Since starting at Heritage Theological Seminary this winter in his role as Professor of Church History, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin says that the interactions with students on campus and in the classroom has been a deeply uplifting experience.

“I think what has been most encouraging is the fabulous quality of the students in my classes: bright and keen, devoted to Christ and his people and zealous to learn from the past for faithful leadership in the present,” says Dr. Haykin.

Students who attend Heritage Theological Seminary will now have the opportunity to learn more from Dr. Haykin as he officially begins his new role as a member of the core faculty at the seminary.

Though he has served at Heritage for 27 years teaching in various capacities, Dr. Haykin says that he is looking forward to the opportunity to play a larger role in training, equipping, and mentoring leaders who will serve the mission of Christ and his church through the seminary.

“I am thrilled by what God has been doing through the leadership of the seminary and Bible College in the last few years, and desirous of being involved in theological education in Ontario to a deeper extent than I have been for a while,” explains Dr. Haykin. “I felt naturally and deeply drawn to Heritage.”

Dr. Haykin is a renowned church historian who is also the author of a number of publications and books including Rediscovering the Church Fathers and Eight Women of Faith. He will continue serving in his current role as Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Haykin is also the Director of the Andrew Fuller Centre for Baptist Studies at Southern – a role that he will continue to hold as the Centre find its Canadian home at Heritage Theological Seminary.

The Andrew Fuller Centre for Baptist Studies seeks to bring attention to the theological and missional achievements of 18^th century Baptist pastor-theologian Andrew Fuller through various publications and conferences, while also promoting an understanding of Baptist heritage and the larger Christian story of the past. At Heritage, the Fuller Centre will coordinate an annual conference in the fall and host an occasional lecture in the spring, while continuing its work on a massive publication project that will see the reprinting of Andrew Fuller’s complete works.

As he looks ahead to his time at Heritage and the opportunity to teach and mentor those who will graduate and serve the church in Canada, Dr. Haykin says that he hopes and prays that they would not only cling to Christ as they serve their churches but also learn and grow from the church’s past.

“My deep hope is that they will stay faithful to Christ and the gospel throughout their ministries; but also that they will see the Christian past as a great reservoir of wisdom and encouragement, and learn how to draw riches from the past to inform their ministries in the present,” says Dr. Haykin.

Saturday April 4, 2020 // 9:30 am - 3:30 pm

Main Speakers: Keith Sparrow - Executive Pastor at Forward Church Cambridge, and Takeshi Ochiai - Head of AV Integration at Soundbox Productions.

If you are on the sound tech team at your church, or are interested in learning about sound technology, this day is for you! Learn about Critical Listening, Genre, Gain Staging, Recording Live, Micing Techniques and more! This event is open to all who are interested, but is specifically designed for sound tech volunteers.

Schedule

9:00am  - Registration (Heritage Community Centre - Upper Level)
9:30am -  Main Session with Keith Sparrow & Takeshi Ochiai (Chapel)
11:00am - Refreshments
11:15am - Breakout Workshops  1) Recording Live - Russ Shouldice 2) Micing Techniques - Matt Collins
12:15pm - Lunch (Eat offsite or bring your own lunch)
1:45pm - Main Session with Keith Sparrow & Takeshi Ochiai (Gymnasium)
2:45pm - Refreshments
3:00pm - Q & A (Gymnasium)
3:30pm - Event Finished

Registration: $30 each, or $20 each for groups of 2+ from the same church.
Refreshments provided. Lunch - Eat offsite or bring a lunch.

Door prizes include Shure microphones: SM-57 and SM-58.

Register Now

Learn more about Heritage's One-Year Audio Engineering & Production Certificate HERE.

According to Dr. Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, these are complex times in the life of an everyday disciple of Christ.

While the “new atheists” are declaring the end of religion, the religious “nones” still continue to pursue spirituality. The church also has to contend with the widespread ignorance about what the Bible actually teaches, and what Christianity is really about. Then, there’s the cultural impact of social media.

