Comments to the Alumni of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
These are Pastor Matthew’s comments at the alumni banquet for Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS), June 24, at the Evangelical Free Church’s national conference in Des Moines, Iowa, processing the news that TEDS will likely be coming under the umbrella of Trinity Western University.
Allow me this evening to say three things.
You Matter
First, your grief matters. The legacy of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School matters. Your expectations that the future finds faitfulness and fruitfulness really matters. Your stories matter. Those moments walking the hallowed halls of the campus matter. The interactions with your favorite professors matter. Starting your family on that campus really matters. Jesus meeting you so powerfully, animating a lifetime of Kingdom advance matters. Your story matters.
We’re All Family
We’re all family. In 1959 a group of missionaries and pastors from the Evangelical Free Church of America, believing God wanted the Free Church to start a school on the West Coast, walked on farmland a stone’s throw north of the Washington State border. They believed God was giving them that farm for a campus, and while walking on it the Spirit of God moved upon them so mightily they took their shoes off, walked through the manure and mud, believing it was holy ground.
The next year, in 1960, this very conference, by a conference vote, gave the green light for what would become Trinity Western University. Years would pass. I’ve been on the board since 2011. At one point we has a group come to the board to petition us to change our doctrinal statement, make it more paletable for the world wo are in; let go of some of our core convictions. We told the group we have inherited a trust from those who walked the farmland in their sock feet. We have been tasked with stewarding the essence, the ethos, the convictions of those early leaders, and the Evangelical Free Church of America as a whole. Thus we would not in any way compromise our positions and change our statement. They responded saying, “Your argument is irrefutable. We will withdrawal our request.” They then left never to return.
As a pastor in the Evangelical Free Church, and I do love the EFCA, I sat for years next to our beloved Bill Hamel. His strong infiuence still persists. So, too, does the influence of great men like Kevin Kompelien and our actng president, Carlton Harris.
We are all one famlily. Trinity Western University is deeply rooted in the Evangelical Free Church, and echoing our plenary sessions today, is fully comitted to embodying a missional mindset, furthering Kingdom and gospel work on the global stage.
You Can Be Confident
You can be confident in Trinity Western University. You can be confident in its excellence. You can be confident in its innovation. You can be confident in its Christ-centeredness and its gospel-rootedness. Importantly, you can be confident in its humility, and the humility, particularly, of its leaders. We know, without question, that this school is Jesus’ school. He is our great head. Our knees bow to Him. You can be completely confident that is our posture and always will be.
