InsightSPRING/SUMMER 2017 The Wycliffe College Newsletter for Alumni and Friends • June 2017, No. 83 • ISSN 1192-2761 Forward in Faith “AN ENDURING04 MARK...” CONVOCATION10 2017 MISSION14 WEEK ALUMNI18 UPDATES “FROM22 CRISIS TO...” FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S PEN A home, a sacred space By The Rt. Rev. Dr. Stephen G.W. Andrews Dear Friends, rooms, and we are hosts to a variety of events lege is the Chapel. It is there that we are re- that serve the church and the university. As minded of the origins of our mission in the MOST BUILDINGS ARE DESIGNED to be I write this, for instance, our foyer becomes world, and where we uphold one another, functional spaces. But because of the pur- a busy intersection for hundreds of U of T our Church, our world, and our extended poses they serve in the communities that undergraduates nervously anticipating final Wycliffe family in daily prayer. In the beauti- inhabit them, they often take on symbolic exams in Sheraton Hall. ful Chapel windows, we see the story of Bible or even iconic significance. Churches are I say a quiet prayer for them as I thread translation and gospel proclamation in Cana- the most striking examples of this. On the my way to my office, hoping that their asso- da and beyond, and in our spirits we see our- one hand, they are constructed to provide ciations with Wycliffe are positive ones! selves continuing that story—colourful fig- a place to gather for worship. But they are ures, perhaps, in the windows being framed not always practical. Steeples, vaulted ceil- But I know that many by a divine artisan. I know that my appreci- ings and stained glass—these things have no ation of the Chapel is shared by many, as our pragmatic ends. They are intended to stimu- of those reading this issue appeal for the replacement of the slate roof late our imaginations and to lift our eyes to will have their own elicited a wonderfully generous response. heaven. Moreover, churches become asso- memories of the College. A major concern of ours is to see this ciated with events that have deep personal cherished building preserved and enhanced. significance. Upon hearing that her church Hopefully the anxiety of sitting exams But just as the building represents more than had voted to close, a tearful parishioner said will all but be replaced by recollections of bricks and mortar, so our aspirations for its to me, “My dad helped to build this church. I rich learning and the establishment of life- use are greater. We see this as sacred space; was baptised and married here.” long friendships. From time to time, I will space where students “may so learn truth as By comparison to our neighbours to the call a graduate to say that we are praying for to bear its light along their ways, and so learn north, Wycliffe College is not a particularly them in the Wycliffe Cycle of Prayer. Every Christ as to be found in him.” Thank you for grand building. But our home has its own conversation will include some treasured your interest in Wycliffe. We depend on your beauty and carries with it many rich associ- memory and, not uncommonly, an amusing prayers and value your partnership. ations. A Victorian structure made of local anecdote. The celebration of Dr. Stackhouse’s With every good wish in Christ, brick, it bears a simplicity that appealed to life in December was very much centred on the low-church sensibilities of our founders. what this building meant to him. He enjoyed And, as a strictly practical structure, it has pointing out how important the Chapel served us well. We offer accommodation to steps were in his courtship of Margaret! 75 or so mature students and families, we Of course, the engine room of the Col- Stephen Andrews, have 21st century technology in our class- Principal 2 “An enduring mark” on Canada, on Wycliffe By Alan Hayes Reginald Francis Stackhouse (1925–2016) was closely associated with Wycliffe for most of his life. He moved into residence as an undergraduate in 1943 and did his theological studies there; he was appointed a professor in 1965; he served as Principal from 1975 to 1985; and during his so-called retirement, he was Principal Emeritus and Research Professor. But while Wycliffe may have been his greatest love after God, family, and country, he also served with distinction in the wider church, public affairs, business, and journalism. REG’S DISTANT ANCESTORS were farm- of the Toronto School of Theology and ers in Yorkshire, and his nearer ancestors the University of Toronto; and enrolment were loyalists in New Brunswick. He was soared, as did the College’s reputation. raised in a modest home in Toronto. He Reg personified the best ideals of dropped out of high school to help his fami- Wycliffe. He was a faithful follower of Jesus. ly when his father became disabled, but fin- His own liturgical tastes were unfussy and ished at night school. He then became the his ecclesiology was untriumphalistic, but first in his