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The theology department at Trinity celebrated the accomplishments of two faculty members at a reception on Friday, November 11.
Dr. Aaron Kuecker, associate professor of theology, shared a synopsis of his newly released book The Spirit and the ‘Other’: Social Identity, Ethnicity and Intergroup Reconciliation in Luke-Acts (T & T Clark, 2011)
Also presenting at the reception was Dr. Keith Starkenburg, assistant professor of theology, who successfully defended his dissertation, “Glory and Ecclesial Growth in Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics,” at the University of Virginia.
Following the presentations, faculty, students, and staff attending the event enjoyed refreshments and fellowship.
Synopsis of Dr. Aaron Kuecker’s book
Kuecker uses aspects of social identity theory to demonstrate that in Luke’s narrative the Spirit is the central figure in the formation of a new social identity. Kuecker provides extended exegetical treatments of Luke 1-4 and Acts 1-15. He shows that Luke 1-4 establishes a foundation for Luke’s understanding of the relationship between human identity, the Spirit, and the ‘other’ – especially as it relates to the distribution of in-group benefits beyond group boundaries. With regard to Acts 1-15, Kuecker shows that the Spirit acts whenever human identity is in question in order to transform communities and individuals via the formation of a new social identity.
Kuecker argues that Luke depicts this Spirit-formed social identity as a different way of being human in community, relative to the normative identity processes of other groups in his narrative. This transformed identity produces profound expressions of interethnic reconciliation in Luke-Acts expressed through reformed economic practice, impressive intergroup hospitality, and a reoriented use of ethnic language.
Synopsis of Dr. Keith Starkenburg’s dissertation
In his dissertation, Starkenburg identifies the doctrine of glory as a means by which Karl Barth accounts for the attractive power of divine activity, especially in relationship to the Christian community. For Barth, the Christian community is drawn into its own growth–defined as numerical increase and the expansion of the church’s worship–because God invests God’s triune glory in Jesus Christ, in the Christian community, and in the entirety of creation. Starkenburg argues that Barth’s doctrine of election utilizes the concepts of glory in order to make sense of how Jesus Christ initiates and participates in the divine decision to create, restore, and perfect the creation. Second, Starkenburg considers how the doctrine of glory establishes a substructure in Barth’s doctrine of reconciliation. He claims that the substructure of glory allows Barth to account for the attractive and enabling power of the resurrection in and through the Christian community’s activity, especially its growth. He concludes by arguing that this study warrants reconsiderations of Barth’s theology of the Holy Spirit and his status as a liturgical theologian.
It’s a challenge, not only for busy college students but for families, businesses, and anyone trying to organize their plethora of papers, possessions, and appointments.
To help Trinity seniors purge and organize their assignments and even their dorm rooms as they work through their last months of the first semester and anticipate the start of their final semester, alumna Emily (DeVos) Smith ’04 shared tips with students on November 10.
Smith, a professional organizer, was a business major and communication arts minor. After graduation from Trinity, she accepted a position in the College’s development office. This year she left that role to start her business Simplify with Smith.
Smith stressed being a good steward of time and setting goals as much as she stressed organizing homework assignments.
“Setting goals is so important,” she said to students in the senior seminar class led by Dr. Sherry Barnes, professor of communication arts. “How many people are on autopilot, no matter what stage of life they’re in? Is this how God wants us to live?”
Some of the tips Smith shared included:
- Write down goals and set deadlines for each.
- Keep one calendar. Some phone calendars sync to online calendars like Outlook.
- Time block. Keep track of everything done in a day, and color code activities to see where time is being spent and possibly wasted.
- Make a to-do list in the evening prior instead of the morning of.
- Schedule the most difficult tasks for the most high energy points of the day.
Inspired, many students put Smith’s advice into practice right after class.
“I organized my desk and made a to-do list,” said Ashley Veurink ’12 of Corsica, South Dakota. “After only two days of using the list, I notice that I have a stronger sense of control over my day. I’m amazed at the peace that single piece of paper brings me.”
Four Adult Studies students who recently completed Trinity’s special education endorsement/certification program have been selected to present at the Illinois Reading Conference (IRC) in March 2012.
