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CCTE Launches Electronic Newsletter: ContaCTE!

Keep in ContaCTE!

The Churches’ Council on Theological Education welcomes you to ContaCTE!, our bi-monthly electronic newsletter. ContaCTE! will provide a link among people involved in theological education in Canada. The newsletter will include items from CCTE, other items related to theological education in Canada, and news from Canadian and international organizations related to theological education. The newsletter will be of interest to faculty and students in theological colleges as well as those in the church related to theological education and preparation for ministry. Please encourage others to subscribe by visiting our Newsletter page.

CCTE Takes New Directions

The Board of CCTE has begun to implement major changes to the governance and programming of the organization. Changes to the By-laws have been approved which dramatically reduce the size of the Board and its committee structure. The focus of CCTE’s work will shift to a biennial conference for people involved in theological education in Canada. Programs will follow a theme and support will be provided for consultations and research related to this theme. The general Grants program has been discontinued. CCTE will continue to co-sponsor the annual Canadian Theological Students’ Conference and will provide it with administrative and programmatic support. Greater emphasis will be placed on Web-based communication and enlarging the community of people which CCTE brings together in dialogue related to theological education in Canada. Provision has been made for new member churches to join the Council. As well as a new category of “Associate Members” has been created for schools and organizations which wish to become more closely associated with our work.

CCTE's First Biennial Conference

"Doing Theology in a Fair Country"

Please hold the dates May 3-5, 2010 to attend first biennial conference of the Churches’ Council on Theological Education (CCTE) to be hosted by the Faculty of Theology at the University of Winnipeg. The theme grew out of a consultation hosted by CCTE in February 2009 which drew together a diverse group of people involved in theological education in Canada with a focus on the relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities. The program will draw on the work of John Ralston Saul in his book, A Fair Country: Telling Truths about Canada and will address the question of what it means to be involved in theological education in Canada in a context of truth telling and processes of reconciliation between the churches and aboriginal peoples.

We are delighted that John Ralston Saul will deliver the first key note address. Terry Leblanc from the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies (NAIITS) in Edmonton will also deliver a keynote address. More information will be available in the coming weeks.

56th Annual Canadian Theological Students’ Conference

Theme: “Pax Canadiana: Theological Reflections on Peacemaking, Armed Conflict and Nation Building”

56th Annual CTSC Conference logo The 56th annual Canadian Theological Students’ Conference will be hosted by the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax. It is co-sponsored by CCTE and the Canadian Theological Students’ Association. The dates have been changed from the usual “Reading Week” period to May 8-14, 2010. The keynote speaker will be His Excellency Abuna Elias Chacour, Archbishop of Akka, Haifa, Nazareth and All of Galilee of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Archbishop Chacour Archbishop Elias Chacour picture is also the President of the Mar Elias Educational Institutions in Ibillin in Galilee, a school located on a hillside known as “the Mount of Light”, where all children of Israel are welcomed and encouraged.

Once again this year, the Canadian Churches’ Forum for Global Ministies is collaborating with the conference by including Archbishop Chacour’s participation in its International Visitors program. The conference brings together students from across Canada and from many different Christian traditions and faith communities for a week of encounter and dialogue. A registration booklet will be available in January.

CTSC “Trialogue” Addresses Transcripts Available

The 55th (2009) Canadian Theological Students’ Conference was addressed by a panel of three people on the theme, “Mission and Power: Memory, Journey, Vision”. The panel included:

Bishop Mark MacDonald, the Anglican Church of Canada’s first National Indigenous Bishop
Dr. Elizabeth Tapia, a Filipina theologian and Director of the Center for Chrisianities in Global Contexts at Drew University and Theological School, and
Dr. Russell Daye, author of Political Forgiveness: Lessons from South Africa and Co-Chair of the “Living into Right Relations Task Group” of the United Church of Canada.

These addresses were a highlight of the conference and are now available on the Canadian Churches’ Forum for Global Ministries Web site.

"The Future of Theological Education in Canada"

Toronto Journal of Theology, Supplement 1, 2009 cover picture

A special supplement of the Toronto Journal of Theology (TJT) titled “The Future of Theological Education in Canada” is now available through their Web site. The anthology is edited by Dr. Jane Barter-Moulaison of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Winnipeg and includes papers from a consultation hosted by CCTE in November 2007, “Who do we think we are? Re-mapping Theological Education in Canada for the 21st Century”. It also draws on conversations held at the annual meeting of the Canadian Theological Society in 2008. Several articles have been solicited from scholars from a wide range of theological perspectives and Christian backgrounds. The project was a collaborative effort among the Canadian Theological Society, the Toronto Journal of Theology and CCTE which provided a significant grant toward publication of the supplement.

CCTE Board Approves New Purpose Statement

CCTE has been “re-imagining” itself through a series of consultations. At the Board meeting at the end of October 2008, a new Purpose Statement was approved to guide the work of CCTE and its continuing “re-imagining” and “re-structuring”. The map of theological education in Canada (See report from re-mapping consultation ) has changed dramatically since CCTE’s founding in the late 1960’s and this new purpose statement reflects that changed context:

"It is the purpose of the Churches’ Council on Theological Education in Canada: An Ecumenical Foundation (CCTE) to promote dialogue and discernment with respect to the content and practice of theological education in Canada, with a view to initiating collaborative and cooperative ventures which enrich that landscape.

We pursue this purpose as Christian churches seeking dialogue with various constituencies within the Christian tradition, with diverse faith communities, and with others."

[News last updated on: 2010-01-26 11:21AM]