Dordt College

Moss, Sarah

The Voice Volume 70 Issue 1 Fall 2024 Article 17 Business Matters Sarah Moss Dordt University, sarah.moss@dordt.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice  Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Moss, Sarah () "Business Matters," The Voice: Vol. 70: Iss. 1, Article 17. Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice/vol70/iss1/17 This Features is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Dordt Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Voice by an authorized editor of Dordt Digital Collections. For more information, please contact ingrid.mulder@dordt.edu. 20NEWSINTERNAL CONTROLS MATTER AT CHURCHTakeaway: Implementing fi nancial safeguards in the church is crucial—not just to protect against wrongdoing but to create a culture of stewardship and responsibility.Dr. Randy Smit, an accounting professor, has always kept a foot in industry, from working as a fi nancial controller for a trading company to doing accounting at a local accounting fi rm.“I get to use my gifts to serve not only my students but the community as well. I enjoy the variety, and I believe having industry experience makes me a better professor.” One place Smit has used his gifts to serve the community is in the church, where he was treasurer for his local congregation in Orange City and for Classis Heartland. It was during this time that he noticed a lack of internal fi nancial controls and wondered how prevalent that was in the church at large. This realization prompted Smit to focus his doctoral research on internal controls in the church, particularly within the Christian Reformed Church (CRC). He also wanted to research how common fraud was within the church.For the church worldwide, he was fl oored to fi nd that 95% of fraud goes undetected. Billions of dollars are misappropriated, simply because few, if any, internal controls are in place. BUSINESS MATTERSAt Dordt University, education goes beyond the classroom: students and faculty alike are encouraged to apply their skills in ways that serve both God and the broader community. Professors in the Business, Accounting, and Economics Department are leading by example. From fostering fi nancial stewardship in churches to carefully considering business models like multi-level marketing to exploring global business as missions, three Dordt business faculty show how a Reformed Christian perspective and fi nancial expertise can shape our world for the better.“We want to believe that good people won’t steal, but Satan can get a foothold—as sinful creatures, we are all susceptible to temptation.”— Randy Smit, professor1Moss: Business MattersPublished by Dordt Digital Collections,21NEWS“The controls in the church are typically built on trust. Most church councils will say, ‘We have a deacon or a treasurer in this position for a reason, and we wouldn’t put him in that position if he wasn’t trustworthy,’” says Smit.The shortage of accountability is often due to churches not implementing basic internal controls. In most cases, fi nancial duties such as collecting, counting, and depositing funds are handled by one or two people, without the checks and balances often found in other organizations.Smit’s dissertation research considered the “fraud triangle,” which is used to explain why people commit fraud. “If there are no controls in place, people may be under personal or fi nancial pressure, fi nd ways to rationalize theft, and see an opportunity,” he explains. Even well-intentioned individuals can make mistakes or fi nd themselves in situations where fraud becomes tempting, especially if no one is watching.At his own church, Smit has worked with the council to put safeguards in place. As treasurer, he now only handles bill payments; he does not have access to cash collections or deposits. Duties are divided to ensure that no single person controls the entire fi nancial process. “This is as much for my protection as it is for the church,” Smit says. “Internal controls ensure that accusations of theft or mismanagement can be easily invalidated.”He also encourages churches to fi nd simple ways to encourage good behavior. Installing a security camera or having multiple deacons to promote separation of duties can be powerful steps to keep people from intentionally or unintentionally committing fraud. “We want to believe that good people won’t steal, but Satan can get a foothold—as sinful creatures, we are all susceptible to temptation,” he says. “Putting controls in place in the church isn’t about distrust—it’s about accountability and stewardship.”AN EXPERT WEIGHS IN ON MLMSTakeaway: When it comes to business practices, we must be wise and discerning with our time and fi nancial investments. Loving our neighbor means ensuring our business dealings refl ect integrity.Dr. Jesse Veenstra ('08), a fi nance professor, grew up in the orbit of multi-level marketing (MLM) companies like Tupperware and Herbalife. “I remember family friends asking my parents to participate in diff erent multi-level marketing organizations,” he says. “I’ve been recruited to join a couple, too.”His exposure to MLMs wasn’t unique; one in 13 Americans have participated in these business models at some point. Still, Veenstra took his interest in MLMs to a diff erent level by making it the focus of his doctoral research. Over several years, Veenstra surveyed 250 MLM participants, did a deep dive into research, and wrote 140 pages for his dissertation. He was most curious about why people participate in MLMs and the economic outcomes of participation. “One of the fundamental rules in business is risk versus reward: the more risk you take, the more potential return there should be.”With MLMs, Veenstra recognized a few risks. Those who participate often must invest fi nancially, whether making a down payment or buying large amounts of inventory at a discount. “Plus, there’s a time investment and an opportunity cost,” he says. “There’s risk, but what’s the return? I sensed a disconnect between the two.”THE ROLE AND GIFTS OF DEACONSIn the Christian Reformed denomination, deacons often handle church fi nances, including collecting, counting, and depositing the weekly off ering. Those with backgrounds in fi nance, accounting, and banking are well-suited for the position of deacon, says Smit. But not every deacon is chosen for their ability to handle money well. “It’s important for churches to ask competent personnel to serve as deacon, otherwise there could be a risk of intentional or accidental fraud,” he says. In the classroom, Smit urges his students to step into the role of deacon or treasurer at their churches. One of his favorite verses is, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10). “I tell all my accounting and fi nance students, ‘You have fi nancial competency; God gave you this gift, and you need to use this gift to help your church. This is not the sacred versus secular: accounting is just as sacred as anything else God has created. You can play an important role in the church.”JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)Business Administration is Dordt’s largest undergraduate program. Jesse Veenstra previously worked in the fi nance industry, including as a senior contract surety underwriter for Merchants Bonding Company.JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)2The Voice, Vol. 70, Iss. 1 [], Art. 17https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice/vol70/iss1/17FEATURES22His research fi ndings proved his hunch: he discovered that the “fi nancial benefi ts of MLMs are limited, with approximately 97% of participants making less than $1,000 a year,” he says. “One study found that the hourly rate earned was $0.67. That blew me away.”It’s an interesting disconnect, given that about 85% of MLM participants say they join for fi nancial reasons. “In my research, I found many people thought that, if they could just work harder, they would make money. Organizations would reinforce that perspective, to the point where workers would put in more hours than they initially anticipated. I read many stories of people who found MLMs negatively impacted their family life and took away from time with their children, when the original intent was to create fl exibility while earning an income.”For those seeking social interaction, MLMs are a boost: “many people participate because they enjoy being around others and building strong personal relationships, which can be benefi cial.” There are also opportunities to learn leadership and entrepreneurship skills by participating in MLMs. But when it comes to MLM’s structure, there are better ways, adds Veenstra. “Built into the compensation model for almost all MLMs is a fi nancial reward for the recruitment of others, which tends to be one of the only ways people make money.”Take away the recruitment component and the need to purchase inventory in advance, and “we’ve stripped out the fi nancial risk of being in an MLM. There are still risks associated with how much time is spent, but someone could make a fair amount of money relative to the work they do, taking away the incentives for the people at the top to reap the rewards of all the people below them.”Veenstra’s research has also infl uenced his teaching at Dordt. He now incorporates lessons on fi nancial risk tolerance into his investment and personal fi nance courses, helping students understand the importance of evaluating both the fi nancial and emotional aspects of their decisions. “What people do with their money doesn’t typically follow a mathematical, logical formula—the emotional, behavioral aspect really feeds into their approach to fi nances.” BUSINESS AS MISSIONS THROUGH GLOBALIZATIONTakeaway: The marketplace can be a powerful mission fi eld. Globalization presents unique challenges, but it also off ers opportunities for Christians to make a positive impact. Unny Nzioka is an accountant by profession, but her working career began in a bank.While taking night classes in Nairobi, Kenya, she worked in nearly every banking position, from teller to customer service manager to relationship offi  cer. Being at a bank helped grow her already-burgeoning love for numbers, where she says she “saw fi rsthand how someone can record what they’re making fi nancially as part of their business—to know where it was a loss or a profi t.”Her fi rst job post-graduation was back at the bank, where she did accounting in the fi nance department. She also got connected to Partners Worldwide, a U.S. non-profi t organization involved in eradicating poverty across the world through business as missions. After volunteering there for nearly a decade, she wound up leaving the banking world and serving Partners Worldwide as Kenya partnership manager. She also spent some time in consultancy.“Consulting broadened my experience; I worked with people who owned businesses across the globe. They were exporting; they were importing. I traveled throughout Africa and began to develop a strong understanding of international business.”Her varied background prepared her well to teach at Dordt, where she has taught courses in accounting, money and banking, international business, and more. “My students get very excited when I talk about my business experience in Kenya; they tell me they enjoy learning from someone who has worked in accounting, banking, and international business in the working world.”One study of multi-level marketing companies found that the average hourly rate earned was $0.67.JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)Unny Nzioka serves as instructor of business. 3Moss: Business MattersPublished by Dordt Digital Collections,23FEATURESHer experiences have also fostered her interest in globalization, “the shift of the world toward an interconnected, interdependent world economy.” Globalization is important, she says, because in today’s modern world there is no single country that can assume to be self-suffi  cient. “As the world has progressed, as technology advancements have come in, as barriers to trade have been lowered, it has become clear that countries rely on one another,” she explains. “More importantly, if we look at what each country is good at, we can build more effi  ciencies so that countries can focus their resources on what they can do best while getting products and services they need from other countries.”Globalization can transform communities; it can also open the world economy to competition worldwide, “keeping businesses on their toes and wanting to do the best for their customer, which can also benefi t communities,” she says. There can be downsides to globalization as well, such as the risk of labor force exploitation. Sometimes there are misunderstandings around cultural norms and practices.“How do you bring global brands, products, and services into a country and marry that with the local culture and resources?” she asks. "They can develop strong understanding of local culture, which can help global businesses fi nd more success.”What does this have to do with Christians in business? Nzioka points to Matthew 29:19-20: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”“Sometimes we Christians forget that when Jesus said, ‘go into the world and make disciples,’ He was talking to all of us, not just pastors or clergy,” she says. “Businesses often have a very narrow goal: to make money—some at whatever cost. Now for a Christian businessperson, I might want to make money, but my business is also a platform from which I can share the Gospel. I conduct my business in a way that magnifi es God. If a business is in the global space, the world can see Christ through you and how you do business.”Many Christians think that to eradicate poverty, donations must be made to developing countries. Nzioka thinks of her home country of Africa, where “charities never change much,” she says. “They are good, but they are not an end in themselves. It seems to me that the best way to eradicate poverty is through business. When you grow the businessperson, they grow the business, which in turn employs more people and puts more funds into the local economy. The more Christian businesses and their owners grow, the more we can help fi ght against poverty.”Nzioka often encourages her students to fi nd ways to learn about other cultures and countries, whether through experiences on or off -campus. “Our economies are interconnected and interdependent whether we live in Sweden, Switzerland, or South Africa,” she says. “I tell my students to take trips across the world whenever they can. It gives us a better understanding of the possibilities and helps us appreciate the place God has for us.”Entrepreneurs are risk-takers, she adds, and taking a Christian business global can be a risk that might pay off . “What matters is that we understand what these risks are and fi nd ways to navigate them. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God regardless of which part of this beautiful world we are in. If we open our eyes, we’ll fi nd God’s creation. I pray that through global business, Christians can be a blessing to others and that we can also partake of the blessings that God has placed in other people across the world.”SARAH MOSS (’10)“Businesses have an opportunity to share Christ with the world through the way they conduct their work,” says Unny Nzioka.“Charities are good, but they are not an end in themselves. It seems to me that the best way to eradicate poverty is through business.”— Unny Nzioka, professorJAMIN VER VELDE ('99)4The Voice, Vol. 70, Iss. 1 [], Art. 17https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice/vol70/iss1/17

