A couple of hundred well-wishers gathered at Shaughnessy Heights United Church on Friday (October 18) to celebrate the installation of Richard Topping as principal of Vancouver School of Theology.
Dr. Darrell Guder, from Princeton Theological Seminary, gave a challenging sermon, which confirmed his reputation as a pioneer in missional thinking. He said theological institutions need to grapple with the legacy of Christendom – a time in which theology was the “Queen of the Sciences.”
Pointing out that while Christendom may be over, and theology pushed to the margins of culture, the clothing worn during the installation service – some of the platform party were wearing academic regalia, some ecclesial, some a combination of both – reflected “how deeply rooted we are in it.”
Guder said theological schools need to critically evaluate the church’s history, taking note of the ways in which it has compromised its role. He reminded the assembly that “the church does not exist for its members,” and said the key mandate of schools of theology should be “upbuilding for sending.”
He said that as theologians and the church grapple with the legacy of Christendom, all should keep in mind this biblical injunction: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God . . .” (Romans 12:2).
During his address, Topping asked: “If UBC is ‘a place of mind,’ what about VST as ‘a place of imagination? . . . ’
“In the formation of theological imagination,” he said, following Guder’s lead, “we also want to engage the world and the big issues of our time. I think Karl Barth was right that theology ought to be done with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other (although I am pretty sure he didn’t mean we give equal weight to the National Post and Romans in our thinking about God).
“Why engage with the world? because God is engaged with the world, because God so loves the world. God is at work in the world, God is always already active making and keeping human life human – there are little lights and parables of the love of God scattered all over the place if we will attend to the world.”
Topping graduated with a PhD in Theology from Wycliffe College, and served for many years as a minister and then as a professor with the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
At VST, Topping has taught Introduction to Theology, Reformation History, Christian Spirituality and Reformed Theology of the 19th and 20th Century; he has also lectured at Regent College. His publications have been in the areas of theological hermeneutics, homiletics, philosophy of religion, systematic theology and the theologies of John Calvin and Karl Barth.
Topping took over the leadership position at VST three months ago from Stephen Farris, who had held the position of acting principal since the spring of 2012. VST is supported by the Anglican Church of Canada, the United Church of Canada and the Presbyterian Church in Canada, though it is open to students from all denominational backgrounds.
Thank you to Flyn Ritchie for allowing us to reproduce this section of his blog post.
