Grace and Conviction in the Next Few
We have begun a period of transition within the Counseling Department at Covenant Seminary. I think this is something many of you will relate to. Nothing earth-shattering has changed, no horsemen are coming, nothing unexpected has occurred. Instead, we can eagerly look to the next few. Few what? Miles, steps, years, changes, cultural needs? Who really knows! Amidst transition we often face the questions of how long, what will come next, or how should we prepare? And these are hard to answer when we don’t know what is coming. And here we are, inviting you.
As the new Director of the Counseling Department, I see many options, opportunities, stressors, and questions. Day by day I am keenly aware that if I look internally at my needs, thoughts, feelings, and desires then my leadership into the next few will be impoverished. Day by day Jesus walked towards Golgotha not of his own desire and volition, but in service of his father and the mission of the Kingdom. In a way, Jesus’s next few were always led by unswerving grace and conviction. He responded to Pharisees to challenge them, he cared for the unloved to welcome them in, he resisted Satan to overcome and be the way. Our hope is to emulate Jesus’s pattern of grace and conviction as we play our part in the Kingdom.
Grace is easier for us to define and has been the heartbeat of our counseling program from its inception. Our legacy is one of theological clarity in a mirky world held onto through the apologetical, accompanying stance of Francis Schaeffer. We have trained counselors to join others with acceptance, humility, openness, curiosity, and compassion. We shall continue to do so as we teach them the profession and the heart of counseling because the fall still runs rampant, and suffering is all around us. What is more difficult to do is lean into a vision with conviction when the world seems ever shifting. Have you ever been forced to ask “What are the next few and what are the convictions I hold?”
We have begun to look, listen, and anticipate. There are many changes on the horizon: our relationship to technology, how we define our bodies, what is “appropriate” to speak about, our shifting diversity, the therapeutic evolution, politics, and much more. As we discern, we invite you to reflect with us and provide your input if you wish. What do this moment and the next demand of us in the next few? What are factors to attend to? Who and what are we to be about? How will changes in culture influence what you, and those you engage with, need? We ask to gain clarity, to solidify our thoughts, that we might refine them in the teleological values of the Kingdom, which is the flourishing of all in the Kingdom. With clarity, we will enact grace with conviction, equipping others to do likewise.
At this time, we know we are here for Christ, we are here for our students, and we are here for you—our alumni and the wider church. If you would speak to this moment, we would love to hear from you. Click this link and you will be able to respond to some short questions.
Join us as we refine our vision so our steps may be ordered by grace and conviction over the next few.
Warmly,
Paul Loosemore and the Counseling Department Team.
