Category: Annual Meeting

CTS 2026 Schedule

Common Places, Contested Spaces: Religion and Theology in Canada and Beyond

Canadian Theological Society Annual Conference 2026

Monday, June 1 – Wednesday, June 3 2026

in association with The Canadian Theological and Religious Studies Forum

St. John’s College at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Click here for paper abstracts

MONDAY, JUNE 1

All sessions will take place in Room 118 unless noted otherwise in the schedule.

Coffee will be available in the Quiet Room (Room 111) starting at 10:00


 9:00-9:15  Opening Remarks: Christine Jamieson and Daniel Rempel

9:15-10:05  Individual Paper Presentations #1: Canadian Perspectives on Decoloniality

Moderator: Christina Conroy

·       Hidden/Exposed Wounds and Ongoing Crosses in British Columbia: Theology at The Crossing of The Highway of Tears – Michael Morelli

·       With Our Home on Native Land(s), Are We a Benevolent Good Samaritan or Global Environmental Robber?: Positionality and Ethical Responsibility in the Canadian Nation-State – Sheryl Johnson

·       Decolonial Settler Theology in Canada: An Appreciation – Richard Davis

10:05-10:20 Break

10:20-11:10   Individual Paper Presentations #2: The Work of Integral Ecology

Moderator: Nick Olkovich

·       Integral Ecology as Decolonial Praxis: Robert Athickal, Tarumitra, and Indian Catholic Ecological Theology – Clara A.B. Joseph

·       A Sacramental and Jewish-Christian Interfaith Approach to Care for Creation: Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ and the Blessing Prayers of the Roman Catholic Mass – Warren Schmidt

·       Theology, Black Ecologies, and Canadian Soil – Chanelle Robinson

11:10-11:25   Break

11:25-12:15   DEJ Session #1: Lucy Delgado (University of Manitoba): (Some) Urban Métis Connections to Ceremony, Religion, and Self

Moderator: Fiona Li

CTS is grateful to the Federation for financially supporting this initiative through the EDID Initiatives Fund Fall cycle 2025.

12:15-1:30   Networking Lunch: Daily Bread Café (included in cost of registration)

All members of CTS are encouraged to remain at St. John’s College for the networking lunch.

1:30-2:20    Member Designed Panels 1: “Theopolitics in the Era of the Witness”

Moderator: Timothy Harvie

Panelists: Anupama Ranawana, Christina Conroy, Doris Kieser, Ryan Turnbull

Respondent: Jane Barter

2:20-2:35   Break

2:35-3:25   Individual Paper Presentations #3: Resourcing and Challenging Mennonite Theology and Tradition

Moderator: Michael Buttrey

·       Mennonites, Catholics, and Being a Faithful Church: Lessons from the Synod on Synodality – Mykayla Turner (student paper award winner)

·       Mennonite (Trans)Masculinity in Conversation – Eliot Chandler Burns

·       Re-Storying Mennonite Identity – Catherine Bergs

3:25-3:35   Break

3:35-4:25  Individual Paper Presentations #4: Embodied Epistemologies

Moderator: Christine Jamieson

·   Valuing Epistemologies of the Interoceptive Body – Heather Morgan

·       This is their bodies, broken for you: Feminist ecotheology and the epistemology of the broken body – Anupama Ranawana

·       Embodied Liturgical Experience of Transgender Anglicans – Charlie Scromeda

5:00-6:30  St. John’s College presents the Annual Wilmot Lecture: Justin Stratis (University of Toronto): Misspeaking of God: Modern Apophaticism and the Task of Proclamation (Robert Schultz Lecture Theatre)

Reception to follow in the Galleria

TUESDAY, JUNE 2

9:00-10:10  Individual Paper Presentations #5: Ecologies and/of Relationality

Moderator: Daniel Rempel

·       Relational Ruptures: Theology in Contested and Defiled Ecologies – Julianna Phail

·       “Ah! There’s Bugs in my Mail”: The Contribution of an Ecological Model of Parasitism to Hermeneutics – Joshua Nightingale

·       Refusing to Stand Idly By: Bystander Intervention as an Essential Theological Skill – Alice Candy

·       The Common Place of Commonplace Pneumatological Superposition: What we can learn from quantum physics about the Holy Spirit and human relationality – Rob Fennell

10:10-10:30  Break

10:30-12:00  Shared Event – CSCH Presidential Address: Melody Maxwell (Acadia Divinity College), “Called to Serve: Ordained Atlantic Baptist Women, 1976 to 2024” (Room 115)

12:00-1:15  Lunch: Daily Bread Café (included in cost of registration)

1:15-2:05  Member Designed Panels 2: The Production of Theological Knowledge: Ethnographic Theology and the disruption of traditional knowledge hierarchies

Moderator: Natalie Wigg-Stevenson

Panelists: Kristen Blair; Allison Moore; Mike MacKenzie

2:05-2:20  Break

2:20-3:10  Member Designed Panels 3: Theology and Literature: Resources toward the Common Good

Moderator: Ryan Turnbull

Panelists: Paul Dyck; Murray Evans; Jason Peters

3:10-3:30  Break

3:30-4:30  Annual General Meeting

The CTS will provide a light dinner for members following the AGM.

