The Forum Podcast

There are losses for which you will never find the words. Cory Willson has come to believe that is not a failure of faith. It is the reason the Spirit groans on our behalf.

In this episode, Phillip Palacios sits down with Willson, Professor of Missiology and Public Theology at Calvin Theological Seminary, for a conversation about the Psalms and the kind of hope that can carry weight.

Willson describes learning the Psalms twice: first as a student, conceptually, and then again out of desperation, when he discovered that praying them was not the same as teaching them. He talks about the loneliness of doubt in a church that had no language for it, about leading incarcerated men through writing their own laments, and about a father-wound brought honestly to God that opened into praise rather than closing it off.

The heart of the conversation is a challenge to the way churches often speak about the future. We anchor hope in God's faithfulness, which Willson affirms without hesitation. But we rarely ask what it costs a person to keep hoping, to write the next application, to imagine a future again after disappointment. His conviction, drawn from Romans 8 and the Psalms of lament, is that no community sustains hope it has refused to grieve its way toward.

He speaks personally, too, about the year of mourning he and his wife observed after the death of their son Julian, and how that grief made room for joy rather than crowding it out.

The Forum Podcast is a production of Calvin Theological Seminary.

Three presidents. One office. And none of them saw it coming.

In this episode, Phillip Palacios welcomes Jim De Jong, Neal Plantinga, and Jul Medenblik, the fifth, sixth, and seventh presidents of Calvin Theological Seminary, for a conversation recorded in the seminary chapel during the institution's 150th year.

They begin where each of their stories began: with surprise. A closed door and an unexpected opening. A denomination asking a teacher to consider administration. A phone call received in Atlanta that set a search in motion. What emerges is less a set of leadership lessons than a shared testimony about a God who calls people who did not nominate themselves.

The conversation moves through the things these three built and inherited: a PhD program with a global student body, a preaching center born from the conviction that pastors climb a high hill every Sunday, student housing, a student center, online programs that reached students who could never move to Grand Rapids. But it lingers longest on the interior work: the criticism leaders absorb, the colleagues and executive associates who quietly carried them, the spouses and families who bore the cost, and the deliberate practice of gratitude in seasons that were hard.

Near the end, Palacios asks what encouragement they would offer the seminary community as it prepares to welcome an eighth president. Their answer looks backward before it looks forward, to a God with a long record of faithfulness, who is not surprised by what surprises us.

The Forum Podcast is a production of Calvin Theological Seminary.

What does it mean to lead from a place of weakness?

In this episode of the Forum Podcast, Calvin Theological Seminary President Jul Medenblik sits down with author and pastor Dr. Mandy Smith to explore what it truly means to be a vulnerable, human leader in ministry. Drawing from her book The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry, Smith reflects on the leadership crisis that reshaped her understanding of calling and opened up a deeper vision of dependence on God.

Together, they discuss the difference between good and bad vulnerability, the temptation for pastors to become idols rather than models of dependence, and the practical wisdom needed to discern what to share, with whom, and when. They also reflect on how human limitations can become places of freedom, and why those on the margins may have the most to teach the church about strength in weakness.

Whether you are a seminary student, a seasoned pastor, or someone wrestling with what faithful leadership looks like, this conversation offers a challenging and hope-filled vision of ministry shaped not by self-sufficiency, but by grace.

In this episode of the Forum Podcast, Phillip Palacios, Director of Communications, sits down with Dr. Karin Maag, Director of the Meeter Center for Calvin Studies and Adjunct Professor of the History of Christianity, and Dr. Ronald Feenstra, Professor of Systematic Theology, to discuss a new edited volume they have co-edited together.

Their conversation explores how the project began as a series of faculty discussions around a central question: what does Calvin Theological Seminary mean when it says it is Reformed? What started as internal reflection gradually became a collaborative collection of essays from across the faculty, offering readers a thoughtful and accessible window into the seminary’s theological identity.

Along the way, Maag and Feenstra reflect on key emphases of the Reformed tradition, including the sovereignty of God, covenantal thought, confessional identity, and God’s redemptive work in all creation. They also discuss how the project helped faculty better understand one another’s teaching and created a stronger sense of coherence around student formation.

As Calvin Seminary enters its 150th year, this volume serves as a timely snapshot of the seminary’s identity, commitments, and vision. It is a rich conversation for alumni, prospective students, pastors, church leaders, and anyone interested in Reformed theological education.

In this episode of the Forum Podcast, Jonah Gollihugh, Communications Team Member and MDiv ’16 alum, sits down with Dr. Neil Martin, ThM ’13 alum, pastor, former design professional, and scholar, for a remarkable conversation about faith, suffering, vocation, and an unconventional path to ministry.