English

Business Matters

Will this new activity or commitment help me be more productive, or does it give me an opportunity to serve others and help me and others achieve shalom? 
Posting about ­­­­­­­­time management from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox  Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in  every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.
Making Time to Seek Shalo

Christians, Mark

Dordt Digital Collections Faculty Work Comprehensive List 1-31-2025 Making Time to Seek Shalom Mark Christians Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/faculty_work  Part of the Christianity Commons Making Time to Seek Shalom Abstract "Will this new activity or commitment help me be more productive, or does it give me an opportunity to serve others and help me and others achieve shalom?" Posting about time management from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new. Making Time to Seek Shalom Keywords In All Things, time management, shalom, service Disciplines Christianity Comments In All Things is a publication of the Andreas Center for Reformed Scholarship and Service at Dordt University. Making Time to Seek Shalom By Mark Christians How we use our time reveals our values and priorities—are we creating space for peace, service, and meaningful connection, or are we caught in the cycle of constant productivity? True stewardship of time asks us to consider where our boundaries lie and how we engage with the world around us.  Time is a valuable resource that God gives us to enjoy His creation, to be in community with others, and seek Shalom in our daily lives. What we do with time and how we manage time can lead to shalom and rest, but it can also lead to stress and frustration. A concept that helps me manage my time is a boundary. Cloud and Townsend define boundary as “anything that helps to differentiate you from someone else or shows where you begin and end” (33). A boundary helps us set appropriate limits on physical and emotional interactions between me and other people. To define our boundary space, I invite you to stand up and stretch both arms out with your fingers extended. Everything from your fingertips down to the floor is your boundary space – your physical body, your emotions, your intellect, your finances, and your time. Cloud and Townsend also share this insight regarding how we manage our boundaries: “We are responsible to others and for ourselves” (30). Being responsible to others is denying ourselves to do for others what they cannot do for themselves. This is being responsible to. All of us have daily responsibilities that we need to do ourselves. No one can do certain things for us. We must take ownership. We are expected to deal with our own feelings, attitudes, and behaviors before the face of God. And time is certainly a resource that is within my boundaries, and I must help others respect my time, as well as me respecting the time of others. I use a very simple time management model to help me prioritize the tasks, the importance of each task, and the time it takes to complete each task. This model uses an A-B-C structure where the “A” items are high-priority tasks that have a deadline and should be completed first and preferably on that day. The “B” items are medium-priority tasks that do not have a specific deadline but need to be done when possible. The “C” items are the more enjoyable and personal tasks in my day – like going out for ice cream with my wife or going for a bike ride. Having this structure is helpful, but what it can’t do for me is to determine how much time is needed to complete each task or dictate whether other resources are needed to complete each task. In addition, not all time is created equally. My work time is very different than my personal family time. My church time and responsibilities are different than my recreational and leisure time. Some aspects of time are dictated by another person or an organization. In those cases, I am put into a schedule and commitment that may not be controlled by me. So, a key factor in me stewarding my time wisely is to determine whether I have control over the time and tasks or if someone else has control. One of the more challenging aspects of stewarding my time is delegating. I have learned in my adult life that delegation does not come easily for me. I tend to not delegate because I would prefer to do the task myself rather than risk someone else not completing the task up to my standard. As a parent, I tried to model and follow a very simple, yet difficult principle to follow: “Don’t do for others what they can do for themselves.” Rather than tying my child’s shoes because I could do it faster, I would let them tie their shoes themselves. In my work setting as a professor, I delegate tasks to our student employees who assist us with academic tasks. I am certainly capable of completing these tasks myself, but it’s a better use of my time to delegate. One final idea that pertains to how I steward my time relates to the balance between a desire for efficiency and productivity with a desire to engage with and enrich life with God’s creation and my neighbors more fully. As I consider new demands on my time, I regularly ask myself, “Will this new activity or commitment help me be more productive, or does it give me an opportunity to serve others and help me and others achieve shalom?" In the past decade or two, my answer to this question is filtered more often through the second part of this question – to find ways to serve others. I can live a faithful and abundant life if my time commitments are more outward-focused and less inward-focused. My identity as a husband, parent, or professor is quite secure; whereas my identity as a child of God is a daily response to the call outlined in Matthew 25: 35-40: "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me." Although I daily fall short of meeting all the needs mentioned in Matthew 25, I strive to use my time inspired and shaped by God’s love and grace.  

Making Time to Seek Shalom

Howell, Michelle E.

