Print this issueChristmas Around the World
Illustration by Joyce Ten Have
Every Christmas, the seminary community puts on an evening of Christmas entertainment and fellowship, called "Christmas Around the World," that highlights the very ethnically and nationally diverse student body at Calvin Theological Seminary. This year's event featured a potluck dinner followed by caroling, dancing, and several of fun for students and their families. We've compiled some pictures from the event to share with you, our readers.
A Kerux Christmas
The Christmas season is in full swing: Trees are decorated, lights are hung, and professors are racing furiously to fit midterms and paper deadline in before the winter break. (What? You thought ministry students were supposed to enjoy Christmas?!).
Arising from our normal Rodinesque positions, we the Kerux staff gathered together our favorite memories from Christmases past to share with you, our readers. How else, dear reader, can you go from the movie theatre to the Great Wall of China, and all points in between in one Christmas?
Faculty and staff memories of Christmas
Christmas brings wonderful celebrations of Christ’s birth that leave us with great memories. I was curious about some of the Christmas memories of the CTS faculty and staff so I asked them a few questions: What was your favorite Christmas present as a child? What is your favorite Christmas food/dessert? What is your favorite Christmas carol? What is one of your favorite Christmas memories?
The best Christmas ever
After listening to some Christmas carols on the local Christian radio station in my car this morning, the disc jockey came on to wish the listening audience “THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!” (Never, since reading John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany, have I experienced words so necessarily and clearly in need of all caps.) My immediate response was, “Well, that’s a lot of pressure.” THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER! Not simply, “Hey, have a good holiday.” Or, “Take time to remember Christ’s birth.” No. Apparently, we are obligated to slap smiles on our faces and celebrate with a frenzy and fervor that will prove to any who may doubt that we have, indeed, had THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!
Last-minute gift idea: The Christian Handbook
I discovered The Christian Handbook a couple of months ago while browsing in the Calvin College bookstore. Its odd mix of serious advice, pertinent information and tongue in cheek humor had me asking “What is this? Should I laugh or be horrified.” For those who have not experienced The Christian Handbook or any of its related volumes, it can simply be described as a take on the “Worst Case Scenario” handbooks but tailored to concerns of the Christian life and infused with a dose of slightly off kilter humor.
Editorial: One hymn or a shelf of textbooks?
Last year, as I sat with my eyes closed in the candle-lit sanctuary of the Basilica of St. Adalbert, listening to a beautiful rendition of Ave Maria being performed by the North American Choral Company, I felt as though everything I had learned in the previous in seminary didn’t hold a candle – or a note – to the hymnody of Christmas.
Come together and sing
A poem by Joyce Ten Have
Sem Eye: The birth of Christ and kitsch
Ah Christmas, that magical time of year when the sound of crisp tens and twenties filling offering plates once more saves our churches from budget failure. Don’t forget to save a few bucks for yourself, though, lest you be caught on Christmas morn without these holiday essentials.