“The apostle Paul probably didn’t have social media in mind when he spoke of the powers and principalities with which Christians wrestle (Eph 6:12), but I think they’re indeed a part of the spiritual powers with which we have to reckon,” says Dr. Vanhoozer.

These are just some of the reasons why he believes that pastors and ministry leaders in the local church need to be more intentional about making disciples. Dr. Vanhoozer will be discussing why discipleship is important to the spiritual health of disciples and how to equip them to live for Christ in today’s culture at this year’s Ministry Leadership Day at Heritage Theological Seminary on March 26^th.

Vanhoozer believes the local church needs to focus on training disciples to read and live out the truths they read in Scripture in order to engage with the efforts of today’s culture to shape the hearts and minds of disciples in the local church. He says that our present secular culture is one of the most powerful means of spiritual formation that we have ever seen and, as a result, we in the church need to ask how it is forming our spirits and hearts.

As a result, he says that pastors and ministry leaders need to be discipling their people to read Scripture theologically – to read the Bible as the word of God with and for the people of God – in order to understand who God is and who we are to be as God’s people to live out our faith in the midst of today’s cultural pressures.

“Pastors need to help their congregants understand the story of human flourishing presupposed by contemporary culture, and then confront that story with the biblical account of how salvation in Christ enables true freedom and human flourishing,” explains Dr. Vanhoozer. “I think the real purpose of reading the Bible is to acquire not background knowledge but the mind of Christ, that is, the ability to follow his way and truth here and now.”

This focus on training disciples to read Scripture theologically is important due to the ongoing need in all of our lives to have our hearts and desires rooted in the gospel. Dr. Vanhoozer says that our hearts abhor a vacuum, and if they are not worshipping God they will start worshipping something else. This is why he believes it is pivotal for the local church to train people to see their lives in the story of what God is doing through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to reconcile the world and remake creation - not in the sea of other people’s words that surround them each and every day.

“Our individual lives ultimately make sense and become fulfilling as we participate in Jesus’ story and become citizens of the gospel. The local church is the appointed means by which Christians are to live out their faith, their citizenship,” says Dr. Vanhoozer. “If the church is to be a local embassy of God’s city or kingdom, pastors have to train disciples to be competent citizens of the gospel.”

“That’s what discipleship is all about: not simply learning new facts but learning to live in ways that correspond with our new reality in Christ.”

Looking ahead to Ministry Leadership Day at Heritage, Dr. Vanhoozer is hoping and praying that pastors and ministry leaders will have a better understanding of contemporary culture, and of the even greater power of the gospel, awakening and kindling pastors’ imaginations, and reenergizing their ministry of the word of God.

“I’m absolutely convinced that there’s nothing more important we should be doing than helping local churches display a wisdom worthy of the gospel, and I believe pastors have a crucial role to play toward that end.”

To register for Ministry Leadership Day with Dr. Kevin J. Vanhoozer or to learn more about the day visit discoverheritage.ca/mld.

Enjoy a great meal with friends this St. Patrick’s Day and help Heritage College & Seminary students complete their internships overseas and continue to pursue their goals of long-term engagement in global missions.

On March 17^th starting at 6:00pm at EVO Kitchen in Cambridge, Ontario, join us for a special St. Patrick’s Mission Dinner – a fundraising event raising money for the Moon-Martyn Scholarship Fund that provides funds toward tuition costs for these students.

The evening will include a delectable meal from EVO Kitchen including a poutine station, taco station, and a selection of appetizers to choose from. The event will also include a small silent auction, live music, and testimonies from Heritage students who have served overseas and plan on doing so this summer.

Come and support these students and help us reach our goal of $7,500 for the Moon-Martyn Scholarship Fund.

Tickets are $20 and you can purchase your tickets today at – DiscoverHeritage.ca/Patrick.

Dr. Doug Thomson, Director of Music and Worship Studies at Heritage College & Seminary, says that today’s churches are becoming more and more advanced in the technology they use in their worship related ministries. From live sound enhancement, to production, audio engineering, and song writing software, there is a growing need for trained personnel to help the churches operate technically and professionally.  He goes on to say that the college often hears from church leaders about.

