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Part-time job opportunity at STU

The three partner colleges of the Saskatoon Theological Union (STU) are seeking a Doctor of Ministry Program Director. The Director will lead the implementation of the STU’s cooperative Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program in collaboration with the DMin Committee of the Common Faculty of the STU. The successful applicant can work on-site or remotely. The deadline for applications is August 8, 2024.

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Canadian Theological Society Statement Calling for an End to Violence

At this time, the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 37,000 persons, including more than 15,000 children.  In the occupied West Bank, more than 553 people have been killed, including over 137 children. More than 90,000 Palestinians have been injured since October 7, 2023, in Gaza and the West Bank. On that day, 1,139 Israelis were killed and a further 120 are still held hostage inside Gaza, at least 34 of whom are presumed dead.  We affirm all life to be precious and created in the image of God.

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Detailed Program and Update on Canadian Theological Society Conference

LINK TO DETAILED PROGRAM FOR THE CTS 2024 ANNUAL CONFERENCE:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CNvT4SO1leJVrS2mCxQqsaYO_mRTPXF-/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=107981292537749654187&rtpof=true&sd=true

The detailed program is a living document that aims to provide complete, accurate, and up-to-date information regarding all aspects of the conference. In an evolving situation, the detailed program will serve as an ongoing point of reference.

CHANGE TO CONFERENCE LOCATION:

All three days of the Canadian Theological Society conference will now take place at the Newman Centre (3484 Rue Peel, Montreal). We are grateful to Liam Farrer, Director of the Newman Centre and member of CTS, for his support in facilitating these last-minute changes.

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Update on Meeting in Montreal

The Canadian Theological Society (CTS) is moving forward with an in-person meeting in Montreal. We recognize that concerns have been raised regarding protests taking place on the McGill campus and the strike underway among McGill law professors. We believe that the agenda for our meeting is aligned with the values of dignity, equity, and justice present in these movements.

As an act of solidarity with faculty labour movements, the CTS executive has decided to move the first day of the conference off the McGill campus to the Newman Centre. As an organization in solidarity with the union, all members of CTS will receive “picket passes” and those holding a “picket pass” will not be considered by the union to be crossing the picket line.

A statement regarding violence in Gaza and direct action on university campuses will be presented for discussion at the CTS AGM.
More information will be shared with members and participants over the coming days. The CTS executive is grateful for your patience and support as we navigate these complex questions and their concrete implications.

If you have concerns about your participation of the Canadian Theological Society meeting, we encourage you to reach out to CTS president Sarah Johnson (Sarah.Kathleen.Johnson@ustpaul.ca) and CTS program chair Meghan Bowen (meghan.bowen@mail.utoronto.ca).

 

Annual Conference Program

Canadian Theological Society Annual Conference 2024

In association with the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences Congress 2024 

 

Sustaining Shared Futures

 

McGill University, Montreal QC

Monday, June 17 – Wednesday, June 19, 2024

 

Unless otherwise specified, all presentations will take place at McIntyre Medical Building

(3655 Promenade Sir William Osler), Rm. 206

 

MONDAY, JUNE 17

 

8:30-9:00            Introductory Remarks

 

9:00-10:00         Panel 1 – “Emerging Methods for Contemporary Issues”

–          Merciful Dialogue as Theological Method (Meghan Bowen)

–          Sin, Anxiety and Bowen Family Systems Theory (Fraser Elsdon)

–          Social Reconciliation: The Generative Contention of Spiritual Gift and Social Task (Gordon Rixon)

–          The United Church of Canada’s Theology of Inclusion (Don Schweitzer)

 

10:00-10:10      Transition (10 minutes)

 

10:10-11:00      Panel 2 – “Theologies of Treaty” (proposed panel)

–          Ray Aldred, Christina Conroy, Matthew Anderson

 

11:00-11:20      Break (20 minutes)

 

1120-12:30        DEJ Panel 1 – Which Way Canada? An Afro-Migration Timeline

–          Dorothy Williams

 

12:30-13:30     Lunch

 

13:30-14:30      Panel 3 – “Resistance and Critique of Normative Narratives”

–          Refusing to “Sustain” the Future (Ryan Turnbull)

–          Relinquishing Hope at the End (Kayko Driedger Hesslein)

–          The Desire of Every Living Thing: Cosmotheandric Christology and Ecological Collapse (Brett Potter)

–          The Naming of Eve in Genesis 3 and Anthropocentric Sin (Rosemary Boissoneau)

 

14:30-14:50     Break (20 minutes)

 

