Getting ready...

Welcome to the Calvin in York blog! Frans and Kate van Liere have set this up as a way for all those interested in the Britain semester program to keep up with what we are doing. Starting in February, students will be contributing to the blog, too. For now, we want to introduce you to York and to our hopes and prayers for this semester program.

It’s a great privilege to be co-directing this program again, having first done it in 2009. That was the second year of Calvin’s semester program in York (the Semester in Britain had been based in London until 2007), so this is now its twelfth year. York is one of England’s most beautiful cities, and superbly walkable. On this map the old city center lies within the red lines (many of them congruent with surviving Roman/medieval walls); the green park inside the northern point is the grounds of the Minster (York’s cathedral); and the complex just northeast of that, right outside the old city walls, is the campus of York St John University, where our students will be studying.

Our 23 students, who will arrive on Thursday morning, will be living in “The Grange” (below left) a student apartment complex on the west bank of the River Ouse, that is just off the northern edge of the map, in “The Groves” neighborhood. Our house (below right), where students will be gathering regularly for tea, small-group meals, and movie nights, is a five-minute walk to the west (also just off the top of the map). We look forward to showing students how enjoyable it is to live in a pedestrian culture, where small shops still abound and everything you need is within walking distance.

Bikes are also a great way to get around and explore the wider area, so we'll also encourage students to consider buying second-hand bikes, either from a local shop or (more cheaply) from gumtree.co.uk (the British Craigslist), where they can also resell them in May.

On their first Sunday in York, we’ll invite students to worship with us at the Anglican parish church of St Thomas with St Maurice. http://www.stthomaswithstmaurice.org.uk/index.php)

We found a church home here ten years ago and were happy to see how the church has grown in the last decade. When we first came to York in 2009, St Thomas was a friendly but very small congregation, struggling to stay open after having almost had to close its doors. It has now more than doubled in size and has a number of very active ministries and a large student population. Many members had warm memories of recent Calvin visitors and are eager to meet this year’s group. York has many good places to worship, and no doubt some of our students will find church homes elsewhere, but we’re grateful that this vibrant Christian community is close by.

The next day, classes will begin! Our living room is already overflowing with books, as every day three or four more students’ textbooks arrive in the mail from online booksellers. We look forward to the pleasure of diving into these books with our students next week. In the meantime, though, we pray for safe travels, and we invite you to check back in a few days to see how everyone is doing.