A Summer Banquet

There are some good secrets behind Wondering Fair. Just like any living thing, say, a river, there are sources that flow to it, influences that have shaped the way many of our Wondering Fair contributors think, see the world, and write.

Maybe the most concrete influence on us is a theological school called Regent College. Regent started in the late sixties as an experiment in a new kind of theological education: one which included students and professors from several denominations, from many countries and accents, but also from all vocations. Traditionally seminaries train future pastors, missionaries and church leaders, but Regent set out to provide theological education also to lawyers, astronauts, actors, journalists, stay-at-home moms, and with Canadian sensibility to gender equality, also to stay-at-home dads. It sounded like a weird experiment, doomed to last a couple of years and flop, but then some world-famous professors signed in, people started to come, and from then on Regent has become a magnet for people looking for a thoughtful, nuanced kind of faith today.

One of the things I most enjoyed at Regent is it Summer Program (actually the most extensive there is in the world). It packs a rich offering of one or two-week intensive courses, on subjects as diverse as Leadership & Innovation, the Writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, the book of Job, Christian filmmaking, the Church Fathers. They organize also concerts, prayer retreats, evening lectures, and many people take the opportunity also to explore beautiful Vancouver. It is an stimulating season, which I tried to enjoy to the full while I was at Regent, and which I encourage you to check out. Maybe you can follow one of these courses. They are world-class.