14:50-16:00      Newman Lecture – “From Vertical to Horizontal: World Repairing Work for the Common Good”

–          Lori Beaman

 

16:00-18:00     President’s Cocktail Hour (event presented by FHSS)

 

TUESDAY, JUNE 18

 

9:00-10:00         Panel 4 – “Problematizing and Expanding Boundaries”

–          Healing as Journey toward Wholeness: Articulating the Complementary Roles of Psychology and Spiritual Theology in Human Development (Jean-Pierre Fortin)

–          Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Understanding of the Beatific Vision and the Art Form of Drama (Li-Wei Liu)

–          Christian Martyrdom, Violence, and the Catholicity of Interpretation (Jeremy M. Bergen)

–          Our Common Home as Sacramental Communion: The Interdependent Sacramentality of Creation at the Heart of the Ecotheology and Cosmology of Laudato Si (Fr. Warren Schmidt)

 

10:00-10:10     Transition (10 minutes)

 

10:10-11:00      Panel 5 – “Healing Haunted Histories” (proposed panel)

–          Joshua Zentner-Barrett, Erik Sorensen, SJ, Nnaemeka Ali, OMI, Dr. Christine Jamieson; Dr. Sheila Smith, RSCJ, moderator

 

11:00-11:20     Break (20 minutes)

 

11:20-12:30      DEJ Panel 2  – “Interrogating the (Im)Possibility of Shared Futures”

–          Ahmeda Mansaray-Richardson, Rubén David Bonlla Ramos, Deivit Montealegre Cuenca

 

12:30-13:30     Networking Lunch

 

13:30-14:20      Panel 6 – “Lonergan and Settler Colonialism” (proposed panel)

–          Reid Locklin, Kyle Ferguson, Deanna Zantingh, Christine Jamieson

 

14:20-14:30     Transition (10 minutes)

 

 

 

 

14:30-15:20      Panel 7 – “Decentring Epistemologies”

–          Assessing the Development of Biblical Hermeneutics in Africa and its Effect on African Christianity and Society – A Case Study of the Ghanaian Context (Felix Percy Longdon)

–          A Story of the Teepee in the St. Thomas More College Chapel, Postsecularism, and Inculturation: The Emic and Etic in Interdisciplinary Conversation (Christopher Hrynkow)

–          “Renewing Rural Worship” through Receptive Ecumenism (Mykayla Turner)

 

15:20-15:40     Break (20 minutes)

 

15:40-16:30      AGM

 

16:30-18:00      Free Time – please take this time to socialize with other members of CTS, and make your way to the banquet location

 

18:00 – Banquet (Location TBD)

 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19

 

9:00-10:30         Joint Lecture with the Canadian Society of Church History – “A Truly African Christianity: The Leadership of John G. Gatu.”

–          Tim Larsen

Location: Otto Maass Chemistry Building (801 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest), Rm. 10

            This session is made possible with the financial support of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

 

10:30-11:00      Time to return to CTS conference location (McIntyre Medical Building, Rm. 206)

 

11:00-11:50      Panel 8 – “Experiments in Decolonization: On the Writing of Ethical Guidelines to Address Spiritual Violence Committed by Christian Among Indigenous Peoples in Canada” (proposed panel)

–          Christine Jamieson, Ven. Roselyn Kantlaht’ant Elm, Christina Conroy; Lori Ransom, moderator

 

11:50-13:00     Lunch

 

13:00-13:50      Panel 9 – “Future Vision of Liberation and Inclusion”

–          Theologizing Canadian Landscapes as Black Futures (Channelle Robinson)

–          Harvey Milk and the Legacy of Hope: A Theological Virtue for Today (Tilly Flood)

–          Pope Francis and the Politics of the New Evangelization (Nick Olkovich)

 

13:50-14:00     Transition (10 minutes)

14:00-14:50      Panel 10 – “Women: Advocacy and Liberation”

–          Eros and Mysticism as Liberating Theology (Emmanuelle Christie)

–          The Lord has Heard the Desire of the Poor: How Thomas Aquinas’ Commentary on Psalms can Help the Church Understand and Address the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (Liam Farrer)

–          “Quieter, feminine, emotional”: Enacting and Disrupting Biblical Womanhood on the Contemporary Worship Stage (Anneli Loepp Thiessen)

 

14:50-15:10     Break (20 minutes)

 

15:10-16:00      Presidential Address

–          Sarah Kathleen Johnson

 

16:00-16:30      Closing Remarks

 

 

Join the Presidents and Rectors of Canadian Catholic Universities and Colleges in Canada

 

 

Call for papers/presentations on the theme:

