Cherished Moments: The Morning Chapel and Personalized Pastoral Care

Kwong Zhenhua Associate Professor of Practical Theology (World Religions) has adopted a "one-to-one mentoring system" for students' spiritual cultivation since the fall semester of 2009. This shift is significant. Thinking back to thirty years ago, when I was a seminary student, the college mainly cultivated students’ spirituality through morning assemblies, morning prayer meetings and evening prayer meetings, and spiritual growth was seen as a personal relationship with God. The help of morning meetings and prayer meetings in spiritual formation is unquestionable. But the Bible also shows that the master-disciple relationship is an important channel for spiritual cultivation, and the relationship between Jesus and the Twelve Apostles is exactly that. Therefore, cultivating spirituality through the master-disciple relationship is a time-honored method, and its effectiveness cannot be replaced by other methods. ...

Wong Fook-Kwong, Professor of Old Testament Bible. I have been serving at the Baptist Church for more than fifteen years, and I have seen the college go through many changes. Overall, the academic level of the college has been significantly improved in recent years, and the academic atmosphere has become stronger. In the area of Bible studies, we currently have four full-time teachers and three regular special teachers. This is the strongest lineup I have seen in "Baptism" for more than ten years. Two important factors for the improvement of academic standards are the launch of the Doctor of Theology (ThD) program and the strengthening of the Master of Theology (ThM) program. Due to the development of these two courses, teachers have to devote more efforts to research and writing; and the growth of the teacher team has formed a driving force that has led to a corresponding improvement in the level of other courses in the school. I joke with my students that they complain a lot when they write papers of only a few thousand words and are only read by one (very sympathetic) teacher; while we, as teachers, have to write papers of more than 100,000 words. books, and anyone can read and criticize our work! In contrast, students should be thankful and not complain like the Israelites in the wilderness. ...