It’s for this reason that Dr. Thomson says that Heritage has recently created the new Audio Engineering & Production Certificate beginning in the Fall Semester of 2020.

“We created this new certificate to meet those challenges by training young adults, not only in their faith, but also in worship and church related technology,” explains Dr. Thomson. “These new courses will be taught by trained, experience professionals in relatively small class sizes, where students will get plenty of individual attention.”

This one-year, college certificate is geared to training and equipping the student who is interested in serving in the recording studio, and who is interested specifically in the fields of production and worship service technology. While learning in the studio, the Audio Engineering Certificate will also allow students the time to grow in their faith as they study God’s Word while learning their craft at Heritage. To learn the intricacies and details related to audio engineering, students will get the opportunity to work in a multi-room, state-of-the-art, digital audio workstation-based studio.

“The classes are small and workstation-based – there is so much cross-pollination, collaboration, and peer review which helps everyone learn to critique and listen, create and thrive,” says Dave Thompson, one of the adjunct tech professors. “The skills the student learns should be at a fundamental, conceptional, and practical level that can be built upon by further experience, experimentation, and journeying deeper into the modern musical landscape.”

Matt Collins, a staff member at Heritage, and a graduate of the Bachelor of Church Music program with an emphasis on sound technology and recording arts, knows firsthand the impact Heritage has on students in their abilities and faith.  Collins says that his time at Heritage has had a lasting and rippling effect on his personal faith and musical aspirations.

“I not only learned how to professionally record, mix, and master audio, but I also learned the fundamental beliefs I hold in the faith and how to adequately articulate, define, and defend those beliefs in our world today,” says Collins. “Without the program that Heritage provided, and by the grace of God, I wouldn’t be the producer and musician that I am today; but, more importantly, I wouldn’t have the faith I have today.”

For more information on the new, one-year, Audio Engineering & Production Certificate program at Heritage, please visit DiscoverHeritage.ca/academics.

To apply to the program, visit DiscoverHeritage.ca/apply.

–> REGISTER NOW FOR MINISTRY LEADERSHIP DAY 2020

Renowned theologian and author Dr. Kevin Vanhoozer will be teaching on the topic of discipleship and the local church at the upcoming Ministry Leadership Day being held at Heritage College & Seminary on Thursday, March 26, 2020.

Dr. Vanhoozer currently serves as Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.  He is also the author and editor of a number of books including his latest release, Hearers and Doers: A Pastor’s Guide to Making Disciples Through Scripture and Doctrine.

Dr. Wayne Baxter, Associate Professor of New Testament and Greek at Heritage Theological Seminary, describes Dr. Vanhoozer as a brilliant theologian, and is excited to have come to this year’s event to talk about the value of teaching sound, scriptural doctrine in the discipleship of those in the church.

“Whereas many gifted academics reserve their brilliance for the academy, God has given Dr. Vanhoozer a burden to help shepherd the church and its leaders theologically,” says Dr. Baxter. “I’m excited to see what theological discipleship looks like in the local church and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to pose questions to one of the brightest minds in the church today.”

Ministry Leadership Day is an annual event organized and hosted by Heritage Theological Seminary and welcomes pastors and ministry leaders to Heritage for a day of encouragement and equipping through relevant, practical, and theological teaching about topics connected to the health of local churches.

Dr. Rick Reed, President of Heritage College & Seminary, believes that the topic of biblically rooted discipleship is important for health and life of today’s church. He hopes that pastors and leaders will attend this year’s event to learn more about this subject.

“All who are engaged in making disciples through local church ministry will benefit from the biblical insights and ministry implications that Dr. Vanhoozer will bring to us at this year’s Ministry Leadership Day,” says Dr. Reed.

This year’s Ministry Leadership Day will also include a special lunch option for pastor’s wives and women serving in ministry attending the event hosted by Dr. Linda Reed, Director of the Heritage Centre for Women in Ministry.