Incarnating the Common Good –                   Catholic Institutions Engaging Diversities

 

 

Date:   April 29-May 1, 2024

Host:   Irene and Doug Schmeiser Centre for Faith, Reason, Peace, and Justice

St. Thomas More College, Saskatoon, SK

 

The Prairie Symposium for the Common Good is an initiative of St. Paul’s College, University of Manitoba; Campion College, University of Regina; and St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan. The symposium takes place at a different college on a rotating basis, attracting scholars and practitioners devoted to examining the Common Good through the prism of an annual theme. The symposia are interdisciplinary, interfaith, and look forward to forging connections among scholars, institutions, and communities and faith. In 2024, the theme will be: Incarnating the Common Good – Catholic Institutions Engaging Diversities.

 

This year, the keynote speaker is Meghan Clark, Ph.D., of St. John’s University (NY). The title of her lecture is “Everyone is Needed: Building the Common Good through Dialogue and Friendship.” Furthermore, Dawn M. Nothwehr, OSF, Ph.D. of Catholic Theological Union will deliver the Ayotte Lecture on Faith and the Environment. The title of her lecture is, “Sharing the Creator’s Earth: St. Francis and the Sultan as a Model of Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples?”

 

 

As host of the 2024 symposium, the Irene and Doug Schmeiser Centre for Faith, Reason, Peace, and Justice invites proposals. The symposium’s theme “Incarnating the Common Good – Catholic Institutions Engaging Diversities” should be considered broadly, with diversities understood as pointing to a variety of perspectives, cultures, and peoples. Presentations by scholars and practitioners in a range of Catholic institutions (education, health, social services, NGOs, etc.), as well as their secular, ecumenical, and multifaith partners, are welcome. In the spirit of Pope Francis’ promotion of cultures of encounter, this gathering will explore how Catholic institutions and entities can, and do, lead with compassion, recognizing the inherent human dignity within the communities they serve. Vital to the symposium will be naming the tensions and promises of such commitments within a pluralistic world, as well as highlighting concrete paths of dialogue and action. This conference will not shy away from difficult conversations, including, but not limited to those surrounding LGBTQ2S+ equality, Indigenization, ecumenical and interfaith partnerships, biomedical issues, secularization, structural and corporate sin within Catholic institutions, and gender equity. The symposium will foster safe and respectful dialogue concerning the unique contributions of Catholic institutions engaging diversities in support of the common good.

All presentations will be limited to 20 minutes in length. Individual submissions and panels are welcome.

 

This in-person symposium will take place in Saskatoon starting on the evening of Monday, April 29th and running until Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Proposals of no more than 250 words can be sent by Jan. 31, 2024 to Chris Hrynkow, Co-director of the Irene and Doug Schmeiser Centre for Faith, Reason, Peace, and Justice at schmeisercentre@stmcollege.ca.

 

 

 

Message from the President – Canadian Theological Society Proposals Due January 31

Dear colleagues and friends,

 

As the new year begins, we look forward to the annual meeting of the Canadian Theological Society (CTS) at McGill University in Montreal from June 17 to 19, 2024. The theme of the conference is Sustaining Shared Futures. We are meeting as part of the Congress of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences.

 

The conference will feature a Jay Newman Memorial Lecture in the Philosophy of Religion given by Dr. Lori Beaman. There will also be opportunities for increased collaboration with the other societies that are part of the Canadian Corporation for the Study of Religion. Most importantly, the meeting is an opportunity for all of us to engage with one another’s scholarship and to support one another in our theological work, whether it is primarily situated in the church, the community, or the academy.

 

You are encouraged to consider submitting a proposal for a paper, panel, or artistic expression to the conference. Proposals are due on January 31, 2024. The Call for Papers is available online: http://cts-stc.ca/call-for-papers/

 

Proposals from graduate students are very welcome. Fiona Li, the graduate student representative on the CTS executive, has prepared a summary of funding sources available to support graduate student participation in the conference: https://uottawa-my.sharepoint.com/personal/sjohnso7_ustpaul_ca/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?share=EfxcyEmg-V9IhQfq5Wt2ZRsBG6Y_O1aKF3g0LWWG52UE2Q&e=Oj6b0M

 

Graduate students are also encouraged to submit a paper to the Student Essay Contest. Submissions are due January 31, 2024: http://cts-stc.ca/2023/student-essay-contest-2/

 

On behalf of the CTS executive, very best wishes for the year ahead, and we hope to see many of you in Montreal!