7:00-8:30  Jay Newman Lecture: Niigaan Sinclair (University of Manitoba), “Why Jesus would wear an orange shirt: 5 calls to churches in Canada” (Robert Schultz Lecture Theatre)

The Jay Newman Memorial Lecture in the Philosophy of Religion is offered annually thanks to support from a bequest received from former president of CTS Dr. Jay Newman (1948-2007).

The 2026 Jay Newman Lecture is open to all members of the public, free of charge. Reception to follow in the Galleria, for which all are invited to stay.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4

9:00-10:10  Individual Paper Presentations #6: Contesting, Resisting, Caring

Moderator: Christine Jamieson

•        Holy Spirit as Unrest – Don Schweitzer

•        Awe Without Language: Care, Meaning, and Contested Space in Long-Term Care – Daranne Harris

•        “Blessed Are the Silent”: Dehumanization and Resistance in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale – Jean-Pierre Fortin

•        Why Virginia Woolf was Right (and Wrong): Ethical Responsibilities in the Recovery of Voices among the Privileged Minoritized in Theological Dialogue – Amanda Ross

10:10-10:25  Break

10:25-11:15 Individual Paper Presentations #7: AI and the Work of Being Human

Moderator: Michael Buttrey

·       Generative AI and the Challenge of Subsidiarity (We are Muppets, not Superheroes) – Jon Coutts

·       “Shut up, clanker!”: Speech ethics and the abuse of chatbots – Micah Peters Unrau

·       Artificial Intelligence, Catholic Social Teaching, and the Political Theology of Digital Capitalism – Jane Barter

11:15-11:30 Break

11:30-12:30 DEJ Student Panel:

Moderator: Fiona Li

Panelists: Suraj George; Ruth Kause; Heather Morgan

12:30-1:30 Lunch: Daily Bread Café (included in cost of registration)

1:30-2:20  Individual Paper Presentations #8: Space and Place in the Hebrew Bible

Moderator: Josh Zentner-Barrett

·       Contested Messages in Another’s Space: Considering the Theological Message of Amos and Micah in Times of Social and Political Unrest – Christopher Lortie

·   “By Faith Samson…”: The Manosphere, The Virtue of Faith and the Figure of Christ  – Caleb Upton

·   Dust, Burial and Ancestors: Death as Homecoming in the Book of Genesis – Nate Wall-Bowering

2:20-2:30  Break

2:30-3:20 Presidential Address: Christine Jamieson, “Three Lodges, One Spoon: Kristeva, Lonergan, and Indigenous Spirituality”

3:20-3:30 Closing Remarks

Jay Newman Lecture – Janet Wesselius, PhD

The Executive of the CTS is pleased to announce that Dr. Janet Wesselius has accepted our invitation to present the Jay Newman Memorial Lecture in the Philosophy of Religion at the 2014 CTS at Brock University (Monday, May 26, 1:30pm). We would like to thank Drs. William Sweet, Yiftach Fehige, and Jean-Pierre Fortin for their work organizing the lecture.

Janet Wesselius, PhD

Dr. Janet Wesselius is Associate Dean of Teaching and Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta. She obtained her Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Vrije Universiteit (Free University) in Amsterdam, with her dissertation, “Objective Ambivalence: Feminist Negotiations in Epistemology.” Her area of specialization is feminist epistemology and philosophy of science; she has published extensively on feminist themes. She has also received numerous teaching awards, most recently the Augustana Faculty Teaching Award.

 

 

Student Networking Luncheon

Student Networking Luncheon

Canadian Theological Society Conference (Congress)

University of Victoria, May 2013

 This year CTS will repeat our highly successful Student Networking Luncheon.  This was established last year in response to concerns expressed by students concerning career prospects. In responding to this concern, voiced in 2011, the Executive of the CTS in 2012 deliberated over the efficacy of the Student Essay Contest, which saw one student paper chosen for a presentation at the conference. It was decided to use the money spent on this competition for an event that would be of service to all the students attending the annual meeting.Vsit this site to find the best check loans and more financial advice.

At the May 2013 Conference, the CTS will repeat the “speed-networking” luncheon experienced at Wilfrid Laurier University last year.  This event allows students and established scholars to interact informally within a structured environment. It is anticipated that these conversations will lead to ongoing interaction between students and established scholars both at the Congress and beyond. Our intention is to provide students with a venue in which to gather practical information regarding careers in theology. We hope this event will complement existing opportunities for interaction among new and established members.

This event will take place over lunch on Tuesday, June 4 at noon. It will be free for student members and there will be a modest cost for established scholars.

 

The Executive of the CTS invites our established members (i.e., tenured, tenure-track, emeritus, contract, retired, honourary) to share their experience and wisdom with students. And we invite students to take advantage of this opportunity.