By Wisdom, God Laid an Intricate Foundation: A Christian Approach to Ecological Restoration

De Jong, Athan

The Voice Volume 70 Issue 1 Fall 2024 Article 18 Building Community Sarah Moss Dordt University, sarah.moss@dordt.edu Athan De Jong Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice  Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Moss, Sarah and De Jong, Athan () "Building Community," The Voice: Vol. 70: Iss. 1, Article 18. Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice/vol70/iss1/18 This Features is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Dordt Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Voice by an authorized editor of Dordt Digital Collections. For more information, please contact ingrid.mulder@dordt.edu. FEATURES24“Dordt’s record enrollment reflects the value students find in both the education and the community here,” says Greg Van Dyke ('02), director of admissions. “It speaks to the meaningful connections they build with professors and peers, creating a supportive environment where academic rigor and personal growth go hand in hand.”Record enrollment also includes a 84.7% freshmen-to-sophomore retention rate—one of the best in Dordt’s history. Registrar Jim Bos ('85) says an excellent retention rate shows that Dordt recruits students “who fit. They feel comfortable and enjoy their Dordt experience enough to come back. This is very encouraging.”Van Dyke says students and families continue to connect with Dordt’s commitment to the institutional mission. “They seek a truly Christian environment where they are both challenged and encouraged in their faith, and I think they find that here at Dordt.”What are some ways Dordt faculty and staff are focusing on growing the people and places that make Dordt "Dordt"—where students can live their faith, become what God has created them to be, and connect with others in purposeful relationships? GOOD GROWTH IN COMMUNITYIf you drive through Sioux Center on an evening in early fall, you might spot students walking in groups of three toward Sandy Hollow. This practice is called the Walk to Emmaus, a 20-year tradition that helps Dordt residence life staff create community together.Nia Boentoro, a community development assistant (CDA) in the Squares Apartments, appreciates the entire structure of the walks. “There’s no other time during the school year where we would have the opportunity to walk BUILDINGFor the fourth year in a row, Dordt has experienced record enrollment. The institution’s overall enrollment for the fall 2024 semester was 1,943, the largest in Dordt’s history. 1Moss and De Jong: Building CommunityPublished by Dordt Digital Collections,FEATURES25for a couple hours with two other people we don’t know very well,” she says. “It’s a refreshing and enjoyable way to get to know people, because we talk about anything and everything.”During some walks, Boentoro and other residence life staff  have talked about deep, intense questions; other walks have been more lighthearted and fun. “Either way, I leave the walks having made new friends,” she says.The Walk to Emmaus is engineering major Luke Schmidt’s favorite part of residence life training. “We set aside time to intentionally get to know the other people we’re walking with,” the East Campus CDA from Grand Rapids, Michigan, says. “These conversations have almost always led to deeper relationships throughout the school year.”It’s helpful training for the CDAs, who are (as their titles imply) tasked with helping to build community in the on-campus residence halls and apartments. Amanda Johnson, a nursing major from New Brighton, Minnesota, enjoys getting to interact with the “Squares neighborhood” as a CDA, “whether that’s in passing conversations walking to and from class, or taking awkward roommate photos for weekly email challenges. Being a CDA is a special opportunity to get to know other upperclassmen within their close friend groups, and it's sweet to see them interact together within their home on campus is awesome.”With full-time enrollment hitting 1,600 this year at Dordt and more than 90% of undergraduate students living on campus, it’s more important than ever for Dordt student services staff  to ensure that students connect with others in purposeful relationships so they can become all that God has created them to be. “With on-campus housing, we want to foster and support the physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual, and academic health of Dordt students,” says Robert Taylor ('99), vice president for student success. Students have diff erent needs and wants, depending on what year they are. Where students live and why is intentional at Dordt, built on the foundation of a tried-and-true housing philosophy method that’s supported by key connections with residence life staff . “Housing freshmen and sophomores in the dorms provides an initial step into independence, while also optimizing opportunity to meet many people and create meaningful relationships,” says Derek Buteyn ('11), director of students and residence life. “As those relationships strengthen and deepen through the fi rst few years, they’re ready to move as upperclassmen to more independent housing with their closest friends.”Residence assistants (RAs) in the dorms serve as community builders, fi rst responders, and agents of referral for the students living on their fl oor or wing. Not only do RAs build community by engaging students in regular wing activities but they also fi nd ways to connect with every student on their wing each week. They help direct other students to useful resources as needed, and they can help with quickly assessing situations that might need other professional staff .CDAs are also seen as community builders, fi rst responders, and agents of referral, but in a diff erent way that’s geared more toward juniors and seniors living in apartments. CDAs fi nd ways to connect with their apartment neighborhoods through events, activities, regular communication, and more. “It is always challenging but rewarding to plan events with the purpose of developing relationships with those on campus,” says Schmidt. Nia Boentoro is a criminal justice and psychology double-major from Marion, Iowa. After graduation, she plans to work within the criminal justice system.“With on-campus housing, we want to foster and support the physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual, and academic health of Dordt students.”— Robert Taylor, vice presidentJAMIN VER VELDE ('99)2The Voice, Vol. 70, Iss. 1 [], Art. 18https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice/vol70/iss1/1826FEATURES That’s partly why having group building activities like the Walk to Emmaus is so important for residence life staff: it’s a way for the staff, who provide such integral support to their fellow students, to build deeper relationships with one another.“The intent is to create a foundation of relationships so that when life happens and the difficulty and stress of the year hits, they have those connections to fall back on—to share with one another in their joys and struggles," says Buteyn. This small, seemingly random practice is deliberate in its own way, much like how Dordt staff determine on-campus housing.“Our housing is intentionally random,” explains Buteyn. “We want students to get to know a wide variety of students—people with all kinds of different experiences, backgrounds, and majors. We want the engineering major to get to know the soccer player to get to know the theatre performer. It’s important that students learn from and grow among different people. I think that’s really good.”FINDING COMFORT IN THE UNCOMFORTABLELiving with people in a dorm setting (having roommates, sharing community bathrooms) as well as in apartments  (splitting refrigerator space, rooming with friends) can be an uncomfortable adjustment for many students, but it develops life skills and friendships that last long after college.“And students often find comfort in what initially made them uncomfortable. Sharing a room, for instance: they might go into sharing a room with some trepidation," says Taylor. "But when put in a position where they need to figure it out, they often make lifelong friends, or they end up asking to room with that same person the following year. There’s something beautiful about that.”For Boentoro, being involved in residence life has had a big impact on her faith. “My coworkers are people who are on fire for Christ, and that has been refreshing to see,” she says. “It has been valuable to serve the campus community as a CDA because not only do I get to pour into so many people, but I am also impacted by those relationships. I can’t imagine my Dordt experience without residence life.”Dordt is intentional about building purposeful community, and it shows, she adds. “Through residence life, clubs, campus ministries, and other activities on campus, there is a lot of outreach happening within the campus community. Having the students live on campus creates a culture of hanging out on campus, which builds community.”BUILDING A BEAUTIFUL CAMPUSGiven that Dordt has experienced record enrollment four years in a row, it may not come as a surprise that this is also the fourth year in a row that Dordt has committed to constructing more on-campus housing options for students. Additional rooms were added to Covenant Hall in fall 2022. The Squares Apartments, located south of Southview Apartments and completed in fall 2023, consist of four new buildings that house a total of 96 students. The Fourth Avenue Townhomes were built by fall 2024; the two buildings each have three 2-bedroom units and two 1-bedroom units (as well as a rooftop patio). This fall, construction began on a series of cottages located on the corner of 7th Street NE and 4th Avenue NE; the cottages will likely be six units housing six students each.Braelynn Kamstra, an exercise science major from Rock Valley, lives in the Fourth Avenue Townhomes. She appreciates the split-level design, which allows for a private and restful environment. Upstairs, two spacious bedrooms sandwich two bathrooms, while downstairs a large kitchen island divides two living rooms. The open floor plan allows for flexibility when it comes to arranging the space.Kamstra especially enjoys the extra space the townhomes provide. In fact, the first thing she noticed on move-in day was how large and spacious the new apartment was. High ceilings create a modern, clean atmosphere and enormous windows allow plenty of light to shine in. The townhomes uniquely blend campus life with community. Ellie Janda, an JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)The living room in each of the the Fourth Avenue Townhomes is spacious and allows students to be creative with furniture configurations.3Moss and De Jong: Building CommunityPublished by Dordt Digital Collections,27FEATURESengineering major from Blue Hill, Nebraska, lives with one roommate in a smaller unit. Though her apartment has only one bedroom, bathroom, living room, and kitchen, Janda loves the sense of community.“You know your neighbors. We live right on Fourth Avenue, so it feels like you are part of Sioux Center.” The townhomes, situated three minutes from the Campus Center, provide students with a glimpse of what life after college might look like—right down to having a front door that opens onto a small-town street instead of a university sidewalk. Janda and her roommate, who are both on the cross-country team, enjoy having easy access to run through Sioux Center in the mornings.Vice President of Operations Fred Verwoerd ('85) appreciates the variety of housing options on Dordt’s campus. “We try to meet the housing needs of different students. For example, the Fourth Avenue Townhomes provide a nice hybrid of on-campus living while also being closer to the greater Sioux Center community.”Dorm living has changed over the years on Dordt’s campus, too. Now, East and North Halls (located kitty-corner to each other) are both dorms for males; Covenant Hall is for females only. This was an intentional choice in recent years. “Guys and girls will always find each other,” jokes Verwoerd. “So, having guys in proximity to one another in the dorms and having girls on the other side of campus doesn’t keep them from interacting. In fact, we’ve found that students’ social circles have widened, because they often must go out of their way to see those of the opposite gender.”A PHILOSOPHY OF SPACESWith more than 60% of Dordt students originating from outside of Iowa, most students hang out on campus on the weekends. Parking, although important, isn’t the central focus of what makes Dordt community unique. “Every year we add more parking, but it’s always on the periphery of campus,” explains Verwoerd. “We want to make Dordt a pedestrian campus, not a vehicular one.”Making Dordt a pedestrian campus requires keeping fickle weather in mind. That was certainly a factor in Dordt’s decision to build the new dining commons in a more central location.“The old Commons was on the west side of campus, which was not convenient for those living on the east side,” says Verwoerd. “Having the dining commons connected to the Campus Center is perfect, because students already gather there. We hope it will be a hub for students to gather.”The new dining commons will hold about 400 people for meal service at a time and will be open to students more hours per day than the current facility allows. It will also connect the Campus Center to the B.J. Haan Auditorium, continuing a trend of connecting Dordt’s buildings through skywalks and other connected walkways.“When the decision was made to connect the Science and Technology Center to the Campus Center through a skywalk, it shifted our philosophy of spaces on campus,” says Verwoerd. “During the winter months, students don’t have to rush in the cold to get to class; once they’re in one of the connected buildings, they can walk to class, grab a coffee at the Bunsen Brew, stop and have a conversation with a friend, or find a study spot in the Dordt was recently named one of the safest college campuses in America by Niche. "Students can excel and be successful without fear for their safety," says Derek Buteyn.“Every year we add more parking, but it’s always on the periphery of campus. We want to make Dordt a pedestrian campus, not a vehicular one.”— Fred Verwoerd, vice presidentJAMIN VER VELDE ('99)4The Voice, Vol. 70, Iss. 1 [], Art. 18https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice/vol70/iss1/18FEATURES28JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)library. It opens up new possibilities for creating community.”ACCOUNTING FOR ATHLETESAnother area of growth is in athletics, adds Verwoerd. “I think it’s fair to say that we need to expand our athletic facilities. They were designed at a time when we only had about 200 athletes on campus.”These days, more than 700 students are also athletes. “We are almost out of space and need to expand,” he says.This spring, work will continue on the interior of the Rozenboom Family Athletic Center. A new training room, offices, and other facilities will be added. The goal is to complete the work by fall 2025, at which point construction will be paused for the athletics season. Then, officials hope to work on a complete remodel of the De Witt Gymnasium, including a new entrance as well as heating and cooling. Alumni who walk on Dordt’s campus will notice that things have changed since they were in college. Every year, more updates are made, all in an effort to purposely foster community.“We are created to live in community,” adds Verwoerd. “These days, there are fewer opportunities for people to learn how to live in community well: how do we learn to compromise, communicate needs, work through differences, and respect others? In our society, there’s too much ‘you and me’ and not ‘we.’”There is so much isolation and loneliness in the world these days, he says. By encouraging students to connect to others in purposeful relationships during their time at Dordt—by creating welcoming spaces as well as intentionally instigating interactions between students—Dordt faculty and staff, including Verwoerd, want to set students up for lifelong community.“We want to show Dordt students what living in community looks like, so when they graduate, they know what they want, and they can recognize what good community looks like when they see it, because they experienced it firsthand while at Dordt.”SARAH MOSS (’10) AND ATHAN DE JONG ('25)“We are created to live in community. These days, there are fewer opportunities for people to learn how to live in community well…We want to show Dordt students what living in community looks like.”— Fred Verwoerd, vice presidentThe Fourth Avenue Townhomes offer a unique, modern living experience, blending campus life with the greater Sioux Center community.5Moss and De Jong: Building CommunityPublished by Dordt Digital Collections,

