Important Dates
- Feb 24 – Summer Registration Opens
- Feb 26 – Beginning of Lent
- Feb 28- Incomplete Courses Must Be Finished (If Graduating this Spring)
- March 9-13- Reading Week
- April 23 – Nyvall Lectures
Summer Registration Opens SOON!
The summer 2020 class schedule is now up! Check here for information about the classes offered. Summer registration will open next week on the 24th. Make sure you use the new registration system to sign up!
Field Education at Swedish Hospital
Field Education at Swedish Hospital offers a diverse setting, pastoral mentoring and hands-on clinical pastoral experience at an acute care hospital with a faith mission and identity near campus.
The program requires 240 hours over 10 weeks. Included in this is:
- 22 hours of orientation
- 4 hours of group time per week
- 4 hours of individual supervision (at times offered by the supervisor – usually Monday morning hours)
- Two or three – four hour shifts each week on Mondays through Fridays.
- 4 overnight on-call shifts (4:30pm to 8:00 am)
- 5 – eight hour weekend day shifts (Saturdays, Sundays or holiday 8:00 am – 4:30 pm)
- Preaching and worship leadership at Covenant Home and Wesley place – one or two Sunday mornings
Field Education is anticipated to be June 1 and August 15. Hospital Orientation is the first Monday of the month. (If you are unable to attend June 1, you can opt for May 4.) Some summer schedule flexibility is required.
Contact Swedish Covenant Hospital Pastoral Care Department with questions: 773-878-8200 X5365.
Luncheon and Informational Session about the Chaplain Intern Program at Westminster Place
On Monday, March 2, 2020, from 11:30-1:00, Westminster Place will host a lunch and informational session for chaplain interns. Presbyterian Homes is a continuing care retirement community with a long-standing Chaplain Intern Program that helps students learn about and engage in ministry with older adults. Chaplain Interns have many opportunities to preach and make pastoral visits. This luncheon will be at the Wilson-Sidwell Dining Room at Westminster Place, 3131 Simpson St. (Gold Rd.), Evanston.
The Luncheon and Informational Session on Monday, March 2, is an opportunity to:
- learn about the Chaplain Intern Program
- meet Westminster Place staff Chaplains
- talk with current Chaplain Interns
- find out about the application and interview process for the 2020-2021 class of Chaplain Interns
To make a reservation for the March 2nd Luncheon and Informational Session contact Chaplain Priscilla Wilkins Stevens by noon on Thursday, February 27th, at 847-492-2920 or pwilkinsstevens@presbyterianhomes.org
Attention: Class Registration Will No Longer Be Through WebAdvisor. We are Transitioning to Student Planning
Student Planning is a new module in Self Service that will allow students and advisors to more actively engage in the registration and advising process. WebAdvisor will no longer be used for registration.
Student Planning went live for graduate/adult students in Self Service, www.northpark.edu/selfservice, on Friday, February 14. Summer registration will open on February 24, and fall registration will open on Monday, March 23. Check out a brief demo video about Student Planning, along with some FAQs to help you get familiar with the new system, at www.northpark.edu/registration. You will LOVE it! Questions? Please contact your academic advisor.
Questions? Please contact your academic advisor! Common questions and answers regarding Student Planning can be found here.
NPTS Book Club!
Join us for our seminary book club on March 2nd at 6:30 in Olsson Lounge! We will be discussing the first half (pgs. 1-125) of Marilynne Robinson’s wonderful book Gilead, in which an elderly pastor writes a series of letters to his much younger son. It is a beautiful reflection on vocation and ministry, and will give us much to discuss. We will also provide dinner! If you are interested in coming, please let Dave Bjorlin or Elizabeth Pierre know so we can have enough food.
Theology and Mission Lectures- Northern Seminary
Northern Seminary is hosting a series of lectures on June 4th, 2020 @ 7-9pm and June 5th, 2020 @ 10:00 am-12:30 pm. The title of the lectures series is The Gospel & Mission: The Good News of the Crucifixion For The Church On Mission. Rev. Fleming Rutledge will be giving both lectures and Scot McKnight will be responding.
Registration is required. However, Northern is providing a discount code to make it free for graduate students. Please contact Seminary Student Services for more information.
