Dr. Wim Schaeffers with his wife, Nel

Imagine showing up to class 10 seconds before it begins and being forcibly prevented from entering the room by an aged Dutch professor sporting an atomic watch. Junior Andrew Alms doesn’t have to imagine; this very thing happened to him during his freshman year Calculus II course, taught by the now-legendary, recently deceased Dr. Wilhelmus Schaffers.
Schaffers, who ended his career as Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Applied Science in 2007 after teaching at Covenant for 14 years, went home to be with the Lord on April 20, 2009, after battling for years with a prolonged illness.
Dr. Schaffers is survived by his wife, Nel, and numerous children and grandchildren, many of whom are Covenant alumni or current students. Philip Codington, a junior business major, is one of Schaffers’ grandsons.

Dr. Wim Schaffers

“My Opa – Dr. Schaffers – was a great and goldy man,” writes Codington in his blog. “He always use to say, ‘I’m 11 years overdue. God says that the length of our days is 70 years… any time past that is borrowed time.’ My granddad lived a good 11 years and 4 months past his ‘due date.’”

At a memorial service held last Friday at Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church, it became obvious that Schaffers had influenced others not just as a demanding, rigorous academic, but also as a trusted Christian brother and servant of the Lord.
Schaffers had already retired from a 34-year career with DuPont as Mechanical Engineer before he was invited by Dr. Joseph Clumpner to come teach at Covenant. He became a member of the faculty at about the same time as Professor of Physics Dr. Don Petcher, and the two became close friends.
For several years after his arrival, Petcher recalls, Schaffers lived in a silver RV parked first on the current site of Jackson Hall, and then later on a lot near Shadowlands. “All he requested were utility hookups,” said Petcher.
Students and faculty alike looked up to Schaffers as a paragon of academic excellence. “Schaffers never turned down an opportunity to teach a course,” said Associate Professor of Physics Dr. Phill Broussard. He recalls how Schaffers agreed to teach a course in Modern Geometry, even though he knew nothing about it. Schaffers picked out a course textbook, read it, taught the class, and it ended up being one of his favorite subjects.
“Wim Schaffers had a servant’s heart and worked tirelessly for the College,” said Dr. Jeff Hall, Vice President for Academic Affairs.
“He never lost his enthusiasm,” said Broussard. “Even near the end of his life, he and Nel never complained about themselves or their own problems.”
Hall points to Schaffers “deep and abiding faith” as the undergirding motivation for all of his service and life. “He knew the Word very well,” agreed Petcher, “Especially the Psalms. When Joe Novenson would begin quoting a psalm to him, Schaffers could almost always give you the number of the psalm, and could often finish it.”
Students, however, mostly remember Schaffers’ legendary classroom intensity. “I’ll never have trouble with endurance after his classes,” said pre-engineering major Daniel Kelley. “He would start our Calculus tests at 3 p.m., and then leave and go home a few hours later. We wouldn’t get done with them until around 10.”
Junior physics major Joben Lewis appreciated Schaffers’ rigor, but struggled as much as anyone else with Schaffers’ intense tests. “Dr. Schaffers made sure I would never be afraid of failing a test or a class,” he said.
“He was certainly demanding of students,” said Petcher. But Schaffers was also beloved for his outrageous stories. Several students and professors recalled the tale of how Schaffers, as a young boy, played chess with his neighbor in Holland during the Nazi occupation by relaying moves over telegraph in Morse code. On one occasion his neighbor misinterpreted his “move” as a warning about an impending raid.
“Schaffers just moved at a different speed than everyone else,” said Kelley.

“We just believe it’s good for students to engage in the larger conversation,” said Kapic of why the department is so committed to the conference. “I want our students to be exposed to the kind of theological discourse that takes place at these conferences.”

Senior Biblical Studies major Justin Richards said engaging in this larger conversation is one of the reasons why he has attended the conference the past two years. “It’s interesting to see where we fit in the wider scheme of scholarship,” Richards said, “and it’s good to interact with a wider theological group in person.”

Kapic said another of the trip’s goals is to have Covenant students interact with students from Wheaton and other schools. “We really like the engagement that happens between students on these trips,” he said. Kapic mentioned that Covenant usually brings the largest group of students to the conference.

“It says something about our students that so many want to go and participate,” he said.

Kapic said the group generally considers the long trip worth it: “Honestly, the van rides up and back there are where some of the best discussions happen,” he said.

The trip, sponsored by the Biblical and Theological Studies Department, has been made to Wheaton for the last eight years, with Kapic and Professor of Theological Studies Ken Stewart leading past trips. Professors from the art and music departments have also attended the conference in the past, when conference topics have addressed those disciplines.

This year Kapic, Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies Dr. Scott Jones and Admissions Representative David Veldkamp planned the trip, and Chaplain Aaron Messner accompanied when Jones was unable to go due to illness.

Conference presenters included theologians from across the gamut of denominations, discussing spirituality in its historical, theological, and practical dimensions. Keynote speakers were theologians Dallas Willard and Gordon Fee.

“I’m still chewing on Fee,” said Richards. “He definitely made me see we need to emphasize the work of the Spirit more.”

