2370.

The seminar will also discuss practical ways in which the church community can support both individuals and caregivers dealing with dementia, including social and communication adaptations.

About the Presenters

Both Linda Schutt ’98 and Pam Bult will speak at the seminar. Schutt, vice president of education at Providence Life Services Research & Education Institute, has held many different positions in her 30 years as a nurse in long-term care and staff education.

Bult is an educator in the Providence Research and Education Institute and leads the social services team at Providence Life Services.

Both Schutt and Bult have received advanced education in dementia care from Rush University.  They have also taught workshops and developed educational material for staff members who work in a dementia specialty unit.

The event is hosted by The Church Connection Initiative at Trinity, Christian Service Ministries, and Providence Life Services.

Trinity began its celebration of the Christmas season on Friday, November 30, with the holiday jazz concert Jazzin’ Around the Christmas Tree.

The holiday concert featured nine Christmas pieces performed by Trinity’s Jazz Band along with some guest musicians from Richards High School. Dr. Ken Austin, professor of music at the College, and Charles Martin, band director at Richards, also joined their students in the concert.

Dana Segura ’16 of Chicago, Illinois, who played baritone saxophone at the concert, said music plays an important part in her Christmas experience.

“My favorite song would have to be ‘Hot Chocolate,’” Segura said. “There is nothing better than being by your friends and family you love with a nice cup of hot chocolate and some jazz music to bring in the season of Christmas.”

Many of the members of the Jazz Band also took part in the Christmastideconcert the following day.

While the vehicle made its descent down a mountain in Ethiopia, President Steve Timmermans, Ph.D., and his son, returning from a visit to St. Mary’s Church, began a discussion about faith.

Timmermans shared this story with the Trinity community at the first chapel service of the semester, emphasizing the call of Christians to not only accept the Word, but be “doers” of the Word.

In his message, based on James, Timmermans compared faith and active living out of that faith to the growth of a strawberry plant. Just as the plant remains rooted in good soil and sends out runners to take root in other soil, so Christians must remain rooted in God’s Word as they branch out to serve, to work, and to learn.

With more than 30 years in asset management, Robert Doll explained to Trinity students and local business people how his identity is found, not solely in his professional career, but in his relationship with Jesus Christ. Doll is chief equity strategist and senior portfolio manager at Nuveen Asset Management.

Doll was introduced by Trinity alumnus Scott Pothoven ’97, director of business as mission, PacMoore.

Live a heart-motivated life.

In his presentation “Conformed or Transformed?” at the Trinity Business Network (TBN) event on November 6, Doll explained the seven lessons he continues to learn as a professional and a Christian.

1. Focus on the best, sometimes at the expense of the good.
2. Live a heart-motivated life.
3. Get a grasp on the brevity of life.
4. It’s not about you.
5. It’s not the circumstances but how we react in the circumstances.
6. God seeks to satisfy the deepest desires of our heart.
7. Live a life of worship. (But ask what it is you are worshipping.)

Following the main presentation, many attendees joined Doll for a smaller group discussion during which Doll focused on market analysis and answered questions of students and area business people.

Students say…

“I found it incredibly interesting to hear what Mr. Doll had to say. His work experience and his faith are two things that are often not spoken of together, and to see him living out God’s call for his life was awesome. Also, Mr. Doll was just incredibly smart. He provided solid, well-reasoned feedback to any type of question.” Andy Reidsma ’14 of Wyoming, Michigan

“It was a tremendous opportunity to have someone with such Wall Street credibility speak on campus.  It took me by surprise hearing the degree to which he shares his faith on a daily basis in corporate America. One thing took away from his speech was his explanation of ‘vector decisions,’ basically how a decision today may not make much difference but if you extend the lines [over a distance] there can be huge repercussions down the road.”  Jonathan De Young ’14 of South Holland, Illinois

Students say…

“I found it incredibly interesting to hear what Mr. Doll had to say. His work experience and his faith are two things that are often not spoken of together, and to see him living out God’s call for his life was awesome. Also, Mr. Doll was just incredibly smart. He provided solid, well-reasoned feedback to any type of question.” Andy Reidsma ’14 of Wyoming, Michigan

“It was a tremendous opportunity to have someone with such Wall Street credibility speak on campus.  It took me by surprise hearing the degree to which he shares his faith on a daily basis in corporate America. One thing took away from his speech was his explanation of ‘vector decisions,’ basically how a decision today may not make much difference but if you extend the lines [over a distance] there can be huge repercussions down the road.”  Jonathan De Young ’14 of South Holland, Illinois

More about Doll

Prior to joining Nuveen, Doll served  as chief equity strategist at Blackrock, president and chief investment officer of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, and chief investment officer of Oppenheimer funds, Inc. Doll appears regularly on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and Fox Business News.

Although new to students and the community, the Trinity athletics fields located a half-mile from campus on Rt. 83 started with the efforts of a special committee back in 1999.

The College recently held a special ceremony  to officially dedicate the fields and honor those who brought them from “vision to reality,” as President Steve Timmermans, Ph.D., said in his introduction.

Honoree George Schaaf was recognized for his commitment to see the plan to fruition and for his and his late wife June’s gift to help accomplish the goal. In recognition of the Schaaf’s abundant generosity, the College has named the athletics fields the George and June Schaaf Athletics Complex.

Over the past couple of years, construction of the fields has provided for an artificial turf soccer competition field, two grass practice soccer fields, two softball diamonds with a new dugout, scoreboards, fencing, and a baseball field that has entered the final construction phase.

The sports complex is possible because of a long-term lease arrangement with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.

A plan modification was recently developed for the addition of a practice area for Trinity’s golf team, an idea proposed by Schaaf’s grandson Brian Deckinga ’15, a team member.

Formal “thank yous” were offered by Bill Schepel ’85, athletics director; Beth Decker ’67, Board of Trustees chair; Rick Van Dyken, executive associate to the president for development; and student-athletes from the soccer, softball, and baseball teams who presented Schaaf with a soccer ball and home plate signed by team members.

Schaaf offered his own thanks noting the efforts of President Timmermans, Ken Mels, Marv Aardema, and the many others who worked on the grounds and behind the scenes, often donating time, funds, and materials to the complex development.

After the ceremony at the turf soccer field, the crowd moved to the baseball field to witness the unveiling of an engraved granite boulder in honor of the Schaaf’s contributions.

The College anticipates another two years until final completion of the entire complex as development continues on the east end of the property.

Schaaf said that he estimates the date of completion to be “the day I’m in the stands watching one of my grandkids. That’s when I’ll know the job is done.”