Noora Diab, Lisa Gaeger, Melissa Morales, and Lindsey Terrill collaborated on a paper while enrolled in the Secondary Reading Methods course with Dr. Trina Vallone ’99, associate professor of education.
Vallone encouraged the team to submit the paper to the IRC as a possible presentation for the upcoming conference. The team wrote a brief abstract, and the team was then invited to present “A Multiple Intelligence Approach to Reading for English Language Learners (ELL) and Special Education Students” at the IRC’s 44th Annual “Literacy in the Land of Lincoln” Conference on March 15-17, 2012.
During their conference session, Diab, Gaeger, Morales, and Terrill will be teaching reading in the four content areas (language arts, math, social studies, and science) using different learning modalities and technology/media and incorporating strategies for English language learners.
“We hope that people walk away from our session with many strategies that they will be able to use the next day in their schools and classrooms,” said Terrill. “We would like all teachers to think of themselves as reading teachers, no matter which subject(s) they teach, and to understand the importance of teaching students the different ways to read in the different content areas.”
Also presenting at the conference are Vallone and Kelly Lenarz, assistant professor of education. Their presentation is titled “Media Literacy in the Common Core: Strategies for Effective Teaching.”
To learn more about Trinity’s special education endorsement/certification program, visit http://adultstudies.trnty.edu/programs/sped.html.
Senior Alberto LaRosa of Glendale Heights, Illinois, has been named Trinity Christian College’s 26th Lincoln Laureate by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois. He was honored at the annual Student Laureate Convocation in Springfield on November 5.
Given to outstanding senior students from each of Illinois’ four-year, degree granting colleges and universities, the Student Laureate Award recognizes excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities.
LaRosa, a theology major with minors in philosophy and chemistry, has exhibited sincere commitment to community formation and sustainability. He held a Resident Assistant (RA) position last year in South Hall, the freshmen residence hall, and currently serves as an upperclassmen RA in Tibstra Hall. LaRosa is a member of the concert choir and has been a member of the men’s varsity soccer team and a staff writer for Trinity’s student newspaper. In the academic realm, LaRosa has been conducting collaborative research with Dr. Clayton Carlson, assistant professor of biology, for the past year.
Outside of Trinity, LaRosa stays active in his home congregation at Bloomingdale Church. He served as the summer intern working with the high school youth group and is currently a member of the missions committee. In the local community, LaRosa tutors students from Amos Alonzo Stagg High School who need extra assistance with math and science-related topics.
LaRosa’s two years of being an RA have included some of the most shaping experiences in his time at Trinity. “It’s amazing to see a group of young men develop friendships and form an identity as a residence hall floor,” he said. “Both years, I’ve watched my residents ‘glue’ together right away, sharing a commitment and willingness to be a part of a community.”
Being involved in and outside of the Trinity community has taught LaRosa something about himself that is transferrable to everything in life. “I’ve learned that who I am is deeply, intrinsically related to those around me,” LaRosa said. “God instilled a passion for people in me, and I’ve learned to depend on people who are driving forces in my life.”
LaRosa has plans to attend seminary and medical school in the future and hopes to work in reconciliation-focused missions. The feeling of moving on to the next phase, LaRosa said, is bittersweet.
“There are a lot of things I will miss about Trinity, and it essentially comes down to the people I’ve gotten to know in my time here,” he said. “Every day at Trinity is consistently good.”
At the convocation, LaRosa received a Student Laureate Medallion, accompanied by an honorarium check and certificate of achievement.
The Lincoln Academy, unique among the 50 states, was established 46 years ago to honor Illinois’ most distinguished citizens with the state’s highest award, the Order of Lincoln. The Annual Convocation and Investiture of Laureates of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois will take place Saturday, April 21, 2012, at the Illinois State Capital House Chambers in Springfield.