 

Sarah Kathleen Johnson

President, Canadian Theological Society

J. Michael Miller Chair in Catholic Studies

J. Michael Miller Chair in Catholic Studies

 

St. Mark’s College, the Catholic Theological College affiliated with the University of British Columbia, invites applications for the J. Michael Miller Chair in Catholic Studies. This Chair celebrates the legacy of Archbishop Miller, his passion for Catholic education and the impact he has had in Vancouver and the broader community. Archbishop Miller taught theology at the University of Saint Thomas in Houston (UST) for many years, and also taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and the Seminario Regional del Sureste in Tehuacán, México. He served as President of UST for six years, then later as Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education in Rome. As Archbishop of Vancouver, he has been a strong supporter of Catholic higher education and of missionary discipleship and evangelization, dialogue and engagement with the world, and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Activities of the Chair will support his legacy in these areas through teaching, research, and service.

 

We seek an outstanding and enthusiastic teacher and scholar with demonstrated excellence in undergraduate / graduate teaching (experience with online / virtual teaching is especially welcome), research, and community engagement. The area of theological specialization is open. However, candidates who have an ability to teach across the theological curriculum and whose research profile and teaching experience includes one or more cognate fields (i.e. philosophy, religious studies, English, history etc.) are especially welcome. Some experience in program development and / or review will be considered an asset.

 

The successful candidate will hold the J. Michael Miller Chair for a period of five years at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor. Although the College does not have a tenure system, the successful candidate will be considered a permanent faculty member at St. Mark’s College and will have the opportunity to seek renewal at the end of the five-year term. The standard salary range at the Colleges for assistant and associate professors starts between $65,000 – $90,000.

 

Permanent faculty members typically teach six courses per academic year and are expected to perform administrative and service responsibilities in support of the College and its mission. In the case of the Chair, the latter will include a unique commitment to community engagement that may include: public presentations for general audiences; the cultivation of partnerships with Catholic school boards, other dioceses and others interested in ongoing dialogue; and dialogue with persons /groups of other faith traditions and of no faith at all. Successful candidates will also be expected to maintain an active research profile that is commensurate with the heavy teaching and service requirements of the Chair.

 

The Community of St. Mark’s at UBC is comprised of St. Mark’s College, Corpus Christi College, and St. Mark’s Parish. Together we provide a centre of academic excellence for Catholic higher education in British Columbia.

 

Preference will be given to applicants with a Ph.D. or equivalent terminal degree. The successful candidate must receive a Mandatum from the Archbishop of Vancouver.

 

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority in the search. St. Mark’s College welcomes applications from any person with the skills and knowledge to contribute productively to the scholarly life of the Colleges. We especially welcome and encourage applications from visible minority group members, Indigenous people, and persons with disabilities.

 

Applications, including a cover letter, curriculum vitae, names and email addresses of three referees who will be contacted if your application moves forward, a statement of teaching philosophy, as well as an example of scholarly writing should be sent by email to: hr@stmarkscollege.ca by January 31, 2024.

 

 

 

 

 

Student Essay Contest

Canadian Theological Society

Student Essay Contest

 

Subject: “Sustaining Shared Futures” or another topic in theology

Eligibility: Any student currently registered in a Canadian university or theological college

Length: 15 pages, typed and double spaced (4,000 words)

Due Date:  January 31, 2024 (by e-mail)

Essays need not be written originally for this contest and may be assignments from a course in theology or religious studies. The topic, however, must be theological in nature. The theme this year invites submissions that confront what prevents Canadians from building lasting and life-giving relationships with one another, especially settler colonialism and racism, and that envision what sustainable solutions for the present and future may involve (for more details, please see the 2024 CTS Annual Meeting Call for Papers).

 

The Canadian Theological Society recognizes that many students in Canada are working in English as an additional language. While we ask that all papers be submitted in English, we especially encourage submissions from students writing in English as an additional language. The evaluation of the paper will focus on content rather than linguistic style.

A letter or e-mail from a member of the theological or religious studies department to which the student belongs, indicating that the student is in good standing with the university or college, must also be submitted for each applicant.

The author of the winning essay will receive: $200; an invitation to read the paper at the annual meeting of the Canadian Theological Society at McGill University, June 17-19, 2024; payment of meeting registration fees; and a subvention for travel and accommodation costs.

Send essays by e-mail to:  canadiantheologicalsocietyinfo@gmail.com

Please include with your submission: institutional affiliation, mailing address, phone number(s), and e-mail address. Submit all document via e-mail attachment in Microsoft Word or PDF format.

Send letters verifying a student’s registration in a theological college or university to the above e-mail address.