The installation of an academic dean is a covenantal event. It is an occasion in which a seminary and church community gathers together to say once again those things which have to be said if the seminary is to remain true to its calling. The installation is at least as important to the community as it is to the individual. Through the installation of the individual into the office, the community states its expectations not only concerning the work of that person, but, even more, its intentions about the fulfillment of its own mission. Moreover, the significance of the occasion is not limited to the seminary community alone. Representatives of other seminaries and colleges are invited to be present, while the president of the Board of Theological Education of the Reformed Church in America and the President of the Classis of Holland unite in asking their questions to which the new dean responds with affirmative joy. What is said and done here confirms once more that the mission of this particular seminary is carried out in harmony with other seminaries and with the whole church of Jesus Christ.