The Westminster Seminary California community grieves with the family of Dr. Robert G. den Dulk, the seminary’s second president, who passed from suffering in persevering faith into celebration in the presence of Christ on Thursday morning, August 2, 2007. A great leader with a humble servant’s heart has been ushered by the strong hand of his faithful Savior from the struggles and suffering of the church militant into the joys of the church triumphant. We give thanks to God for Bob’s lifetime of joyful, selfless service to Christ, his gospel, and his church. Together we mourn our loss of so faithful, encouraging, and supportive a loved one, Christian brother, and friend; but we also rest in the assurance of God’s Word that Bob’s departure to be with Christ is for him “far better” and that a great day of resurrection-reunion awaits all who trust in the Lord Jesus.
Dr. den Dulk is survived by his wife Nellie, their sons Gilbert, Tim, and Rob and their wives, and 15 grandchildren.
Having ably served in a variety of administrative roles for Westminster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania (1964—1982), Dr. den Dulk was instrumental in the founding of Westminster Seminary California, serving from WSC’s inception first as vice president for administration (1979—1988) and then as the seminary’s second president (1988—1993). Over the last fourteen years Bob and his wife Nellie have continued their involvement with and support of WSC in a variety of ways, including Bob’s service as a trustee and as chairman of the board of trustees. In May 2007 the board reelected Bob to another term as trustee and, recognizing his health challenges, elected him as the board’s honorary chairman.
Dr. den Dulk brought to his service as the second president of Westminster Seminary California (1988-1993) an extraordinary blend of experience and expertise in business and in theological education, together with a passionate commitment to Christ’s church and the advance of the Gospel throughout the world. Born in Ripon, California, on December 30, 1937, Bob grew up in a Christian home and in the Christian Reformed Church. During Bob’s childhood and youth Dr. Cornelius Van Til, professor of apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary, was a regular guest in the den Dulk home. He graduated from Calvin College (A.B.) in 1959 and received his Bachelor of Divinity degree (later converted to Master of Divinity) from Westminster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania in 1964. Westminster conferred upon him the Doctor of Divinity honoris causa in 2003.
Immediately upon graduating from Westminster, Bob began to serve the seminary in a variety of capacities: business manager, director of administration, and finally vice president for administration. Throughout his decades of service on the East Coast, Bob, a native son of California, had been aware of the great need for Reformed pastoral education in the western United States. It was therefore logical, as well as bold and sacrificial, for Westminster President Edmund P. Clowney to send his closest administrative colleagues—Dr. den Dulk and Dr. Robert Strimple, vice president for academic affairs—to southern California in 1979, to lay the foundation for a Westminster in the West.
The Lord had already forged abundant contacts between Bob and many churches and Christians in a variety of confessionally Reformed denominations in the West. Because of their confidence in Bob’s integrity and his love for Christ, many of these friends of Westminster would prove to be crucial partners in the establishment of WSC. Bob and his wife Nellie labored tirelessly in the early years to make the new seminary known to prospective students, as well as to churches and donors. As administrative vice president of the fledgling seminary in Escondido, Bob spearheaded the purchase of property and the construction of the seminary’s first building, containing library, classrooms, bookstore, and faculty and administrative offices. In December 1983, when a rainstorm required the sudden relocation of the campus dedication service from a park amphitheater to the as-yet-unfinished library atrium on the muddy new campus, those present recognized how fitting it was, not only that the Lord be praised in the very place where students would soon explore Scripture, but also that Bob den Dulk bring the message that extolled God’s great work in establishing the seminary and providing its new “home.”
In 1988, when Dr. Strimple resigned the WSC presidency to devote his time and energy to his calling as professor of systematic theology, an extensive search led to the appointment of Bob den Dulk, his longtime colleague in seminary leadership on both coasts, as the seminary’s second president. Called away from responsibilities elsewhere by the young seminary’s need for the stability of his leadership, Bob made clear from the start that he expected his presidential tenure to be transitional and limited in duration.
