A clear sense of community and fellowship was in the air as Sheraton Hall was filled with faithful supporters, students, faculty and alumni for Wycliffe College’s 22nd Principal’s Dinner. This event is a time for guests to consider and affirm their relationship to the College’s mission and vision, and this occasion was no different. Principal Kristen Deede Johnson shared on what it means to love institutionally, making the case that institutions, including colleges like Wycliffe, are essential for our society to thrive.
Part of what it means to be human is to be social and therefore “our efforts at living together require frameworks that shape our life together,” Principal Johnson said. “Culture is the largest framework that shapes our life together…and institutions, as an essential part of culture, help facilitate our life together.”
Recognizing that institutions have earned society’s distrust through the harms they’ve perpetrated, Principal Johnson invited attendees to consider whether we need institutions. “Can we understand their role and purpose positively, even in today’s cultural context that legitimately distrusts them?”
Drawing on political theory, anthropology, sociology and more, Principal Johnson considered the rise of anxiety in this cultural moment, making the case that the deinstitutionalizing of society has meant a loss of that deep sense of identity institutions can offer. “Some of the social problems we are observing today – a significant rise in anxiety, the impact of social media on mental health…may all be linked to the decline of institutions, and the ways that institutions are intended to provide a sense of community, belonging and identity,” she suggests.
“If these dynamics are real in our society, if our institutions are crumbling, if as a result, people are suffering, should this not be of some concern to us as Christians? Is attending to these cultural realities part of our call to be disciples?”
Considering the example of the early Christians who embodied their faith institutionally through their care of the sick and dying, Principal Johnson encouraged attendees to “… think creatively and imaginatively about how to use our power to seek God’s will and ways in the world.”
In fact, Principal Johnson suggested that institutional engagement is tied to the Great Commission. What would happen if Christians considered it part of the Church’s role to equip disciples to enter every realm of their communities, every social structure, with biblical vision?
Institutions like Wycliffe College support the Church in that call, and Senior Student, Ellen Kelly underlined the need for such support.
“At Wycliffe … my classes, classmates, professors, and community, by the grace of God, have given me a solid theological education and the … support I have needed to discern my call… I have found that I am being confronted with the ways in which the world has shaped me and how, in my studies and in the routine and rituals of our chapel life, the Gospel is the only antidote to our aching hearts and broken world.”
As Kelly posits, “It’s not solely the studying or writing or reading that shapes us. It’s the humility we wear as we obey the command of Jesus who told us to take the bread and wine together, confess our sins to one another, pray for one another, that makes Wycliffe more than just a theological college.”
If you would like to support the mission and vision of Wycliffe College, consider making a donation. Visit the website at www.wycliffe.ca/give.
