From 1997 to 1999 I attended Regent College in Vancouver, Canada where I completed an MCS degree. I have many fond memories of Regent, and among the fondest are my time spent taking classes at Regent’s unparalleled summer school where they bring in outstanding scholars from around the world to teach classes. At Regent’s summer school I took courses from academics who were true leaders in their field like church historian Mark Noll and philosopher Alvin Plantinga. Not only does Regent offer a great learning community, but it is nestled on the campus of the University of British Columbia which is one of the world’s truly scenic university campuses nestled in one of the world’s truly scenic cities.
(I included an aerial shot of Regent’s fabled “green roof” building in the foreground, nestled on UBC’s campus with the deep blue Pacific sparkling in the background.)
So when I received an email from Regent a week ago asking if I would promote their summer program this year I was only too happy to oblige. I’m happy to cite some of the helpful information Regent emailed me and then I’ll offer some concluding reflections below:
We’re embarking on our 44th Regent College Summer Programs with a line-up of 40+ courses that have been carefully selected to help equip people to live out their faith in public life. As you know, Regent’s Summer term is different from the regular terms in that it is a term filled with rich teaching from a wide variety of world class faculty, lunchtime concerts, prayer retreats, and weekly free evening public lectures. It’s a great time to dive into a courses about history, theology, and Christianity for the pure pleasure of learning, while enjoying Vancouver in the summertime!
This year we’re featuring five exciting course tracks. One includes the Core Faith track that has been designed for students wanting to build a closer relationship with God and take their faith to the next level. Our ‘Core Faith’ courses provide students with opportunities to explore prayer, church history, theology, and the Bible. Below is a quick break down of some of the courses offered in this track. More details about these courses and our summer offering can be found on our website: www.regent-college.edu/summer
- Old Testament Foundations, Iain Provan
- The Theology of Paul, Douglas Moo
- The Book of Job: Encountering God in the Extremities of Life, Phil Long
- Spinning Gold from Straw: The Epistle of James, Mariam Kamell
- The Recent World History of Christianity, Mark Noll
I would especially appeal to pastors to think about checking out a Regent course as part of your continuing education. (What a great sabbatical treat!)
And here’s an added bonus. About a five minute drive away from campus you’ll find a great coffee shop on 10th Avenue called “Bean Around the World”. I based the coffee shop featured in my book The Swedish Atheist, the Scuba Diver and Other Apologetic Rabbit Trails on this fine establishment where I drank untold smoky Americanos in the late 1990s.
So check out the Regent link and see what they have to offer.