MNST 7190 Peace and Reconciliation in the Middle East
Every other year Bethlehem Bible College, a ministry partner of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) and NPTS through the Center for World Christian Studies, hosts Christ at the Checkpoint, a conference which addresses issues that contribute to the deep division between peoples living in the Holy Land. The conference provides the opportunity to hear how followers of Jesus seek to live like Jesus amid that conflict.
Following the conference, we will travel around Galilee where Jesus lived and ministered. This will provide some space for reflection as well as the opportunity to experience some of the significant places of the Gospels. We will then return to Bethlehem where we will spend time with a rabbi who works with Muslims to dialogue about issues critical to all who live in Israel/Palestine. We will also visit Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Museum) in Jerusalem and hear from the Jewish community. And we will be led through a process of reconciliation by the founder of Musalaha, another ministry partner of the ECC.
Although this is not a typical “tour” as one would often think of when visiting the Holy Land, we will see a sampling of the key biblical sites including Bethlehem Church of Nativity, Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Mount of Beatitudes, and the Old City of Jerusalem including Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Dates: June 3-14, 2020
Instructors: Rev. Andrew Larsen and Rev. Jeff Anderson. Both are global personnel working in the MENA (Middle East North Africa region for the ECC)
Locations: Bethlehem and Jerusalem
Cost: $2,300-$2,500 (this is an approximate) — covers transportation, room & board, other in-country expenses. Tuition and personal costs are an additional amount. The money can be fundraised through the North Park Global Studies Fund.
Assignments: Some pre-travel readings and group preparation, as well as post travel reflection assignments.
If interested in attending this course, please email cwcs@northpark.edu or elennard@northpark.edu for an application.
Mental Health First Aid Training
Faculty, staff and students are invited to register for Mental Health First Aid, an 8-hour training opportunity that teaches how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. Student Engagement staff will lead this free training on Wednesday, April 1st and Wednesday, April 8th, 1-5pm in Johnson Center 206. Participants must attend both dates (full 8 hours) to receive the certification, which is good for 3 years. Register/More Information
Training for Pastors: Financial Transparency
When: Tuesday, February 25, 2020 from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM, Nyvall Hall, Olsson Lounge
Presenter: Timothy O’Brien, PhD, Program Director for The Academy of Church Leadership
About this Session: This workshop explores best practices in reporting financial activities and position to the congregation in a simple and transparent way. Accounting can be complex but results should be reported in a simple way that is easily understood by everybody. To register for this event, click here.
Registration is $50. *Limited time discount 50% off.* Use promo code TACL20
If you have questions, or would like to join our mailing and emailing list, please contact us at TACL@northpark.edu or call 773-244-4578
Week of Prayer 2020: Reconciling Grace
Every year, the ECC puts together a Week of Prayer guide for churches and individuals to use to strengthen their prayer lives and grow closer to God. This year, the Week of Prayer is titled Reconciling Grace, and was written by NPTS Students at the School of Restorative Arts in Stateville Prison. This resource was created to help us pray together through the many dimensions of God’s grace including comforting grace, chastening grace, anointing grace, restorative grace, and beyond. Through these daily prayers, let us be reminded that we can never fully plumb the depths of the riches of God’s amazing grace!
If you are interested in learning more, or in ordering a copy of the Week of Prayer 2020: Reconciling Grace, please see this link.
Graduation Retreat
Speaking of graduation, Dean Deb Auger is looking for students who are graduating this May and are interested in helping to plan the annual graduation retreat. This event is open to all graduating students and will be held at Covenant Harbor on April 3-4. If you are interested in helping to plan this event, please contact Deb: dauger@northpark.edu .
Writing Center Graduate Student Drop In Hours
The Writing Center welcomes graduate students to attend drop in hours on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 5-10 pm. Work with a professional writing coach on any paper at any stage of your process. Meet in the Writing Center Commons on the first floor of Brandel library. For more information, contact mpavlik@northpark.edu.
We are Resurrecting the Prayers: Joys and Concerns Page
We are bringing back a page dedicated to joys and concerns connected to the seminary. https://nptsnyvallnews.com/community-prayers/ .
As a community dedicated to serving Jesus and each other, it is our privilage to lift each other up in prayer. If you have a joy or concern you would like to add, there is a place at the bottom of the Prayers: Joys and Concerns Page.
Don’t forget to check out our Job Board, Digital Archive, and Community Prayers page for updates weekly!
Submit an entry for our weekly notes by filling out this form by 12 pm on Wednesday