Providence Christian College inaugurated its second president, Dr. J. Derek Halvorson, at 2:00 P.M. on Saturday, September 19, 2009. The ceremony was held at First Chino United Reformed Church before a congregation of hundreds of students, faculty, friends, and family.
Also attending the hour-plus ceremony were members of the Providence board of directors and delegates from the Association of Reformed Institutions of Higher Education and local California colleges. The largest contingent came from Dr. Halvorson’s alma mater and former employer, Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, GA, and included Dr. Jeffrey Hall, VP for Academic Affairs; Troy Duble, VP for Advancement; and former president Frank Brock. Other institutional presidents and college representatives in attendance included those of Geneva College, Dordt College, Calvin College, Trinity Christian College, The Kings University College, Westminster Seminary (West), Mid-America Reformed Seminary, Redeemer University College, Redeemer Seminary, New St. Andrews College, Azusa Pacific University, and California Baptist University.
The event began with a processional to Handel’s “Thanks Be To Thee.” After prayer and greetings from the academic and church communities, given by Kenneth Smith, president of Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA, and Rev. Tim Spykstra of CrossPoint Church (CRC), Dr. Halvorson was installed as president in a brief ceremony that included the presentation of the presidential medallion by board chairman Pete Haringsma.
Dr. Halvorson then received charges from representatives of the student body, faculty, fellow leaders, board, and his own family. In these speeches he was exhorted to be patient, humble, courageous, and Christ-centered during his tenure at Providence.
Adrian Crum, Providence’s student senate president, encouraged Dr. Halvorson to live by the speech he himself had delivered at convocation: college is less about transmission of information than it is about transformation of hearts in the Christian values of charity, humility, friendship, and self-denial. Crum concluded with what he called “the most important reminder”:
“Stay close to your family. As a child raised on the mission field have experienced-first hand the importance of having my dad, who was extremely busy, close to me. I also have seen families where a father is overwhelmed with work, even the most significant work for Christ’s kingdom, and neglects his family. Please stay close to your wife and kids. If we as students see you modeling these four virtues of humility, self-denial, friendship and charity all the time on campus, but you do so at the expense of your family, we as a campus will suffer greatly.”
This same sentiment was echoed throughout many of the other charges. The messages stressed the distinct calling of a Christian college president whose task is both counterintuitive and contra mundum, selfless and service-oriented. Dr. Halvorson’s brother, Hans Halvorson, who is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University, explained:
“You have a responsibility to open your eyes and the eyes of your students. Instead of implicitly adopting society’s aim of reducing pain and maximizing pleasure, show your students the value of loving deeply and unconditionally, even if doing so requires great sacrifice. Instead of implicitly adopting the goal of minimizing labor and maximizing entertainment, show your students the value of employing their creative gifts in order to participate in God’s activity of redeeming the world. Sadly, these duties are too difficult for you. To be more precise, they are too difficult for you alone, in absence of an enabling redeemer… Although you will have difficult decisions to make, the future of Providence College is no more in your hands than your past was, and both your past and future are in the hands of a God who is making all things work together for good.”
After these charges were delivered, the incoming president took the podium to give his own address, which reflected his unique combination of backgrounds. As a student of medieval history who also spent years in the financial sector as a currencies trader, Dr. Halvorson was primed to expound on Augustine’s notion that God is “ever ancient, ever new.” He applied this formula to the Christian college that he hopes Providence will become: “A new college, on the new side of our country, a new beginning… rooted in the tradition of the Protestant reformers of the 16th century.” He concluded by tying his argument to Providence’s motto, “In Christo Omnia Nova” – which means, “In Christ All Things New”:
“Let’s be a college that seeks to honor—in the way we pursue our scholarship, in the way we live together, in the way we serve the church and the world—the Christ who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation, the sustainer of all things, the first-born from the dead, the reconciler of all things. For in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3). He is our life (Col. 3:4). Would that He of eternal beauty, ever ancient, ever new, be glorified in all that we do and say at Providence Christian College.”
The inauguration ceremony concluded with congregational singing of “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” and a prayer by Rev. Jesse Pirschel of Providence Presbyterian Church in Temecula, CA. A recessional and reception followed.