Building Community

The Voice Volume 70 Issue 1 Fall 2024 Article 15 Multicultural Leadership Program Continues Growth Sarah Moss Dordt University, sarah.moss@dordt.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice  Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Moss, Sarah () "Multicultural Leadership Program Continues Growth," The Voice: Vol. 70: Iss. 1, Article 15. Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice/vol70/iss1/15 This News is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Dordt Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Voice by an authorized editor of Dordt Digital Collections. For more information, please contact ingrid.mulder@dordt.edu. At the beginning of her freshman year, Mikayla Meyers received an email about the Multicultural Leadership Program (MLP).  “The name caught my attention,” she says. “I was looking for opportunities to be involved on campus with a wide variety of people, and this group seemed like a great way to do that.” Once she joined, she found that she “learned a lot about other people’s stories and perspectives, all while we developed our leadership skills together.” Bitaniya Wolde signed up for MLP because it presented a valuable opportunity to become a culturally competent and Christ-centered leader, both on campus and elsewhere. “I was excited to see Dordt make an intentional eff ort to create space for students like me, who come from diff erent backgrounds, to build meaningful relationships with other minorities on campus.” MLP invites students into a two-year cohort experience to gain leadership skills, spark spiritual formation, and build community. Students are split into cohort groups that are led by instructors. They meet once a week to pray together, engage in discussion, and get to know one another better. Evin Dickerson ('20), director of MLP, says one of the most memorable activities for students is creating a personal mission statement. “We talk about what values they hold, where they see themselves in the next few years, what goals they want to put in place, and how they want to grow in their faith in Christ."Meyers appreciates the focus on leadership styles. “Working through mission statements, spiritual gifts, and more help members discover their own personal leadership style. Plus, discussing these things with friends from various cultural backgrounds brings diff erent perspectives to light and has helped me learn more about myself.” MLP students also engage in diff erent events throughout the year, such as Christmas around the World. “Before exam week in the fall semester, we provide a space for students to take a step away from studying and enjoy good food. Last year, we had Jamaican beef and chicken patties, fried plantains, and collard greens; we had Swedish cookies and Dutch letters. One student brought Christmas bingo that his family plays every year," says Dickerson.The Eckardt Lounge was packed with students eager to spend time together and try diff erent cultural foods.  MLP is also more than events and activities. “I remember when I was a student at Dordt, I didn’t have a car, so something as simple as getting a haircut was tough for me,” says Dickerson. “We came up with this idea to take students to Sioux City one Saturday a month to get a haircut and help them build community on the drive. It feels good to get hair taken care of. Whether that’s braids, twists, a fade, you feel more confi dent. It seems small, but it can have a big impact on the student experience.” Wolde says that, through discussions with her peers and support from faculty, she knows her voice matters. “I feel like I truly belong,” she says. “The structure of the program has helped me refl ect deeply on who I am, what I am called to do, and who I am called to serve. This has allowed me to better understand and embrace my true mission in the kingdom of God.”SARAH MOSS (’10) NEWS18MULTICULTURAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM CONTINUES GROWTH "I think all students should consider joining MLP for the community and for the program's unwavering commitment to equipping students in leadership," says Bitaniya Wolde.JAMIN VER VELDE ('99)Under Evin Dickerson’s leadership, MLP has grown and is thriving on Dordt’s campus.1Moss: Multicultural Leadership Program Continues GrowthPublished by Dordt Digital Collections,

Multicultural Leadership Program Continues Growth

Above all, we sing to glorify God and enjoy Him forever—\u27the chief end of man.\u27 
Posting about ­­­­­­­­singing as worship from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox  Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in  every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.
 Do You Hear the People Sing

Groenewold, Carrie J.