For more information on the upcoming Ministry Leadership Day or to register for this event, please visit https://discoverheritage.ca/mld-2020/.

Heritage College & Seminary will once again be hosting the annual Student Job Fair happening on Thursday, January 16, 2020 from 2:00pm to 5:30pm in the Heritage Community Centre.

Each year, the event provides College and Seminary students, high school students and other young people interested in ministry positions the opportunity to learn more about a wide variety of Christian employment opportunities that are open to them. The event will include representatives from churches, camps, mission organizations, and parachurch organizations who will be available throughout the afternoon to answer questions and receive applications.

The Student Job Fair is a great opportunity for students and young people who are looking for: summer jobs at Christian camp, summer jobs at churches, internships, vocational ministry opportunities, missions, or volunteer ministry experience.

For more information on the event, please visit - https://discoverheritage.ca/student-job-fair/

For Ellie and Jeff Kendrick, Heritage is like home. Both Jeff and Ellie met, studied and graduated from Heritage. Both are currently involved today at the school with Ellie auditing a seminary class and Jeff teaching at the college. They are also proud parents of two students who are following in their footsteps – Moriah and Caleb.

As an alumnus and Heritage mother, Ellie says that it is an incredible experience to see her children studying God’s Word at Heritage. She explains that she and Jeff are praying that God would use Moriah and Caleb’s Heritage experience as He did in her and Jeff’s life.

“We are praying that they will grow strong in their knowledge and love for God, that they will walk humbly and in a manner that is worthy of His calling,” says Ellie. “That their hearts would be opened so that they will know and cherish the hope to which He has called them.”

Ellie fondly looks back at how God used her time at Heritage to build her knowledge of the Bible from teachers who cared for her spiritual growth, while developing her character in a Christ-centred community.

Heritage also holds a special place in Jeff’s heart. Shortly after being saved, Jeff started attending the college to study God’s Word and loved getting involved in every aspect of student life on campus. Today, he says that he still sees the impact God made on his life and thanks God for the school every time he thinks about it.

“When I started at Heritage, I was like a sponge soaking up every bit of teaching, training, and fellowship with my fellow students and interactions with the professors,” says Jeff. “Even now as I think back, there are so many aspects of who I am today because of my time at Heritage. It was truly God’s plan for my life.”

Moriah now has the opportunity to learn as she follows in the footsteps of her parents, knowing the impact that studying at Heritage had on the lives of her mom and dad.

“They love God so much and I want to love God as much as they do, I know that my love for God will grow at Heritage,” explains Moriah. “I love walking through the halls knowing that once upon a time my parents walked through these same halls. It makes Heritage feel more like a home and this is all because of God.”

Since starting in September 2019, Moriah says that God has already used her time at Heritage to root her identity in who she is in Christ. After participating in a trip to Ethnos Canada’s Off The Grid weekend retreat with a group of students, she has also been growing in her global understanding of the world that God loves.

“Seeing and learning about all the broken people around the world gave me such a heart for these people, I want to go tell them about Jesus,” explains Moriah. “As the year continues, I am looking forward to continuing to grow in my love for God and grow a bigger heart for the broken people around the world.”

For Caleb, his time at Heritage in the Christian Formation class and his volunteer work in the cafeteria has given him the opportunity to meet new friends and grow in his own faith.

“It is a place to learn about the Bible and that God has a plan and purpose for me,” says Caleb. “He continues to show me that He is great and powerful.”

Knowing how their time at Heritage has equipped both of them for life and ministry, Jeff and Ellie now encourage others to see Bible college as a valuable decision for not just their own family, but for others.

“It’s so important to us that they grow in their knowledge and love for God, gaining a stronger foundation in the Christian faith,” explains Ellie. “So that when they move away, get married, or move on to adulthood, that they would be equipped and ready.”

Read this story and more in the upcoming Heritage Christmas Newsletter arriving in mailboxes in December 2019.