In the Spotlight:
If you see these people around, introduce yourself. If you already know them, tell them how lovely they looked in the Kerux!
Student Spotlight: Rhonda Workman
The Kerux: Where are you from and what CTS degree program are you pursuing?
Rhonda: I grew up in Grand Rapids just a half mile from Calvin College. I am pursuing an Mdiv degree. The Lord willing I will graduate in May, 2014.
The Kerux: What has been your most challenging and life-altering encounter, here at CTS?
Rhonda: I can’t say that I have had a life altering encounter in Seminary. I will say that I am continually amazed at the breadth of knowledge of the professors. I thoroughly enjoy digging into the Bible texts with the profs and learning more in depth the structure and themes that I never learned about, or maybe I forgot, even as I went through Christian schools from elementary through college. I feel that we are getting a very well-rounded education for use not only at the pulpit but also in terms of pastoral care for our congregations and also self-care. I appreciate that.
The Kerux: What do you do in your free time, when not engrossed in your CTS studies?
Rhonda: Quite honestly, I don’t have a lot of free time. I’m really looking forward to having time again to take bike rides, work in the garden, take a trip and attend cultural events – plays, concerts, Art Prize.
The Kerux: Tell us something we would not know about you, just by looking at you.
Rhonda: I have a heart for the marginalized, the weak of society. I began my educational career at seminary thinking I would work with Muslims. Since being at seminary, I have shifted my thinking from working with Muslims to working with the marginalized (my first concern) and then even to working in a church as the pastor of congregational care and evangelism.
Faculty Spotlight: Professor Ronald Feenstra
Academic Dean
Professor of Systematic and Philosophical Theology
I was raised in Jenison, Michigan, and attended Calvin College and Calvin Seminary. I worked as a welder during college and also spent a summer working at a factory in Germany. While in seminary, I had internships in Anchorage, Alaska; New York City; and Rehoboth, New Mexico. After completing my doctoral work at Yale University, I taught in the Department of Theology at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I have taught at Calvin Seminary since 1992, served as Director of Doctoral Studies until last June, and as Academic Dean since July. My wife, Barbara, and I have three grown daughters.