Dordt Digital Collections Faculty Work Comprehensive List 3-28-2025 "Do You Hear the People Sing?" Carrie J. Groenewold Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/faculty_work  Part of the Christianity Commons "Do You Hear the People Sing?" Abstract "Above all, we sing to glorify God and enjoy Him forever—'the chief end of man.'" Posting about singing as worship from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new. "Do You Hear the People Sing?" Keywords In All Things, singing, congregational churches, faith Disciplines Christianity Comments In All Things is a publication of the Andreas Center for Reformed Scholarship and Service at Dordt University. "Do You Hear the People Sing?" By Carrie Groenewold Congregational song is not only an offering of praise but a means of shaping our shared faith and identity in Christ. In what ways can we steward this practice so it continues to resonate through the church for generations to come?  Have you ever felt the power of a congregation’s voice singing together in worship? Or have you noticed the difference when that voice is stifled or absent? What factors contribute to how a congregation sings in worship? Throughout my life I have had the frequent privilege and responsibility of leading congregational singing, and I have experienced firsthand the impact of excellent singing from both the pew and from the organ console. The value of congregational singing in worship, the role it plays in our faith formation, and the importance of excellent leadership are vital questions for churches, especially for practicing church musicians, to consider: how are we stewarding the gift of congregational song? Why sing? Why should a congregation raise their communal voice to sing in worship? First, Scripture frequently commands us to sing in our worship of God. Part of our Christian duty is to offer God unceasing praise: “Sing to the LORD; praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day” (Psalm 96:2). John Calvin’s preface to the Genevan Psalter of 1543 connects singing to spoken prayer in worship: “As for public prayers, there are two kinds. The ones with the word alone: the others with singing.” Singing is active participation in worship. Second, our collective voice, while offering praise to God, also serves our neighbor. Calvin’s Article concerning the Church of Geneva, 1537 states that congregational psalm-singing was to be an offering “for the edification of the church.” Relatedly, singing together is a powerful way to unify believers: congregational singing opposes a culture that exalts individualism. When we sing, we affirm the gathered community of believers in worship; congregational singing forces us to acknowledge one another. Singing while hearing one person singing the bass part behind you and a neighbor in your pew with a steady soprano voice encourages one’s worship and therefore strengthens one’s faith. We are not alone, but members of a community of believers, “friends in faith who follow Jesus,” as Dolores Dufner has penned. Yet another purpose of singing is to instill what we believe. Calvin describes music as a tool, and therefore regulated singing, using only Scriptural texts—specifically, the book of Psalms. Recent scientific research has shown the ties between music and memory. Long ago, God instructed the Israelites to learn a song as testimony of His saving acts, to be passed to future generations. He commanded Moses: “Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them” (Deuteronomy 31:19). We have many good reasons to sing together in worship. Above all, though, we sing to glorify God and enjoy Him forever—"the chief end of man.” Singing as faith formation The content of what we sing collectively, though offered from our hearts outwards and upwards, shapes and forms our theology, impacting our spiritual growth. An ancient teaching of the church, “lex orandi, lex credendi,” means that our prayer—that is, our worship practices—shapes our belief. John Witvliet’s description of a “song diet” is apt: the words we sing in worship shape our doctrine, our beliefs about the character of who God is and who we are. For example, a text can reinforce the existence of the Trinity; the incomprehensible nature and yet the abiding presence of God; the gathered body of Christ; our responsibility to our neighbor—either sitting next to us in the pew or far across the globe. In this way, we carry the gift of hymns from the early church, such as by the fourth-century poet Prudentius: “Let the heights of heaven adore him; angel hosts, his praises sing: powers, dominions, bow before him…” These ancient words, in hand with texts from living authors, such as Brian Wren—“We come, with all our heart and mind, your call to hear, your love to find..”—are not simply texts on a page. They transcend time and place, carrying the weight of truth that unites us with believers across generations – a cloud of witnesses. Not only do texts shape and form our Christian faith, but the tunes we choose to sing are also critical. Tunes can emphasize and even interpret the text or contradict it entirely. Beautiful melodies and well-crafted harmony paired with worthy texts, rich with meaning, have potential to be what Calvin described as an offering “of human intelligence.” Our generation has access to an enormous treasure of song. What churches choose for their members to sing—the words and music placed on their lips—is ultimately an enormous responsibility, both for the worship of God and for our own spiritual formation. Excellent leadership bears fruit “Sing lustily,” wrote John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church. Leading a congregation to “sing lustily” does not just happen; it takes years of musical training and plentiful opportunities for development. In order for a congregation to sing well, that is, fully participating with confident desire, it is critical to select appropriate hymns, psalms, and songs. A “song diet” must not be too varied or, like a revolving door, few songs, if any, will be retained in a believer’s memory. A song diet must be balanced, implementing repertoire from both the saints of old along with the best new songs and hymns available, resisting the worldly notion that “new” equals “better.” Above all, though, we sing to glorify God and enjoy Him forever—"the chief end of man.” After the music is chosen, the leader and the instrument employed are primarily responsible for encouraging and inviting the congregation to sing. Here, musical choices arise: setting proper tempos; establishing clear introductions; selecting a melodic range appropriate for the average human voice; allowing singers to breathe between phrases; choosing accompaniment sensitive to and supportive of the text; implementing dynamic and harmonic variety. Effective accompaniment sustains and supports, rather than overwhelms, the singing congregation. These musical choices have the creative potential to open us to the beauty of God’s character as we sing together. A quote hangs next to the music building practice rooms from 19th century organist, theologian, and physician Albert Schweitzer: “If you are called upon to play a church service, it is a greater honor than if you were to play a concert on the finest organ in the world…thank God each time when you are privileged to sit before the organ console and assist in the worship of the Almighty.” Church musicians are given a tremendous responsibility, and they must lead with wisdom and humility. The fruit of effective leadership can be heard in the robust singing voice of the congregation. Stewarding our congregational song Why we sing, what we sing, and how we are led to sing together in worship are foundational questions for churches to ask. These questions will be answered with resounding—or limp—songs of praise from the congregation’s voice. Congregational singing contributes not only to our own faith formation; healthy and vigorous congregational singing is an illuminating witness that can be passed on—a legacy, an invitation, for future generations of believers. We might consider this phrase from the fourth century Te Deum Laudamus hymn, versified by Ignaz Franz in the 18th century: “Through the church the song goes on.” In the classroom, I often conclude a semester of teaching with this poignant phrase. It comes after a string of images in the hymn text: a glorious procession, “white-robed martyrs,” “prophets swelling the loud refrain.” For the song of the church to go on, churches must steward it. Stewarding congregational song begins with asking “why sing?” It involves training musicians to carry the torch of leadership: to wisely select and lead hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs; to shape, cultivate, and develop an environment where congregational singing flourishes. May the song of the church go on—may the singing voice of the congregation echo from the church rafters. Soli Deo Gloria.  

Do You Hear the People Sing?

