Projects

National Consultation 2007: Who do we think we are?

Re-mapping Theological Education in Canada for the 21st Century

CCTE sponsored a one day consultation on this theme on November 8, 2007 at the Toronto School of Theology as part of an organizational “re-imagining” process. Clearly, the “landscape” of theological education in Canada had changed dramatically since CCTE was founded in the late 1960’s. The Board invited leaders of Theological Schools and Seminaries from across Canada as well as denominational and ecumenical stakeholders in theological education to come together for a day of dialogue and “re-mapping” of this landscape. The findings of this consultation will be used by the Board in its on-going process. It is hoped that these findings will also have a broader application for many people and institutions involved in theological education in Canada and beyond.

The consultation brought together forty people from across the country who are engaged in a variety of ways in theological education. Also present was Dr. Daniel Aleshire, Executive Director of the Association of Theological Schools in Canada and the United States. Here is a full participant list .

The consultation was addressed by four speakers from quite different places on the map of theological education in Canada. They included Dr. Wendy Fletcher, Principal of the Vancouver School of Theology and a member of the Board of CCTE; Dr. Jean-Guy Nadeau, Professor in the Faculté de théologie et de sciences des religions, Université de Montréal, and President of the Société canadienne de théologie; Dr. Stan Porter, President and Dean of McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton and Secretary of the Board of Christian Higher Education in Canada (CHEC), an organization associated with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada; and Dr. Salah Basalamah, Assistant Professor in the School of Translation and Interpretation at the University of Ottawa and a founding member of Poexil.

Re-Mapping Social Christianity in Canada - A Future for the Mainline?
- Dr. Wendy Fletcher
Doing Theology in a Secularized Society and an Estranged Church - Issues from Quebec
- Dr. Jean-Guy Nadeau
Theological Education in the Twenty-First Century
- Dr. Stanley E. Porter
Assessment of the Islamic education in Canada
- Dr. Salah Basalamah

Participants in the consultation had opportunity to respond to the presenters and also to have fuller conversation in small groups. Also attached here is a schedule of the day’s proceedings and a report on the consultation prepared by Dorothy Cummings and containing a record of the presentations, responders, questions and small group discussion.

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[Last updated on: 2008-03-07 5:37PM]

Archived Projects:

Starting Well: First Years in Ministry
Starting Well has been held annually in Toronto since 2001. Participants come from right across Canada and have been ministers from the Presbyterian and United Churches, with one exception. The continuing planning team for this program includes denominational staff in the area of ministry and education from The Presbyterian Church in Canada and the United Church of Canada. [2001]
First Nations Theological Educations
In the Fall of 1995, Canon Fletcher Stewart undertook a tour of several centres in Canada which are devoted to ministerial training for aboriginal people to survey some of the institutions and approaches currently available. [1996]
Lay Theological Education in Canada
CCTE surveyed the theological schools associated with its six member churches on Lay Theological Education. For the sake of simplicity, the Committee distinguished between Christian education and lay theological education. [undated]
Called to Teach - Career Vitality Project
A survey conducted of theology professors still vital in their careers examining how they have kept vital to this point. [undated]