dissertation

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low and functional view of church office, within the ETF the students are encouraged
not to underestimate the sacral aspect. 112
2. What is the ideal or vision concerning the internal culture of the school, including
the aspect of community, and what does this mean in practice?
Briefly put, the ETF aims at an integration of academics and spirituality. Faith and prayer
are cultivated, while practical tasks are also engaged upon. Many students, especially
undergraduates, live on the campus and form part of a cooking group, which enhances
the community feeling. They also spend some 150 hours doing practical work each
year, such as staffing the library, serving as a student-assistant to a teacher, or helping
to prepare conferences or festivities. These extracurricular activities help to diminish financial
costs, but are also meant to enhance the feeling of involvement in the ETF as a
community, and to contribute to what is called ‘social formation’ [sociale vorming]. Furthermore,
students and teachers participate in weekly chapel services, and they regularly
share meals together. According to students, professors are also approachable for
questions of a more personal nature. Moreover, even if the professors teach theoretical
or ‘dry’ subjects, students see their Christian faith and motivation shining through.
3. What is the vision concerning the spiritual formation of students and how is
this vision implemented?
If an ETF student expects to be spiritually formed, as in a Bible school, he or she is
likely to be disappointed, one focus group participant reflected. That being said – all
the participants agreed that, considering the limited possibilities for spiritual formation
that the ETF as an academic institute has, it does an excellent job. For one, students are
actively encouraged by the staff to participate in Bible study groups and in local churches.
This kind of stimulation already shows that spiritual formation is considered important.
For another, there is a special committee with a focus on spirituality. Moreover,
mentorship is understood to be part of the academic and spiritual climate at the ETF. It
includes the weekly chapels, student small groups, the course Spirituality in the BA
program, spiritual moments in various courses and the personal contact between student
and staff. Academic formation as such is also seen as contributing to spiritual formation.
“We recognize a spiritual dimension in the classes that is inspiring,” one student
added. “Professors are idealistic, they believe they are sent here by God. They try
to reach you as a person – even if they do not always succeed in this.”
112
Cf. Patrick Nullens, “Het drievoudig ambt van Christus en geestelijk leiderschap in de vrije kerken,”
[The threefold office of Christ and spiritual leadership in the Free Churches] in Pieter Boersema et al. eds.,
Gezag in beweging. Kerkelijk leiderschap tussen tekst en context [Authority on the move: Ecclesiastical leadership
between text and context] (Heerenveen: Protestantse Pers, 2008), 37-57. The book as a whole is the product
of a joint effort by ETF teachers.