Reviewed Title: In the Beginning: Crucial Lessons for Our World from the First Three Chapters of Genesis. Catholic Answers Press, May 2, 2024. 272 pp. BOD392K52

Echeverria, Eduardo

Volume 53 Number 4 Article 7 June 2025 In the Beginning: Crucial Lessons for Our World from the First Three Chapters of Genesis (Book Review) Eduardo Echeverria Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege  Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Echeverria, Eduardo (2025) "In the Beginning: Crucial Lessons for Our World from the First Three Chapters of Genesis (Book Review)," Pro Rege: Vol. 53: No. 4, 49 - 51. Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege/vol53/iss4/7 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Dordt Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pro Rege by an authorized administrator of Dordt Digital Collections. For more information, please contact ingrid.mulder@dordt.edu. Pro Rege—June 2025     49 BOOK REVIEWCreation—First Principle of a Christian WorldviewThe philosopher-pope, John Paul II, correctly describes a principle of theological interpretation in his 1998 Encyclical Fides et Ratio §80: “In Sacred Scripture are found elements, both implicit and explicit, which allow a vision of the human being and the world which has exceptional philosophi-cal density.” Monica Migliorino Miller illustrates John Paul’s very principle in her new book, In the Beginning: Crucial Lessons for our World from the First Three Chapters of Genesis.  She discloses the philosophical density to which John Paul refers. Her thesis is this: Within the pages of this book, we will seek the antidote to the anti-human ideology within the drama of the unity between God and man—an exploration of the theological epic of God’s rela-tion to this world, and humanity’s place in this epic. . . . Christianity is a religion about time; it is a religion about this world, the human being’s place in this world, and the redemption of this world. (9, 14)Miller’s overarching hermeneutical frame-work—deeply indebted to John Paul II’s mag-num opus, Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body—is not only a theological account of a historical-redemptive dialectic of cre-ation, fall, redemption, and fulfillment, but also a philosophical one—articulating an anthropology of the body-person, which in its broadest sense is man himself in the temporal form of existence of human life. Explains Miller, “The human being is embodied—the body is constitutive of what is means to be human and God wills that human be-Monica Migliorino Miller, In the Beginning: Crucial Lessons for Our World from the First Three Chapters of Genesis. Catholic Answers Press, May 2, 2024, 272 pp. BOD392K526. Reviewed by Eduardo Echeverria, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy and Systematic Theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. ings have a corporeal nature” (78). In addition, says Miller, there is a direct identification of the body with the self. The body is not a prison for or tacked on to the self—it is the self ” (83).The doctrine of creation is an integral part of Christian revelation. Regarding creation, Miller emphasizes, following John Paul II, the normative import of the theological category “‘Beginning’ with a capital B.” She explains, “What God estab-lishes in the Beginning is foundational for authentic anthropology, ethics, and spirituality for all time” (105). Indeed, Miller imitates Christ (see Matt 19:3-9; Mark 10: 2-9) by appealing to the “beginning,” to, for example, the creational ordinance for mar-riage, drawing on Genesis 1 and 2 for her under-standing of the normative intent of a biblical ontol-ogy of creation, the objective structures of creation, in which the original meaning of the union of man and woman as willed by God from the beginning is grounded. In other words, the sexual difference between male and female is a creational given such that all mankind is bound to the structures of cre-ation. It is also a creational given that, at one and the same time, mankind is one and a bi-unity: male and female. This creational order, speaking onto-logically, comes from the divine Mind of God; it is a rational order that the human intellect is capable of knowing: “Aquinas‘s natural law ethic is that all things have an inherent order and truth in them-selves, toward which the intellect itself is ordered” (67). In sum, “the truth in things—and the intel-lect’s ordering to this truth” is fundamental to the realism of the Catholic tradition (see John Paul II, Fides et Ratio, 1998 Encyclical, §82).   Man, savagely wounded by the Fall into sin, original sin (see Genesis 3), bears within himself this wound, which, Miller says, “introduced dis-50     Pro Rege—June 2025harmony into the world on three levels. On each level, there is an effect on the relational aspect of human existence” (155). Sin affects the relationship between God and man, man’s interiority having left him split within himself, thus affecting his re-lationship with other people and with the world. Yet, the deepest foundation of created reality is still what God made it, despite the Fall. Furthermore, says Miller, “The book of Genesis is not only about the beginning of creation, but also the beginning of salvation” (27). Briefly, the wounds affecting creation are healed through the saving work of Jesus Christ—redeeming, renew-ing, affirming, and restoring from within this fall-en world. (21)In this light, Miller helps us understand the sexual revolution as a rebellion against creation, a rebellion which happens as “a consequence of spiritual rebellion against God” (69). Jesus Christ reveals to us the truths about marriage by refer-ring us back to the creation texts of Gen 1:27 and 2:24. Marriage is a two-in-one-flesh union between a man and a woman. The truth of this judgment is grounded in objective reality, according to the order of creation—the way things really are. Its contact with reality is the basis of this teaching’s vitality. Jesus unites into an inextricable nexus the concepts of indissolubility, twoness, and sexual dif-ferentiation. These texts are absolutely normative for marriage, indeed for the Christian anthropol-ogy that undergirds sexual ethics, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (§§2331-2345). Miller agrees: “Biblical texts do not simply stop with the historical author but live within and are applied to God’s people in a theologically dynamic way” (75). She elaborates:From Genesis to the New Testament, the body has a meaning. To respect the body is to respect the person created in his image. Thus when one uses one’s body in sexual acts—those acts have a meaning. To honor the dignity of the human person, the acts themselves must honor human nature as God has willed it according to his di-vine wisdom, and this includes the human good of fertility—the original blessing. (75)Miller admirably understands and follows John Paul II, who explicitly states a foundational principle of Christian anthropology: “In fact, body and soul are inseparable: in the willing agent and in the deliberate act  they stand or fall together” (Veritatis  Splendor 1993 Encyclical  §49). He ex-plains, “The person, including the body, is completely entrusted to himself, and it is in the unity of body and soul that the person is the subject of his own moral acts” (Veritatis Splendor §48). This principle has been developed by affirming sexual differentiation and hence the bodily nature of the human person as constitutive of marriage and hence ordered to pro-creation. The sexually differentiated bodily sexual act is such that, as a foundational prerequisite, it is intrinsic to a one-flesh union; and hence the form of love that is marriage is not detachable from its foundation in a bodily sexual union of man and woman.Furthermore, Miller stresses the anthropologi-cal principle of the unity of the human person, and, to quote John Paul II, “in particular the place of the human body in questions of natural law” (Veritatis Splendor §48). Regarding this question, Miller ex-plains in a Thomistic vein:According to Aquinas, the human being is ruled by human “ends”: natural inclinations that, when followed, perfect human nature. Acting contrary to these ends is to act “against reason,” violating the intelligible unity between the bodily world, man’s reason, and God’s eter-nal wisdom. For even the human body bears an inner rationality of its own, provided by God’s divine wisdom, that gives it meaning and guides it to its perfection. (66)Miller pushes back against the charge, “Natural law is . . . simply another name for ‘biological func-tion’” (108).  Yes, the biotic aspect of being hu-man,  according to John Paul, whom Miller follows closely at this point, is not “extrinsic to the person, the subject and the human act” (Veritatis Splendor, §48). For example, Miller’s defense of Pope Paul VI’s 1965 Encyclical Humanae Vitae draws on this anthropological principle:Contraception is not immoral simply because it frustrates the physical end toward which conju-gal love is oriented by nature. It is immoral be-cause its separation of the life-giving meaning of intercourse from its love-giving meaning attacks Pro Rege—June 2025     51 the very nature and dignity of the sacrament of marriage and the sacramental character of the marital act—the very meaning of the one-flesh unity rooted in Genesis [1;27; 2;24] 2. It as-saults the God-given language of the body…. In conjugal love, the spouses as male and female speak their marriage together. They become one sacred word. It is interesting to note that Hu-manae Vitae, accordingly, characterizes the sin of contraception as essentially a failure to com-municate. (109)Miller elaborates on Humanae Vitae’s reference to this language and its meaning:In article 3, Paul VI refers to the “meaning [sen-sum] which conjugal acts have with respect to the harmony between husband and wife.” In article 11 we find that intercourse is ordained toward “expressing” and “consolidating” the union of spouses. Article 12 states that it is im-moral for man to break “the two meanings of the conjugal act; the unitive meaning and the procreative meaning” (emphasis added). It con-tinues, “By safeguarding both these essential aspects … the conjugal act preserves in its full-ness the sense of true mutual love” (emphasis added). And in article 13 we are told that it is a contradiction of the divine gift to destroy even partially “its meaning.” (109)The moral and sacramental  significance of the principle of sexual differentiation has now re-ceived explicit attention by John Paul II in view of the anthropological challenges of the sexual revolu-tion, namely, the claims that sexual differentiation and hence the bodily nature of the human person are insignificant. Says Miller, “The language of the body is rooted in the very nature of the human per-son” (109). She elaborates:In conjugal love, the spouses speak themselves through their bodies. The husband communi-cates his love as a specifically male person, and the wife communicates hers as a specifically fe-male person. In a very real manner, the body is a sacred word—a sacred word created by God—a word that discloses the person. In conjugal love, the spouses as male and female speak their mar-riage together. They become one sacred word. (109)Lastly, the acronym LGBT—which stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgendered—reflects a seamless garment whose basic presupposition is such that it denies sexual differentiation grounded in the human person’s bodily nature. The denial of the continuous validity of this principle—and hence the bad fruits of the sexual revolution are contraceptive sex, IVF, homosexualism, same-sex blessings/marriage, transgenderism—is a corrup-tion of Christian anthropology since it asserts the contrary of the teaching’s dogmatic conceptual hard core on marriage, which regards sexual differ-entiation as a fundamental prerequisite for attain-ing the two-in-one-flesh union of marriage (Gen 1:27, 2:24). In this light, Miller concludes:Genesis 1:26-27 destroys such neo-Gnosticism, affirming that the body and fertility are inher-ently linked to the creation of man as male and female and is constitutive of gender. As with the rest of God’s creation, they are not accidents but are imbued with meaning. (63)Miller’s book is very readable, summarizing the complex arguments of John Paul II [theology of the body] in clear and succinct ways, hence well-writ-ten, and full of insights and arguments accessible to the ordinary Christian. I highly recommend it for undergraduate students, seminarians and cat-echists.