Martin reflects on growing up in the UK with no Christian background, coming to faith through a small village church, and studying engineering at Cambridge while wrestling with big questions about God and Scripture. He also shares how a sudden health crisis in his twenties reshaped the course of his life, driving him deep into Scripture and theological study during a long season of illness.

The conversation explores how Martin’s background in design unexpectedly led to his work on the 2011 NIV update, including the use of computational lexicography to navigate questions of contemporary language in Bible translation. He also discusses his time at Calvin Seminary, his doctoral work at Oxford on Galatians, and the way his life now brings together pastoral ministry, mentoring students, and academic scholarship.

It is a thoughtful and encouraging conversation about God’s faithfulness, the formation that can happen through suffering, and the surprising ways vocation unfolds in service to the church.

Why does Christian formation matter as much as knowledge and skill?

In this episode of The Forum Podcast, Jeff Sajdak, Dean of Students, joins Phillip Palacios to reflect on spiritual formation, community, and what it means to be shaped in Christ for ministry at Calvin Theological Seminary.

Drawing on years of pastoral experience and student formation work, Jeff explores the difference between formation and malformation, the dangers of ill-formed leadership, and why Christlike character is essential for faithful ministry. The conversation highlights how formation happens not only through academics and vocational training, but through shared practices of worship, prayer, Scripture, and life together in community.

Recorded during Calvin Theological Seminary’s 150th anniversary, this episode connects formation to the church’s confession, especially the communion of saints, and to the Reformed conviction that all of life belongs to God. Listeners are invited to consider how theological education forms leaders whose lives bear the fruit of the Spirit.

The Forum Podcast is a production of Calvin Theological Seminary.

What does it mean to confess “We believe” if our lives are not being shaped by Christ?

In this episode of The Forum Podcast, Cory Willson, Professor of Missiology, World Christianity, and Public Theology at Calvin Theological Seminary, joins Phillip Palacios for a conversation on the Nicene Creed, Christian mission, and the relationship between doctrine and lived faith.

Recorded during Calvin Theological Seminary’s 150th anniversary, the discussion explores how the Nicene Creed arose from the church’s real-life struggles to live faithfully in the world, and why its theological clarity still matters today. Cory reflects on the danger of “dead orthodoxy,” the call to a dialogue of love with culture, and how Reformed theology equips the church for faithful witness in diverse global contexts.

This episode invites listeners to consider how ancient confession becomes present-day discipleship, and why theology must always bear fruit in the life of the church.

The Forum Podcast is a production of Calvin Theological Seminary.

Why does the Nicene Creed still matter 1,700 years later?

In this episode of The Forum Podcast, Sam Ha, Theological Librarian and Curator of the Meeter Center for Calvin Studies, joins Phillip Palacios to reflect on the enduring significance of the Nicene Creed and its place in the life of the church today.

Recorded in the context of Calvin Theological Seminary’s 150th anniversary, the conversation explores how ancient creeds and Reformed confessions continue to shape Christian belief, worship, and practice. Sam draws connections between the Nicene Creed, the Heidelberg Catechism, and John Calvin’s conviction that theology must be lived, pastoral, and responsive to the needs of the world.

Touching on themes of suffering, unity, pilgrimage, and hope, this episode invites listeners to see the creed not as a relic of the past, but as a living confession—one that anchors faith, fosters unity across cultures, and calls the church to faithful witness today.

The Forum Podcast is a production of Calvin Theological Seminary.

In this insightful episode of the Forum Podcast from Calvin Theological Seminary, current ThM student Leah Jolly talks with Dr. Madison Pierce, Associate Professor of New Testament at Western Theological Seminary, whose scholarship centers on Hebrews, the Catholic Epistles, and Scripture’s use of Scripture. Dr. Pierce shares how her early love for teaching and Scripture led her from small group Bible studies to advanced research on divine speech and the Trinity in Hebrews.

Along with Leah and Dr. Pierce, you'll explore how careful reading of Scripture—especially the “muted voices” of the New Testament—can deepen your faith and address common assumptions about law, grace, and the nature of God’s ongoing revelation.

Join them for a conversation that blends personal story, theological insight, and a passion for helping the church read the Bible more faithfully.

In this episode:

In this episode of the Forum Podcast from Calvin Theological Seminary, current ThM student Leah Jolly sits down with Dr. Karin Maag, longtime editor of the Calvin Theological Journal (CTJ), to discuss the journal’s 60-year legacy of advancing Reformed scholarship and mentoring new voices in theology.

Founded in 1966, CTJ continues to offer a unique blend of biblical, theological, and historical research—serving scholars, pastors, and students around the world. Dr. Maag shares insights into her decade as editor, her vision for the journal’s future, and why thoughtful, charitable scholarship still matters in an increasingly digital and fast-paced world.

In this conversation:

-The story behind the Calvin Theological Journal and its enduring mission