Trinity Christian College Lincoln Laureates
2011 – Alberto LaRosa
2010 – Joseph Wydra
2009 – Jonathan VanderWoude
2008 – Caitlin Fillmore
2007 – Elizabeth VanderSpek
2006 – Allison Backous
2005 – Erin Marshalek
2004 – Rachel Van Oort
2003 – Yvana Hansen
2002 – Evan VanderZee
2001 – Nate Bosch
2000 – Laurie Johnson
1999 – Hanna Vander Zee
1998 – Kristen Devine
1997 – Heidi Boeck
1996 – Julie Tinklenberg
1995 – Keri Dyksterhouse
1994 – Mark Mulder
1993 – Kristen Hart
1992 – Sarah Ver Velde
1991 – Aron Reppmann
1990 – Nathan Van Der Male
1989 – Drew Sweetman
1988 – Erik Hoekstra
1987 – Kimberly Dykema
1986 – Edward Wiener, Jr.
Students from both Introduction to Biological Sciences and Ecology studied outside of their classrooms on October 28 as they worked alongside their professors in the College’s Native Plant Basin.
Class efforts have involved projects such as the removal of invasive species that threaten to impede the growth of native plants. But for this project, students, led by Professors Tom Roose and Abbie Schrotenboer, labored to collect wildflower seed to later sow in the new basin by the Trinity Athletics and Recreation Complex and at the site of the Rt. 83 athletic fields.
Aiding in the project was Gareth Blakesley, natural resources manager at Lake Katherine, a local nature center that often partners with Trinity.
Dr. Schrotenboer, assistant professor of biology, said initiatives to integrate ecological stewardship into the biology curriculum stem not only from professors’ goals to provide hands-on learning but from the stewardship efforts of the Campus Ecological Stewardship Advisory Group (CESAG) of which both professors are members. CESAG’s guiding principles include environmental restoration, sustainability, and education, while their standard practices involve restoring habitats, such as native plants, and sustaining the campus forest.
“These types of projects give students a hands-on experience that in the end helps them retain knowledge,” said Melissa Kiel ’14 of Kalamazoo, Michigan, who hopes to see more projects like this.
“Learning outside of the classroom is always an interesting experience. You can learn about certain types of plants and invasive species inside the classroom, but until you venture outdoors, you don’t understand the reality of the lesson.”
Students and faculty gathered on November 2 to celebrate the publication of the third Openings, Trinity’s visual and literary arts magazine.
Openings is designed to display the work of students and alumni, fostering a sense of unity among the artists and writers of Trinity. This edition includes works from alumni including:
- Kathy Nimmer ’91, author of Two Plus Four Equals One andHelen Keller International Memoir Contest winner
- John Terpstra ex ’74, poet and author of Two or Three Guitars and other poetry volumes
- Jeff Tigchelaar ’99,Pushcart Prize nominee and Langston Hughes Creative Writing Award winner
The event allowed students and faculty to enjoy a time of fellowship and poetry and fiction readings from Vanessa Noonan ’12 of Oak Lawn, Illinois, and Kailyn Baum ’12 of Hudsonville, Michigan.
After distributing copies of the new issue, Dr. Michael Vander Weele ’73, professor of English, closed the reception by saying, “I speak for our faculty when I say we are so thrilled by the writing we see from our students and alumni and hope you are encouraged by it as well.”
Recent graduates Bethany (Kerr) Eizenga ’11 served as Openings editor in chief, and Monica Brands ’11 and Sarah Hoeksema ’11 served as co-editors. Kailyn Baum is this year’s editor in chief. Marissa (DeHaan) Carpenter ’10 founded the idea for Openings and launched the first issue.
According to a 2010 College Board report, most college students change majors at least once—and many several times—during their undergraduate education.
From October 24-31, the College’s South and West Hall residence life staff members collaborated to offer a week-long event called ‘A Major Week.’ The event’s purpose is to give students “opportunities to pursue thoughts and activities that will aid them in better understanding the concept of calling and vocation,” said South Hall Residence Director Chris Bohle.
“The residence life staff and Becky Starkenburg, director of First Year Experience, decided to form A Major Week because we know how overwhelming it can be for college freshmen to ‘figure life out,’” said Bohle. “We want to give students as many avenues as possible to help them find God’s call on their lives. A Major Week offers an array of events that can reach many students.”
Some of those events included class visits throughout the week, career assessments in the Cooper Career and Counseling Center, and reflection on the Strengths Finder instrument each freshman took in September.