In the Beginning: Crucial Lessons for Our World from the First Three Chapters of Genesis (Book Review)

The Voice Volume 70 Issue 1 Fall 2024 Article 3 Focused on Faith Sarah Moss Dordt University, sarah.moss@dordt.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice  Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Moss, Sarah () "Focused on Faith," The Voice: Vol. 70: Iss. 1, Article 3. Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice/vol70/iss1/3 This News is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Dordt Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Voice by an authorized editor of Dordt Digital Collections. For more information, please contact ingrid.mulder@dordt.edu. 4NEWSJAMIN VER VELDE ('99 )Nearly 90% of Dordt students regularly attend church, with many engaging in Bible studies and other faith-forming activities during their college years. One of the big reasons more than 93% of Dordt alumni also report attending church weekly is because “they developed that spiritual habit at home and then had it strongly reinforced while they were at Dordt for college,” says Rev. Aaron Baart ('99), chief of staff and dean of chapel. “Campus Ministries at Dordt does good work at a critical point in the lives of young adult believers, but the Church will be students’ lifelong home. All the formation efforts that we engage in at Dordt must have a view toward this reality.” Nicole Mahoney, a senior, leads worship at Centerpoint Church in Hawarden. She also attends a life group, a monthly gathering of church members from all ages and stages of life. “It’s been huge for me, having a church community,” says Mahoney, “Getting to lead worship in two different contexts has been a huge blessing as well, especially in the way that it prepares me for where I want to head after college.”Since Kira Ouwinga’s freshman year at Dordt, she has been involved in the youth ministry program at Bridge of Hope in Sioux Center. “I have always had a passion for helping others and seeing them experience the joy of Christ,” she says. Serving in this capacity has helped Ouwinga, a senior theology major, learn about leading students of different ages, equipping parents and volunteer leaders, and seeing how communication is key.Ouwinga has also learned about the importance of building meaningful relationships. “I had such a great support system and staff members at Bridge that came alongside me to encourage me through my first year,” she says. In her role, she tries to be the same source of support for the students in her program by attending events or meeting one on one. “To create a space of trust and a place for students to be vulnerable, you need to value relationships and pour into the students’ lives." In addition to getting connected to a church, being involved in Bible studies while at Dordt can have a major impact on students’ faith development, says Baart. “This is a stage of life where young adults begin to make their faith their own. In a Bible study, they move from listening to others to starting to articulate their own voice. These habits are crucial for cultivating a lifetime of faith.”There are plenty of Bible studies to choose from at Dordt; in any given year, about one-third of Dordt students participate in some form of Bible study.Assessing the faith formation of students is vital for Dordt as an institution, adds Baart.“This is a ‘put our money where our mouth is’ opportunity,” he says. “When families invest in a Dordt education, they are not just signing up for the transmission of information but for all-of-life spiritual transformation. It is important for us to regularly ask whether what we are doing is working. And I am deeply encouraged by the data derived from the Assessment Day survey. I already look forward to using this information to further strengthen a deeply formational experience at Dordt and make it even better.”SARAH MOSS (’10)FOCUSED ON FAITHNicole Mahoney is double majoring in worship arts and graphic design. After graduation, she hopes to work in a church and to use both her design and music skills. “When families invest in a Dordt education, they are not just signing up for the transmission of information but for all-of-life spiritual transformation.”— Aaron Baart, dean of chapel1Moss: Focused on FaithPublished by Dordt Digital Collections,

Focused on Faith

The Voice Volume 70 Issue 1 Fall 2024 Article 8 100% First-Time Pass Rate on NCLEX for 2024 Nursing Grads Sarah Moss Dordt University, sarah.moss@dordt.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice  Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Moss, Sarah () "100% First-Time Pass Rate on NCLEX for 2024 Nursing Grads," The Voice: Vol. 70: Iss. 1, Article 8. Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/voice/vol70/iss1/8 This News is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Dordt Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Voice by an authorized editor of Dordt Digital Collections. For more information, please contact ingrid.mulder@dordt.edu. When Sarah Breukelman (’24) found out in June that she had passed the NCLEX exam, she felt relieved.“The pressure I had experienced while being a nursing student was hard and real, right up until the day I took the exam,” she says. “It was great to know that I had fi nally earned my nursing license after working hard to achieve it for the past four years.”Austin Van Donge (’24) was thrilled to learn he passed. “I was fi lled with excitement. It felt as if a weight was lifted off  my shoulders and the stress of having to study was fi nally gone,” he says. Every nursing major in their class likely felt that same sense of relief and joy; after all, 100% of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students in the class of 2024 passed the NCLEX exam on their fi rst attempt. The NCLEX is meant to measure clinical judgment of nursing students and ensure they can provide safe care, says Dr. Deb Kleinwolterink, associate professor of nursing.For 100% of 2024 nursing graduates to pass the NCLEX on the fi rst attempt is very impressive, says Dr. Deb Bomgaars, professor of nursing. “This means our graduates’ hard work paid off  and that they can enter their profession with confi dence. It also means Dordt’s nursing program is preparing students well for licensure and nursing practice."“Dordt’s nursing program prepares students to be distinctively Christian nurses, ready to step into the complex health care system with critical thinking, clinical judgment, and skills needed to provide safe care,” says Dr. Melanie Wynja, professor of nursing and simulation director.After transferring her American Registered Nurse (RN) license to a Canadian license, Breukelman accepted a full-time position at Abbotsford Regional Hospital in British Columbia. She is glad to be back in her hometown and is eager to work on a medical unit as a registered nurse. “I enjoy the simple, sweet conversations I get to have with patients in-between and during cares. I like to learn about them and the little things that make them who they are. Knowing my patients is so important because it helps me care for them well and to anticipate their needs, which I love being able to do.”Van Donge works on the medical-surgical fl oor and in the ER at Sioux Center Health. “What I enjoy most about my work is the relationships I build with the patients,” he says. “I love getting to know people of all ages and backgrounds and being the light of Christ to them on some of their toughest days."The nursing faculty at Dordt also displayed care and concern for students as they studied and prepared for the NCLEX. “We prayed for every student daily, and especially on the day they were scheduled to take the NCLEX,” says Bomgaars. Looking back at her time at Dordt, Breukelman is most grateful for her professors. “The way they poured into us every day and in every way was unbelievably special,” she says. “Not only did they share with us their valuable nursing knowledge and skills, but they also devoted themselves to helping us see our patients are real people who are loved, valued, and made in the image of God.”Van Donge also can’t say enough good things about Dordt, the nursing program, his professors, and his classmates. “Dordt is a truly special place full of special people; Dordt helped me to recognize life is much bigger than myself and helped me to fi nd my calling to serve in God’s kingdom.”SARAH MOSS (’10)NEWS 100% FIRST-TIME PASS RATE ON NCLEX FOR 2024 NURSING GRADS10"I am grateful for what my professors taught me, for who they are, and for the kind of nurse (and person) they have helped me become," says Sarah Breukelman. JAMIN VER VELDE ('99 )Nursing is one of Dordt’s most popular undergraduate majors.1Moss: 100% First-Time Pass Rate on NCLEX for 2024 Nursing GradsPublished by Dordt Digital Collections,

100% First-Time Pass Rate on NCLEX for 2024 Nursing Grads

Reviewed Title: The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson. Penguin Press, 2024. 448 pp. ISBN: 9780593299821

Schaap, James C.

