Redeemer opened its doors in September 1982 with 97 students, eight faculty and rented facilities on Beach Boulevard. From its beginning, Redeemer has been sustained by God’s providential and sometimes miraculous care, and by a committed and generous community that shared a strong vision for Christian university education that would prepare servant-leaders of God’s kingdom in today’s culture.
Though never without challenges, Redeemer has carried out that mission with considerable success, with over 5,000 alumni living, working, and providing a faithful Christian presence in communities and professions across Canada and around the world. Despite the audacious ambition of building a private Christian university against daunting odds, God has been true to His promise of meeting the needs of those who follow Him faithfully.
“Redeemer has been sustained by God’s providential and sometimes miraculous care.”
Today, Redeemer is still an ambitious endeavour of faith. We have launched new programs, such as Media and Communication Studies, that expand our opportunities to prepare students to be authentic Christian voices in our contemporary media and culture. And the Class of 2020 is the first to benefit from Redeemer’s renewed, integrated Core curriculum. Finally, we have rebuilt our recruiting and communications systems. The new www.redeemer.ca website, which went live one year ago, and the website relaunch culminated in turning our flagship magazine digital. Through these efforts, Redeemer continues to offer a Christian vision for post-secondary learning.
As you know, I will be leaving Redeemer University College, passing the baton to new leadership to take the next steps in meeting our challenges and advancing Redeemer’s mission. Nevertheless, I remain passionate and confident about Redeemer’s mission and vision for Christian university learning from a Reformed perspective. It has been a privilege to serve the Redeemer community, and to see the influence that Redeemer has in deepening the faith and learning of our students and shaping our alumni to impact their communities.
Ultimately, I believe, Redeemer is a testament to God’s providential care. In its first 34 years, Redeemer has established a strong record of high quality education and scholarship, along with community cooperation and service. With these initiatives and with the full scope of the Redeemer 2020 plan, and by remaining vibrantly faithful to God, I trust that Redeemer will continue to build on that legacy.