New Year 2007

W I NFGE AOTNU RWEI N G

Reaching immigrant students in a

language of their own
Tyndale University College & Seminary
By Matt Forster
current M.Div. template, and allowing some Matt Forster, a freelance

T his fall, students began taking classes

in a Mandarin language master of
divinity degree program at Tyndale
University College & Seminary in Toronto.
Fifteen students participated in the inaugural
of these courses to be taught in the Mandarin
language and allowing for students to be able
to complete their assignments in Mandarin —
taught by an adjunct professor who teaches
writer, lives in Goodrich,
Michigan.

semester, which included five classes offered
entirely in Mandarin, the principal language
of immigrants from mainland China.
The new program was the result of a
need expressed by Toronto’s Chinese. The
Mandarin-speaking population in the region
has seen rapid growth over the past ten
years. Leaders from the Chinese community
approached the school about offering a
Mandarin language program so that Chinese
students without a mastery of English could
obtain seminary training in their native
language.The school was interested in
partnering with them and launched a
project called the Canadian Chinese School
of Theology at Tyndale Seminary.
in Mandarin.The courses that are being
offered have passed through all of our
standard academic scrutiny.” Mandarin-
speaking members of the faculty were a
key resource for developing courses.
Classes are being created and staffed as
students progress through the program.
The current focus is on core classes.“In
our elective space, we will be having
ministry-based courses that will be focused
on the immigrant church,” said Clark.“They
will specifically target issues like ministry
in multicultural contexts and strategies for
Chinese ministries. So that’s where we are
going to see the real uniqueness of the
program.”

Dr. Brian C. Stiller, president of Tyndale,

explained the need for a Mandarin degree
program:“Historically, Cantonese-speaking
people of Hong Kong have a British
background, so they are oriented toward
English in their early childhood experience,”
he said.“The Mandarin, coming from
mainland China, don’t have that advantage.
Given the number of churches that are
actually exploding throughout the city —
Chinese churches — the Mandarin influx is
demanding pastoral service in the Mandarin
tongue, and those who are given to pastoral
ministry in the Mandarin community tend not
TYNDALE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE & SEMINARY

to have the skill in English as the Cantonese

do. So we’ve developed a seminary within
the seminary.”
Dr. Janet Clark, academic dean at Tyndale,
was instrumental in getting the program up
and running. She explained that the core
requirements are no different from the
school’s regular classes.“We are offering
the same courses, the same syllabi, similar
standards, only we’re having it taught in
The Canadian Chinese School of Theology’s board is raising funds for new faculty
Mandarin,” Clark said.“We’re taking our
positions and new library resources in the Chinese language.

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W I NFG
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TYNDALE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE & SEMINARY
The Canadian Chinese
School of Theology is a
seminary within the larger
seminary. Classes are taught
in Mandarin.
14
Toronto — a multicultural context
Toronto is sometimes called the most
multicultural city in the world. From 2001 to
2005, the metropolitan area received more
than half a million international immigrants.
“In Toronto, we speak 166 languages,”
President Stiller said.“Our school reflects
that. In fact, in most of our churches you
will find that same kind of diversity.”
The school itself mirrors the city’s
multicultural population. Koreans and
Chinese comprise 40 percent of Tyndale’s
seminary population. Only 44 percent of the
seminary student body is Caucasian, making
white students the largest visible minority.
One of the fastest growing communities
in the city is made up of immigrants from
mainland China. Stiller explained,“After
1997, there was a relaxing of international
relationships with China and the world,
and Canada has had a particular kind of
relationship with China over the years. It
has resulted in a very, very strong migration.”
Clark concurred:“We are receiving large
numbers of newcomers from mainland
China, and the Mandarin-based ministries
in the city of Toronto are proliferating.
There’s a profound need expressed in the
Chinese community for the training of
leaders for Mandarin-based ministries in
our city and also in the world.”
New Year 2007
The Chinese Christian community
The seminary’s relationship with Toronto’s
Chinese community goes back to the mid-
’80s. In 2000, the school established the
Hudson Taylor Centre for Chinese Ministries
(www.hudsontaylorcentre.com), and in
2005, in partnership with the Association
of Canadian Chinese Theological Education,
it launched the Canadian Chinese School
of Theology.
The board of the Canadian Chinese School
of Theology is composed of representatives
from Tyndale and the city’s Chinese popula-
tion. In addition to their work developing the
Mandarin language program, the board raises
funds within the Chinese community for
faculty positions and library resources.“Be-
cause Tyndale wants to design and deliver a
program that is responsive to the needs of
Mandarin ministries, we listen carefully to
these partners in shaping a program that is
consistent with all our academic standards,
but at the same time is responsive to their
ethnocultural context,” said Clark.
“Because we’re a transdenominational
school and evangelical, and given that most
of your Chinese churches, regardless of
denominational stripe, are evangelical, they
have found Tyndale to be a good center for
training,” said Stiller.
In addition to their essential role in
developing and funding the program, the
Chinese community has also been a source
of qualified faculty.“Because of the pool that
exists here in Toronto, we’ve been really
successful at getting instructors,” said Clark.
The future
In the near future, the school plans to
hire more full-time Mandarin-speaking faculty.
Though preparing classes a semester at a
time,Tyndale is committed to growing the
program.“We’re committed to offering all
of our M.Div. courses in Mandarin eventually,
with the commitment to offer a full degree
program,” said Clark.
“We see this as a long-term project,”
said Stiller.“Of course, second- and third-
generation immigrants tend to resort to the
language of the local community, but we
expect for the next 10 or 15 years, we will
have a demand for people trained to minister
in the Mandarin language.” IT
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