Volume 53 Number 3 Article 7 March 2025 The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi (Book Review) James C. Schaap Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege  Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Schaap, James C. (2025) "The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi (Book Review)," Pro Rege: Vol. 53: No. 3, 49 - 51. Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege/vol53/iss3/7 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Dordt Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pro Rege by an authorized administrator of Dordt Digital Collections. For more information, please contact ingrid.mulder@dordt.edu. Pro Rege—March 2025     51 Harry Van Dyke, The Legacy of Abraham Kuyper. Aalten, the Netherlands, Word Bridge Publishing, 2024. ISBN: 978-90-76660-76-9, paperback. Ix+90 pp. Reviewed by Keith C. Sewell, Professor Emeritus of History, Dordt University, now living in Australia.This is not yet another book about Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920)! On the contrary, it is about the legacy provided by others to Abraham Kuyper, and the legacy that he bequeathed to others. The two parts of the book reflect this distinction. The history of the Netherlands, and more particularly of Dutch Calvinism, is not as well represented in the English-language literature as it should be. For many years Kuyper stood forth as a kind of spiritu-al, intellectual and literary giant, yet without con-text. He seemed to tower alone in an almost empty landscape. This little book by Harry van Dyke goes some way towards meeting this deficiency. Van Dyke is a Fellow of the Dooyeweerd Centre for Christian Philosophy and Professor Emeritus of History at Redeemer University College, Ancaster, Ontario.Before considering Kuyper’s legacy, Van Dyke draws our attention to the men who had made an important contribution to the Netherlands of his day. He discusses Willem Bilderdijk (1756-1831), whose poetry challenged the assumptions of his day and disclosed the possibility of a distinctively Christian world view, and Isaac da Costa (1798-1860), the author who forthrightly challenged the revolutionary spirit of his times. It is not surprising that considerable attention is given to Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer (1801-1876), whose seminal Unbelief and Revolution of 1847 has been translated by Van Dyke into English. Groen van Prinsterer laid the foundations of anti-revolutionary political thinking and opened the struggle for justice in the funding of Dutch day-schools. Close contemporaries of Groen included Otto Gerhard Heldring (1804-1876) and Johan Adam Wormser (1807-1862). Heldring engaged in and supported intensely practical endeavours in aid of the poor and marginalized. Wormser perceived that the era of aristocratic establishmentarianism was passing, if not actually passed. Says Van Dyke, “Wormser agreed with Groen that the worst enemy in the battle for reasserting the Christian charac-ter of Dutch society was the world-flight and po-liticophobia of orthodox Christians” (21-22). And so, by 1860 Groen and Wormser, and others, had to divest themselves “of corporate Christianity and Constantinian establishment, to turn to free schools and a free church in a state that would grant those rural Mississippi fields, agriculture as unlike northwest Iowa’s as anything we might have imag-ined.Dr. Peter Bolans had chosen Cary for a medi-cal mission that still operates there. Back then, the building, Cary Christian Center, occupied what was a Black school before school desegregation.I don’t know—nor does anyone else know—of the spiritual success of that summer’s mission, but I know that few experiences left more marks on my life than those three weeks. I was in a world where the Klan was still alive, and any trip up the streets made it clear how easily the old South could stay alive. The Barn was a joy to read because I remem-bered Cary and Rolling Fork, Jackson and the siege of Vicksburg, all of it in a thick, cloying heat that was nothing at all like home. Once upon a time, long ago, just twenty years after Emmett Till was murdered in the barn, I myself traveled those dusty roads through cotton fields I won’t forget.And then this, too. I finished The Barn in a rehab hospital full of aged people and others, who, like me, were trying to learn how to live with infirmities. I loved the book, just loved it, wanted to sing its praises from my hospital room.But I couldn’t. It would have been silly because no one I knew among staff and residents knew anything at all about “Jim Crow” or the murder of Emmett Till and likely never would. Not only that, but if I’d have determined to talk about it in front of a crowd of residents, even though I was way up north in Iowa, I wondered whether some of my friends would have thought of me the way my own father thought of the NAACP fifty years before—social agitators out to bring down American democracy. That I didn’t mention it may explain the oc-casional excesses of this review.Wright Thompson’s The Barn is a magnificent piece of writing. 52     Pro Rege—March 2025Keuchenius and Idenburg argued for a new “ethi-cal” approach to the governance of the East Indies. Talma questioned the assumptions of Manchester School economics, argued the cause of the work-ing man, and advocated a widening of the Dutch franchise. He laboured prodigiously as a reforming parliamentarian. Lohman was central in the final settlement of the “schools struggle” in the years 1917-22. This mighty controversy, and the manner of its eventual resolution, should be much better known in the English-speaking world.  Jan Schouten enunciated, on anti-revolution-ary principles, a clear critique of the increasingly totalitarian tendencies of early twentieth-centu-ry European politics, while Rutgers, of the Free University Law Faculty, withstood the demands of the Nazi invader, eventually dying in a German prison. Finally, Van Dyke mentions Dooyeweerd, whose philosophical labours will be known to many readers of Pro Rege. In a magnificent passage, Van Dyke points us to the philosopher’s deep ap-preciation of Kuyper’s writing on the centrality of the human heart (70-72).Van Dyke’s conclusion is at once salutary and cautionary. He commends principled Christian engagement in public life, the use of persuasion rather than coercion, and world-view comprehen-siveness, rather than simply being driven along by the latest emergency. He also warns of pitfalls: an improper identifying of Christian endeavour with the Kingdom of God, an anachronistic invocation of (lost) rights and traditions, and perhaps a certain smugness about past achievements (78-80).Of course, big questions remain, including the declining trajectory of this tradition in the Netherlands since 1945. Certainly, the spiritual im-pact of the Second World War is part of that story, as is, surely, the advent of television and the 1960s “sexual revolution” in the Netherlands. These mat-ters also merit consideration, but in the meanwhile this book provides valuable information and sound reflection.favours to the adherents of neither modernism nor orthodoxy” (23). This shift was pivotal. It called for the development of distinct and parallel Christian organizations. It was in this new environment that the heirs of Kuyper played their part. Groen’s anti-revolutionary message was certainly not appreci-ated by the liberal elite of his day. The movement that developed was largely drawn from among the middle-classes and working masses. In this context Van Dyke highlights Isaac Esser (1818-85) and a group of diligent men centred on Julian Wolbers (1819-89), Jacob Witmond (1832-99), and Klaas Kater (1850-1916). Esser was an advocate, populariser, and explainer of the anti-revolutionary standpoint. He produced an Anti-revolutionaire Catechismus for what was a burgeon-ing grass-roots movement. There came an uplifting of many at the lower ends of Dutch society. Wolbers and Kater worked to increase literacy, instruct, and improve the lot of the people generally. Genuine Christianity tends to give expression to practical improving endeavours.Clearly, Abraham Kuyper was a great mover and shaker, but our author rightly reminds us that he never acted alone: he had about him a company of helpers, some famous and many unknown to us. In the decisive 1870s, Kuyper drew upon the in-sights of Groen van Prinsterer, and many others. As Van Dyke says of Kuyper, “He steeped himself in a tradition that was nearly a century old, reap-ing where others had sown. He mobilized a people already armed, elaborated a worldview and a pro-gram of action already sketched, and accelerated a movement already in motion” (47-48).Kuyper, in turn, had his spiritual successors. Van Dyke focuses on seven men: Christian Keuchenius (1822-1893), Alexander Idenburg (1861-1935), Sybrandus Talma (1864-1916), Alexander Frederik de Savornin Lohman (1837-1924), Jan Schouten (1883-1963), Victor Henri Rutgers (1877-1945), and Herman Dooyeweerd (1894-1977).The Dutch Empire in the East Indies was vastclose to the size of the British Indian Empire. 