Kapic said the trips are crucial for him because they allow him to get the pulse of the broader evangelical community. “As much as I listen to the speaker, I am attentive to the gasps and amens,” he said. “These conferences are a way for me to get my ear to the ground and hear what is really on the hearts of people in our evangelical circles.

A year before the conference, Wheaton invited Kapic to present a paper on Puritan spirituality. Kapic concentrated his paper on the thought of Puritan theologian John Owen, as it has been his longtime passion and professional focus. “There’s a sense in which I’ve been working on that paper for twelve years,” he said.

Kapic’s paper, entitled “John Owen’s View of  Spiritual Formation: Evangelical Holiness,” focused on Puritan John Owen’s theological premise that evangelical holiness is “Christ-centered and Spirit-enabled,” and only made possible through communion with the triune God.

“Not everyone can go to the conference, but a lot of people wanted to hear what Kapic’s paper was about, so we just wanted to provide a way to make that happen,” said Richards.

At the luncheon Kapic plans to talk about the paper, his research process, and his interaction with the other presenters at the conference. The lunch fits aptly into one of the club’s chief goals, which is to build rapport between faculty and students.

Plans are already underway for next year’s conference, at which the Bishop of Durham N.T. Wright will be speaking. “I will be graduated and living in St. Louis then, but I am definitely going to try to find a way up to Wheaton for that conference,” said Richards.

As a follow up to the conference, Richards and the Theology Club have planned a luncheon this Friday at which Kapic will discuss his presentation. All students are welcome.

Covenant volunteers pray with students as part of East Lake’s ELECT tutoring program.

Step into Christ United Methodist Church on 32nd Street on a Monday or Wednesday, and you will find the bright sanctuary filled with humming voices. The animated voices belong to pairs of children and adults clustered around the room in folding chairs and tables, all participants in the new after-school tutoring program, ELECT.
ELECT was launched on Feb. 2 by New City Fellowship and its daughter church, New City Fellowship East Lake. From 3 to 5 p.m, twenty children and fifteen volunteers congregate to talk about the school day, listen to a Bible story, and work on homework. Once work is done, kids and tutors unwind with books, games, art supplies and soccer.
ELECT stands for East Lake: Every Child Taught. “We wanted the children to know that they are special, that they are chosen,” said East Lake Pastor Jim Pickett.
In September 2008, New City planted the church in East Lake, a Chattanooga community known by its residents for its racial diversity. Last September, the church plant asked Cadwell to start an after-school program for East Lake that would reflect the racial dynamics of the neighborhood.
Cadwell immediately researched and dialogued with schools in the area to identify potential need. “I didn’t want to step on anybody’s toes,” she said.
ELECT’s work with children is central to the church’s cross-cultural vision, Cadwell said. The ELECT kids are 70 percent Latino and 30 percent African American, Cadwell said.
The ELECT program is modeled on the holistic after-school program GLAD, run by New City Fellowship in Glenwood, which has served thirty-five to forty kids during the past ten years, according to Cadwell.
Parent Carmen Perez came to New City four years ago, and enrolled her kids with the ELECT program when it was started earlier this year. She said it has been a good experience for her daughters, 12-year-old Yadira and 5-year-old Kayla. Yadira Perez said “doing homework” is her favorite ELECT activity.
7-year-old Kenny Rafale Velasquez was also enthusiastic about her studies. “First, I get my homework done,” Velasquez said, swinging her long ponytail as she proudly displayed two completed math pages.
The twenty ELECT kids come from East Lake Elementary and Clifton Hills Elementary, said Director of After-School Programming Kara Cadwell. Nine more students are currently waiting for tutors.
Clifton Hills Elementary ESL teacher Gabriela Halfin said ELECT’s transportation to and from its tutoring site sets it apart from other tutoring programs. Halfin runs an after-school program for Clifton Hills’ struggling second grade class. On a normal day, transportation issues prevent five of the nine students from coming, she said.

As one of two full-time ESL teachers at Clifton Hills, Halfin said, she serves ninety English language learners, and her time with students and parents is limited.
“The students don’t have homework assistance in the classroom, and their parents don’t speak English at home,” said Halfin. “Someone checking their homework in an English environment is very valuable.”
The ELECT children in Halfin’s class tell her that they “play games, go to the park, eat fruit for a snack,” she said. “They are very happy.”
Cadwell said this collaboration between churches and schools helps to cultivate “the greatest possible good” for the community.
According to Cadwell, ELECT’s service to ESL students is primarily the work of Latino Ministry Director Eunice Mendoza, who has been involved with Chattanooga’s Latino community for the last 10 years. Mendoza said that some of the Latino ELECT children are “friends of friends” whom she met through ESL classes at Esperanza Del Barrio (“Hope for the City”), on McCallie Ave.
At this point, four Covenant students tutor regularly at ELECT, and Cadwell hopes more will join in the future. “You never know what kind of impact you’ll have,” she said.
Senior Mark Watanabe, one of the tutors, said ELECT is a good place for Covenant students to fulfill practical service off campus. “Lots of practical service feels like busywork,” said Watanabe. “This is practical.”

Want to tutor for ELECT?
Email Kara Cadwell at glad.newcityfellowship@gmail.com