The five years of the den Dulk presidency were marked by significant developments. A single annual Elders Conference held on the seminary’s Escondido campus grew into a plurality of annual conferences held in various regions. The Elders’ Forum newsletter was published to expand even further the seminary’s training of ruling elders in Reformed congregations. The board, with the faculty’s support, augmented the seminary’s confessional standards, officially adding the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, and Canons of Dort to the Westminster Standards as articulating the unified Reformed Faith to which WSC is committed. This decision embodied the confessionally-committed Reformed ecumenicity, blending the strengths of the continental Reformed tradition and British-American Presbyterianism, that had characterized the Westminster Seminaries from their beginnings in 1929 and 1979. In response to President den Dulk’s encouragement, the faculty drafted a statement expressing our convictions regarding the teaching of God’s Word on controversial topics in the contemporary church and culture. The statement, approved by faculty and board, was published as A Testimony to our Time. Plans were set in motion for the construction of a second building, containing an enlarged student lounge and additional classrooms and faculty offices, finally to be completed in 1995. The process leading to accreditation by the Association of Theological Schools was begun. Bob’s personal encouragement, example, and support stimulated students, faculty, and alumni to reach out to prison inmates.
As Bob’s five-year presidency (and thirty-year employment with the Westminsters) drew to a close in 1993, friends of the den Dulks who shared their passion to establish Westminster Seminary California as a center to train pastors endowed a fund that still enables the seminary to invite an experienced minister to bring special lectures on the pastoral ministry. For the last 14 years the den Dulk Lectures in Pastoral Ministry have brought seasoned pastors from a variety of denominations and regions to WSC’s campus for three days each spring, to share wisdom born from experience in gospel ministry with our students.
It is no exaggeration to say that the founding and flowering of WSC have been a labor of love into which Bob and Nellie together have poured their energies and delight for over a quarter century. Even throughout Bob’s months-long battle with cancer, he interacted regularly and supportively with WSC President W. Robert Godfrey and others on the WSC administrative team, generating new ideas and facilitating contacts to advance the seminary’s growth in service to Christ, his gospel, and his church.
In fact, Bob’s vision for the advance of Christ’s kingdom was far broader than theological education. He was licensed to exhort in Classis Hackensack of the Christian Reformed Church in 1963, while still a student at Westminster Theological Seminary. More recently, he has served as an elder in Hanford Christian Reformed Church in central California, and as a delegate to the CRC Synod in 1995 and 1996. He served for many years on the synodical committee, “Denominational Routes to Ministry.” He also provided wise leadership for a variety of Christian ministries through active service on their boards. In addition to Westminster Seminary California, Bob served as a trustee of the Barnabas Foundation, Phil-Mont Christian Academy, the den Dulk Christian Foundation, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, Arab World Ministries, Racom Associates, Ligonier Ministries, and Covenant College.
One of many measures of the work of God’s grace in the heart of Bob den Dulk was the series of email letters that he sent to friends and family over the last 14 months, blending updates on the highs and lows of his war with cancer with expressions of thanksgiving to God for his mercies and faithfulness, and with words of encouragement for all Bob’s and Nellie’s readers and prayer-allies, drawn from his own meditation on the promises of God’s Word: Psalms 16, 27, 73, 102, 103 and other Scriptures, including Romans 8. In Letter #17, sent this morning, the den Dulk family wrote,
“Bob simply and sincerely desired to be an instrument in God’s hand to promote the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Bob was working on Psalm 23 as he anticipated his next letter to all of you. It is our prayer that each one of you will know the love and care of our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ (John 10:11, 27-30), and that you too will be assured that His goodness and mercy pursue you all the days of your life as you thankfully serve Him.”
Alluding to the biblical comfort articulated so beautifully in Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 1, the family wrote with thanks, “Bob was so blessed to die with a triumphant faith, assured that he belonged, body and soul, to His faithful Savior Jesus Christ.”
We give God thanks for this big, calm man whose faith and worldwide vision for Christ’s kingdom still stir us to serve the King with joyful sacrifice. We join in prayer for Nellie and the entire den Dulk family, that in this time of sorrow and loss our faithful and merciful God will, through the strong and true promises of his Word and the presence of his Spirit of compassion, impart comfort and peace beyond understanding.
