On Saturday, Oct. 15, at 10:30 a.m., Calvin Theological Seminary (CTS) will host a celebration of God’s faithfulness through the inauguration service of Rev. Jul Medenblik as the seventh president of CTS.

Medenblik was born in Kalamazoo, MI and grew up in Fulton, IL. After receiving a degree at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois he married and moved to Gainesville, Florida, where he graduated from University of Florida Law School. He worked as an associate in a law firm Palm Beach, Florida. The Medenbliks joined Lake Worth Christian Reformed Church in Lake Worth, Florida, where Jul served as a Sunday School teacher and superintendent, catechism teacher, elder, and eventually chair of a Pastoral Search Committee.

It is during those years that he felt called by God to ordained ministry, and in 1991 the family moved from Florida and Jul entered a Master of Divinity program at Calvin Theological Seminary. Following graduation in 1995, Jul accepted a call to Orland Park CRC in Orland Park, Illinois, to be the founding pastor of a church plant in New Lenox, Illinois. The church organized in 2002 and grew to over 700 people in total attendance. During this period Medenblik served on the Board of Trustees of the Seminary.

The theme of the inaugural is “Called to Serve,” and the event will be held at the Calvin College Covenant Fine Arts Center, with a reception following.

Prior to the inaugural, the seminary will host its Bavinck Conference with the focus “After 9-11 . . . What? Reformed Theology and the Church’s Global Mission Today.”

The 2011 Bavinck Conference builds on the Fall 2008 conference, “A Pearl and a Leaven: Herman Bavinck for the 21st Century” and seeks to mine the legacy of Herman Bavinck for guidance to today’s church as it seeks to be faithful to its mission in the face of the Islamic challenge.

Herman Bavinck’s nephew, Johann Herman Bavinck (1895-1964), long-time missionary to Indonesia and one of the most important missiologist of the 20th century will be featured as well as his better-known uncle.

Both Bavincks wrestled with the question of Islam in relation to Christianity and the West; the conference will feature speakers that engage them both. Among the speakers are Dr. Bert De Vries from Calvin College who will take us on an illustrated-lecture journey of Abraham Kuyper’s visit to the Holy Land; international human rights activist and expert on Islam, Dr. Mark Durie from Australia; and Dr. Roger Greenway who will introduce conferees to Samuel Zwemer (1867-1952), the great Reformed missionary whose nickname was “The Apostle to Islam.”

Topics include: Herman and J.H. Bavinck on engaging Islam. How do we do Islamic missions today? How do we “dialogue” with Islam? Does Islam force us to rethink religious freedom and pluralism? The conference concludes with the Bavinck Prize for Outstanding Reformed Contribution to the Church, the Academy or Public Life being awarded on Friday evening, October 14, to Dr. Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 2002-2010 and an address by Dr. Balkenende. (Editor’s Note: Could not find the name of the PCA’s resident Bavinck guru on the schedule; sad L)

The conference runs from Oct. 12 to 14. On the evening of the 14th, the Bavinck Prize will be awarded to Jan Peter Balkenende, prime minister of the Netherlands from 2002 to 2010.

The Bavinck Prize is for “Outstanding Reformed Contributions to the Church, the Academy or Public Life.” Go here for more information.

Even as Calvin Seminary celebrates its heritage, it is making plans to welcome the first group of students for its online Master of Divinity degree beginning in the fall of 2012. This new program will help CTS reach students who are unable to move to Grand Rapids, Mich., to be trained as pastors and leaders.

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[Editor’s note: Original URLs (links) referenced in this article are no longer valid, so the links have been removed.]