INSTRUCTORS
Instructors for the Word and Spirit Institute are carefully selected. They are experts in the their field of study and have a lot of experience in the topics of the courses they are teaching.
Raoul Kingma
Raoul Kingma is pursuing a PhD in theology at Wycliffe College (University of Toronto), focusing on doctrine and ethics, having previously obtained an M.Div. (Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary) and an M.A.Sc. in mechanical engineering (University of British Columbia). He is married and a father to three rambunctious boys.
John Siebenga
Child of God. Carpenter by trade, (11 years – graduate of Mohawk College, Hamilton)) teacher by profession (30 years – BA from Trinity Western University, Dip of Teaching, Covenant Canadian Reformed Teachers College and Master of Education, University of Victoria) and counsellor by passion (part-time 25 years – Master of Arts concentration in Counselling from Regent College, Vancouver) .
Married to Betty for 46 years, blessed with six amazing children and 23 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. Reassigned after reaching the magic age of 65 to volunteer our time – Betty and I split our time between Prince George Canadian Reformed Mission Church and Houston Canadian Reformed Church.
Rev. Matthew VanLuik
Matthew H. VanLuik has served as a minister for over thirty years and is pastor emeritus of the Grace Canadian Reformed Church in Brampton, Ontario. He obtained his M.Div at the CRTS in Hamilton and the Th.M. in Old Testament studies at Regent College in Vancouver, B.C.
He is author of “The Song of Songs – The Greatest Love Song”, Rev. VanLuik is editor of “The Clarion – a Reformed Magazine” and serves on many boards.
Dr. Tom McCormick
Tom McCormick enjoys the interrelationships among several disciplines. He has a BA in philosophy and mathematics, an MA in Bible (Westminster Seminary, Philadelphia), a PhD in Humanities (Linguistics & Philosophy, University of Texas, Arlington), and a PhD in Philosophy (Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto).
Tom also integrates praxis with thought, serving as a chaplain at Long Term & Residential Care Homes, teaching ESL, helping coordinate services for immigrants, assisting minority language groups overseas with literacy, development, and Bible translation, while helping to train consultants and literacy workers. He has taught mathematics, linguistics, reading theory, orthography design, philosophy, theology, education, qualitative research methods, and language acquisition.
His books include Meditation: a Practical Guide to a Spiritual Discipline; 2 books on Nursing Home Ministry; Theories of Reading in Dialogue; Science, Imagination and God; Towards a Christian Philosophy; The Field and the Spirit; Meditation: a Biblical Study.
Tom has been working with those in Long Term Care Nursing Homes for more than 50 years and has taught at both graduate and undergraduate institutions, including conducting workshops both in North America and overseas.
Dr. Eric Pennings
Eric Pennings was a minister of the Word for many years in the Christian Reformed and United Reformed churches.
Dr. Pennings has been an advisor for the Word and Spirit Institute since its foundation. For the last number of years he has been an instructor at the Miami International Theological Seminary (MINTS).
Currently, he holds the position of Student Dean at MINTS. Dr. Pennings lives in Strathroy, ON and often travels to Latin America to teach courses in Spanish for MINTS. He has taught many courses for the Word and Spirit Institute including Nehemiah, Philippians, Hermeneutics and World Religions.