family line to attend university. by no means was he partisan or adversari- One day in the Wycliffe parking lot al in his churchmanship. He loved teaching he met Margaret Allman, who was taking and preaching. He was a brilliant writer for courses at Wycliffe to become a deacon- diverse audiences: scholars, churchfolk, the ess. She smiled, and his heart melted. They wider public. His sense of discipleship ex- were married, and raised four children. She tended way beyond the Anglican Church became “a mother in Israel” (Judges 5:7) to issues of global peace and justice. With at Wycliffe, and transformed the College clarity but never intending to provoke, he from a semi-monastic men’s seminary into Alan Hayes is Professor offered a progressive viewpoint on a varie- something very much like a family. No cou- of Church History ty of current issues. He was a loyal friend, ple was ever closer. a supportive colleague, and a compassionate After ordination in 1950, Reg ministered the federal and provincial Human Rights Christian gentleman. To have known him at the Anglican churches of St. Matthew, Is- Commissions, and boards of corporations. was among the greatest privileges that my lington, and St. John, West Toronto. He then Along the way he wrote frequent columns wife and I have enjoyed. took his doctorate at Yale. After returning to for the Globe and Mail. Reg was proud Toronto, he began teaching at Wycliffe. to be a Canadian, and, without blinkers In addition to being priest and profes- or jingoism, treasured its history. Where sor, Reg was drawn into public affairs by his he saw problems to correct, he spoke out. passion for community service and human As another Member of Parliament recently rights. He began as a school board trustee told the House of Commons in a tribute to in Scarborough. In 1965, when Ontario Reg, he “left an enduring mark on the fabric decided to develop a system of community of Canadian society.” colleges, Reg rallied a group of citizens to Reg became Principal of Wycliffe at the cause, developed an academic organiza- one of the darkest times in its now almost tion, and, to everyone’s surprise, persuaded 140-year history. Finances, enrolments, the federal government to donate an aban- academic standards, morale, reputation, doned factory. Reg became the founding and the physical plant were in a disastrous chair of the board of Centennial College, state. In an amazingly busy and inspired the first community college in the province. five years, Reg turned the whole enterprise Reg served two terms as a Member of around. The faculty was strengthened; a Parliament in the House of Commons, successful capital campaign was launched as what one friend called “the reddest and completed; accreditation was secured; The formal portrait of Reg Stackhouse, of red Tories.” He also served with the the curriculum was reformed; Wycliffe which today hangs in Sheraton Hall Canadian delegation to the United Nations, entered fully into the academic culture 3 The Lord was leading us, is leading us still How did the Wycliffe community understand EDITOR’S note: itself on the eve of the College’s centennial Just over three years ago in anniversary in 1977? March 2014, Reginald Stackhouse, Principal Emeritus and Research There was hope—but also apprehension. Professor at Wycliffe College, sat down at his typewriter and tapped The College needed money—big money—but out a story that he believed needed Wycliffe had not had a major [fundraising] to be told. Previously unpublished, it relates a remarkable episode in the campaign since 1911, and had not enjoyed a history of the College that occurred during the author’s tenure as Principal. balanced budget since before World War II. Stapling his three pages together in the top left corner, Reg entrusted them to Wycliffe’s Director of Development, Rob Henderson, with instructions to publish them “when the time was right.” In view of Reg’s death last December, and of the College’s 140th anniversary, we feel that the right time has come. Patricia Paddey, Director of Communications Principal Reginald Stackhouse in his office 4 The Lord was leading us, is leading us still UNDERSTANDABLY, ONE TRUSTEE ing for needed improvements to the estimated we would be doing well if a building—fire escapes, fire extinguish- campaign raised enough to pay for the ers, fire alarms, fire safety doors, etc. centennial celebration. Another scoffed when a drive for $100,000 was proposed. But how does such prosaic spending indicate we were being led by the Were the rest of us delusional when Lord? we set a target of $2 million? Not too long afterwards, a critical fire in a University of Toronto campus It is now clear that the Lord structure led the provincial author- ities to order that every U of T build- was leading the College, even ing be inspected by the Ontario Fire Reg Stackhouse as he led his people in the days Marshal, with authority to close all that did not meet his standards.