The conclusion to A Major Week was ‘Major Questions’ on October 31. Major Questions welcomed faculty from every department into South and West Hall lobbies for a fair-like event, providing students with easy access to the various majors.
“I liked being able to talk to professors at Majors Questions,” said Jessica Bordenaro ’15 of Lockport, Illinois, an elementary/special education double major. “The professors were very friendly and approachable. My friends with undeclared majors got a lot out of this week and really started to focus on what they should choose for their major.”
Bordenaro’s favorite part of A Major Week was looking back at her Strengths Finder results. “It was fun to reflect back on my five strengths and compare them with the freshmen again,” she said. “I especially had fun comparing my strengths with my roommates again, since we know each other better now and can better identify each other’s strengths.”
The final event in the 2011 WorldView series attracted hundreds of local residents and Trinity students, faculty, and staff as former Palos Heights mayor Dean Koldenhoven presented “Religious Tolerance: The Mosque Controversy.”
Christians and Muslims, students and senior citizens, professors and ardent learners gathered together to hear Koldenhoven’s story of how, as mayor, he faced challenges in 2000 to stand firm in his Christian belief to “love your neighbor.”
Koldenhoven, a long-time friend of Trinity along with his wife Ruth, believes that what works is to talk peaceably through disagreements through “dialogue, dialogue, dialogue.”
Because of his efforts in the defense of religious freedom and tolerance, Koldenhoven received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award and a special recognition award by the Arab American League.
For Elizabeth Fiala ’12 of Minneapolis, Minnesota, the lecture arrived at the end of an interfaith service project that she participated in with some fellow Trinity students and area Muslim students. “It was new for me to be able to interact with people of the Muslim faith for such an extended period of time, and I definitely learned a lot,” said Fiala, who serves as Student Association senior class representative and as a member of Trinity’s Ethnic Diversity Committee.
“Dean Koldenhoven is an example of a person who is participating in effective dialogue with the Muslim community, and I think that Christians can definitely take something from his message,” she said of the WorldView lecture.
Assistant Professor of Education Pete Post ’74 recently received a $250 Ray Graham Memorial Award from the Illinois Council of Exceptional Children for his proposal to create adaptive books with special education students in his Low Incidence Disabilities class.
Creating adaptive books is a method commonly used by educators that makes a book’s content more accessible and understandable for children with learning, vision, communication, or motor difficulties. Ways to adapt a book may include adding voice output devices, simplifying a book’s visuals, changing the text size or spacing within a book, or using pictures with text.
The grant will be used for purchasing books that Post’s class will adapt on the Elim Christian School campus this spring. Using Elim’s computers and Boardmaker program, the class will begin adapting books during Elim’s spring break, which, for Trinity students, will consist of taking the books apart and reassembling them using icons and interactive pieces they’ve created, according to Post.
Post believes Trinity students will gain the most from the award.
“Trinity students are the ones that really reap the benefits, especially working with the Boardmaker program,” he said. “It is wonderful to have financial support for an exercise that only helps Trinity students become better educators while contributing to the community and helping students learn to read.”
The adaptive books from Post’s class will be finished by the end of the spring semester and will then be donated to Elim and other institutions, including the Little Red Schoolhouse.
Hundreds of WorldView attendees were delighted by the inspiring performance of violin virtuoso Jaime Jorge on Monday, October 24.
Born in Cuba, Jorge has traveled around the world sharing the love of Jesus through music and testimony. As a child in Cuba, Jorge studied violin, a passion supported by his mother, who made plastic flowers to sell to raise funds for her son’s lessons. When he was 10, Jaime’s family came to the United States, and he began lessons with the eminent violinist Cyrus Forough.
Throughout the performance, Jorge shared favorite Scripture passages and his thoughts on his faith, his life, and his music.
“Music is a gift from God which I use to reach others,” he told the audience, who enjoyed arrangements of such songs as “I Surrender All” and a sampling of musical traditions from around the world.
Jorge was introduced by instructor of violin Matthew Mantell, who also serves as director of Trinity’s String Ensemble. Music students and other guests had the opportunity to meet Jorge following the concert.
For more information about Jaime Jorge, visit www.jaimejorge.com.