A Very Good Report

Pierre-Sovann Chauny, Prof. of Systematic Theology

My first year of teaching at the Faculté Jean Calvin has come to an end so it’s time to take stock. (written mid-2017)

I’m glad to be able to give a very positive report. I’ve enjoyed a very good working relationship with my fellow professors, the administrative team and the students, even better than I’d hoped for. In my roles as secretary for professors’ meetings and treasurer of the Editions Kerygma (the Faculté publishing house), I have learned a great deal about the way things work here, but it’s the teaching I’ve found the most rewarding.

I enjoyed the work of preparing two public lectures, one for the symposium in December 2016 on the Lausanne movement and one for the theological conference in February 2017 on faith and works. Most of my time, however, has been devoted to preparing the three new courses I teach. During the first few classes I realized I had more material than was needed and made the necessary adjustments, adopting a slower pace and taking more time to answer questions. This is something I plan to work hard at in the coming years, allowing more time for each topic and encouraging more interaction with the students.

This past year we covered the doctrines of the person and work of Christ, salvation, predestination, the works of God, man, and sin. I gave the students various types of assignments and found they came up with noticeably better results in the second semester. I will continue to look for creative pedagogical methods to help my students make progress.

Finally, I am grateful to the Lord for such a good year, and would like to thank the administrative team, the professors and the students, as they have all helped me settle in! I hope that in God’s grace next year will be as good—if not better!

Pierre-Sovann Chauny, Professor of Systematic Theology

Faculté Jean Calvin's 2017 Faculty Team

From left to right:

Kim TRAN, Director
Michel JOHNER, Professor of History, Ethics and the Dean
Paul GIRAUD, Accountant, Choir Director
Aguy KHAYIGUIAN, Academic Assistant, Head of Recruitment
Yannick IMBERT, Professor of Apologetics, History
Mikaël DELUCA, Associate Professor of Hebrew, Head of Distance/e-Learning
Rodrigo DESOUSA, Professor of Old Testament, Hebrew
Donald COBB, Professor of New Testament, Greek
Jean Philippe BRU, Professor of Practical Theology
Gert KWAKKEL, Professor of Old Testament, Hebrew
Pierre-Sovann CHAUNY, Professor of Systematic Theology (not in photo)

Who Is Jean-Philippe Bru?

           Jean-Philippe and Dana Bru

      Jean-Philippe Bru is the current occupant of the James Montgomery Boice Chair of Practical Theology at the Faculté Jean Calvin, the Reformed seminary in Aix-en-Provence, France.

      The Rev. Bru was born near Bordeaux in 1965, but grew up in Nîmes, a major center of Protestantism in France. His family embraced the evangelical faith in the 1970s. After high school, Jean-Philippe attended the Seminary in Aix for a year. He then trained as a missionary in the Baptist Church, and was sent as a church-planter to Rumania. There he met his lovely wife, Dana. Together they returned to Aix so that Jean-Philippe could complete his studies. Dana is a scholar in her own right, an expert on European literature.

      After receiving the Masters degree at Aix, the Brus accepted a call to help with a church-planting effort in Lyon, alongside Francis Foucachon, another graduate from Aix. After six years in that work, the Brus were called to do evangelism in Saint-Girons, a town at the foothills of the Pyrénées, the mountain range bordering on Spain. He has also been a regular translator for Editions Excelsis, the largest evangelical publishing house in France. Jean-Philippe was ordained in the year 2007 in the Evangelical Reformed Church.

      Here is how Jean-Philippe describes his sense of call to the Seminary at Aix: “If I accepted the position of professor-coordinator of practical theology, it is of course because I have always been drawn to teaching, but it is especially because I have become more and more aware that pastors needed, in addition to their formal training, to be able to reflect theologically about their practice and to enlarge their toolbox in order better to face the challenges of their ministry.” Jean-Philippe believes the Faculté Jean Calvin is the right place to carry this out.