 

To register for this event, please email: Allen Jorgenson (President-Elect, CTS) at ajorgenson@wlu.ca by April 1, 2013. Please also let us know if you have any dietary restrictions.

DRAFT Schedule: Annual Meeting at Congress 2011, Fredericton, NB

Canadian Theological Society

2011 Programme

May 30—June 1

All events will be held in Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 101 (Recital Room), St. Thomas University, unless otherwise noted.

Monday, May 30

9:00-9:10         Welcome, Lee Cormie, CTS President

9:15-9:55         Don Schweitzer, St. Andrew’s College, “The Sociality of Jesus Christ”

10:00-10:40     Concurrent sessions

Christopher J. Duncanson-Hales, Saint Paul University, “Divine Detectives: Globalization and Niklas Luhmann’s Challenge to Theology”

Nick Olkovich, University of St. Michael’s College, “Beyond Hauerwas: Bernard Lonergan’s Liberal-Communitarianism” (location: Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 106)

11:00-12:00     Newman Lecture, Robert Larmer, University of New Brunswick

1:15-1:55         Doris M. Kieser, St. Joseph’s College, University of Alberta, “The Magical, Mystical Penis – or – Why We Need More Marys”

2:00-2:40         John Perry, St. John’s College, University of Manitoba, “The Greed of Traders and Bankers on ‘Coasts and Continents’”

3:00-3:50         Presidential Address, Lee Cormie, University of St. Michael’s College

3:55-5:00         CTS Annual General Meeting

7:00-8:30         Craigie Lecture (organized by CSBS, sponsored by CTS, CSSR, CSPS, CSCH):

“New Perspectives on the Sect of the Dead Sea Scrolls,” John J. Collins, Yale Divinity School (location: Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 100, Noel Kinsella Auditorium, St. Thomas University)

Tuesday, May 31

9:00-9:40         Timothy Harvie, St. Mary’s University College, “In Search Of An Ethics Of Hope: Jürgen Moltmann, Catholic Social Thought and an Eschatological                                 Economy”

9:45-10:25       Concurrent sessions –

Abigail Lofte, University of St. Michael’s College, “A Postcolonial Hermeneutic of Resurrection: Christological Themes of the Body, Glorification, and Salvation”

Michael Tapper, Saint Paul University, “Other as Opponent: A Look at the Presuppositions of Canadian Evangelicals and their Critics” (location: Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 106)

10:40-11:20     Student Essay Contest winner: Hyunjoon (John) Park, Knox College, “The Hermeneutical Challenges in Interpreting Genesis 13:1-18”

11:25-12:05     Bertha Yetman, Regis College, “Newfoundland and Labrador: Seeking the Common Good after the Cod Disappeared”

1:15-1:55         Christopher De Bono, Regis College, “At Sea in the New World of Clinical Chaplaincy: ‘Theology’ Overboard?”

2:00-2:40         Susan Willhauck, Atlantic School of Theology, “The Urban Dictionary, Street Wisdom and God:  An Intersection of Linguistics and Theology”

3:00-4:30         Panel:  “Joanne McWilliam’s Contribution to the Study of Religion in Canada”

Moderator:      Ellen Leonard, University of St. Michael’s College

Panelists:         Mary Ann Beavis, St. Thomas More College

Theodore de Bruyn, University of Ottawa

Jane Barter Moulaison, University of Winnipeg

Peter Slater, Trinity College

5:00-7:00         Presidents’ Reception (Congress event)

Location: Ballroom, Student Union Building, UNB

6:30                 CTS Dinner (location TBA)

Wednesday, June 1

9:00-9:40         Harold Wells, Emmanuel College, “God and the Rising Seas: Kenosis as Theodicy”

10:00-11:30     Panel: “The Place of Sub-Saharan African Christianity in World Christianity”

Moderator:      to be determined

Panelists:         Stan Chu Ilo, University of St. Michael’s College

Iheanyi Enwerem, St. Thomas More College

Joseph Ogbonnaya, University of St. Michael’s College

Beyond Christendom: New Maps

Dr. Justo L. GonzalezBeyond Christendom: New Maps

Dr. Justo L. González

The nineteenth and twentieth centuries have brought momentous changes to the map of Christianity, so that it is no longer possible to speak of Christendom in either geographical or theological terms. How is not only the present reality, but also on the way we look at the entire history of Christianity, reflected in the interpretation of Christianity’s canonical texts? What does the incarnation of Christianity in a wide variety of often conflicting contexts imply for its unity?

Joint CSPS/CSSR/CSBS/CTS/CSCH Lecture
organized by CTS, with financial support from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Monday, May 31, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Concordia University, 1450 Guy (Montreal)
 MB 1-210, reception to follow in MB 4-101

Justo L. Gonzalez, author of the highly praised three-volume History of Christian Thought and the two-volume Story of Christianity and other major works, attended United Seminary in Cuba, received his M.A. at Yale, and was the youngest person to be awarded a Ph.D. in historical theology at Yale. Dr. Gonzalez is now on the faculty of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.