Synod Carman 2013 — Prognosis (2)
For the first time, all the committee reports to this upcoming synod are available online to everyone. You can find them all here. There’s nothing confidential in these reports. Everyone is welcome to read them — and comment on them. So let me make a few comments on one of them today.
One of the most anticipated reports is from the Board of Governors of our seminary. It’s a long report, but most of it consists of appendices related to the quest for accreditation with the Association of Theological Schools. For most people, this part of the report is going to be a cure for insomnia. The interesting part of the report has to do with the proposal for a new professor. Currently CRTS has four professors. It’s been recognized for some time that this number of full-time faculty is inadequate. At this upcoming Synod, the Board of Governor is proposing to add a fifth professor. If this proposal is adopted, this professor will be teaching church history, church polity, philosophy, and apologetics. The last item is especially noteworthy since there are currently no apologetics courses offered at CRTS. This has been one of my long-standing complaints about CRTS and I’m thankful to see that it could soon be rectified. Now the big question that everyone is wondering about: who will be this fifth professor? I could tell you who it won’t be, but as to who it will be, you’ll just have to wait with the rest of us. The name is in a sealed envelope in Carman, Manitoba awaiting the delegates of Synod. It should be recognized, however, that a fifth professor is not a done deal. The Synod could reject the proposal if there are good grounds for doing so. Churches could interact with the report and present counter-arguments which could persuade the delegates to a different path. I doubt the Synod will do that, but it is a possibility. Nevertheless, I’m fairly convinced that we will hear of the appointment of a fifth professor next month in Carman — and this will be good for our seminary, good for our churches, and good for the progress of the gospel among us and through us.
