Co-Vocational Certificates

Back in the summer I was trying to figure out a way for Co-Vocational Canada to be sustainable. As you may be aware, Co-Vocational Canada is a ministry of Briercrest Seminary that has been funded by a generous grant from the Lilly Foundation through the Pathways for Tomorrow phase 2 initiative. Our funding is set to run out at the end of 2026 (or possibly 2027). 

While thinking about sustainability, I was in conversations with denominational leaders to try and find a way to help lay people gain some biblical and theological foundations without having to enrol in a full degree program. As I talked with them I realized that most of them were open to accepting an unaccredited pathway, like our new CoVo certificates, as credible learning for those seeking denominational credentialing.

The certificate concept is simple. Briercrest Faculty members will teach their specialties, split them into 3 hour, online sessions. Participants pay what they would for an accredited course and they receive the same number of in-class hours and weeks as they would for an accredited course. However, there are no assignments and they will have five different faculty members and diverse topics covered over those 12 weeks. We are piloting our Basic CoVo Certificate in January and 12 participants have already signed up. I'm thrilled! This will not only help lay people learn and grow it will also go a long way to making CoVocational Canada sustainable for the long term. 

If you want to know more or to sign up, click this link: www.briercrest.ca/covo    

 

My Published Book - Glassroom Learning

Pickwick Publications just released my first book. Glassroom Learning: Virtual Culture and Online Pastoral Education is my reworked PhD dissertation in which I invite theological educators to consider the effects of technology on human formation when educating using Web-based systems.

Here's a fuller description:

Christian higher education institutions across North America are experimenting with radical shifts in educational content and delivery. Cyber education is becoming a common supplement or replacement for embodied learning, especially since the global coronavirus pandemic. Most theological educators have embraced the shift online, finding ways to leverage technology to enhance teaching; very few consider how technology itself impacts theological students, particularly those being educated for pastoral ministry. What effect do shifts toward online courses have on those enrolled in programs of pastoral formation? Are future ordinands being adequately trained? When developed well, Web-based learning can strengthen intellectual virtues. However, it can also inhibit character virtue formation and self-differentiation. Internet usage has been shown to negatively affect social well-being, resulting in higher rates of anxiety, depression, and isolation in students; furthermore, it alters behavior, making learners more distracted, less empathetic, and less able to concentrate and contemplate. Theological schools should, therefore, articulate clearer standards for student formation and strengthen aspects of embodied learning to prepare clergy for ministry in an increasingly complex church and world.

If you want a copy there are a couple of good options: 

Order directly through the publisher before October 1, 2023. (Tip: you can get 40% off by using the coupon code "Glassroom"). Here's a link: https://wipfandstock.com/9781666758498/glassroom-learning/

You can also get a copy through Amazon.ca or wherever you purchase you books.

 

Standards of spiritual formation and character maturity in theological education

I've been thinking about clergy formation and the role of theological schools. I've been particularly focused on thinking about standards of spiritual and character maturity. Should there be standards? If so, what would the be? How might those standards be assessed? And, should they be assessed when someone is applying to a theological school, upon graduation, at other points, or all of the above? 

According to the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), 2020 Standards of Accreditation, Standard 4.3 describes the degree for those interested in pastoral ministry [pay particular attention to (c)]:

The Master of Divinity degree is broadly and deeply attentive to the intellectual, human, spiritual, and vocational dimensions of student learning and formation in ways consistent with the school’s mission and theological commitments. The degree has clearly articulated learning outcomes that address each of the following four areas, though the school may use different terms for these areas: (a) religious heritage, including understanding of scripture, the theological traditions and history of the school’s faith community, and the broader heritage of other relevant religious traditions; (b) cultural context, including attention to cultural and social issues, to global awareness and engagement, and to the multifaith and multicultural nature of the societies in which students may serve; (c) personal and spiritual formation, including development in personal faith, professional ethics, emotional maturity, moral integrity, and spirituality; and (d) religious and public leadership, including cultivating capacities for leading in ecclesial or denominational and public contexts and reflecting on leadership practices.

The development of spiritual and moral maturity are expectations within the program. However, the ATS does not define how to assess and when to assess these areas. They do expect schools to evaluate? Standard 2 addresses evaluation:

Evaluation is a simple, systematic, and sustained process that helps schools understand how well they are achieving their missions and then helps schools use that information to better achieve their missions, especially regarding student learning and formation. 

I took a quick look at two prominent evangelical schools in Canada that confer MDiv degrees. Regent College in Vancouver and Tyndale Seminary in Toronto both require MDiv applicants to write about their personal faith and provide a pastoral reference as part of the application. This appears to show the need for some faith foundation prior to being enrolled, although there is no statement indicating what the admissions department deems "acceptable" and "unacceptable" in terms of personal faith. Much more digging is needed but, on the surface, it appears there are pre-admission minimum standards of faith for those seeking enrolment to the MDiv degree at two evangelical seminaries in Canada.

 

  

 

Paideia Education

In his book Between Athens and Berlin, David Kelsey describes what the term paideia meant in ancient Athens. He writes, "... 'paideia' simply named an unself-conscious educational process through which young free males were 'formed' by those virtues they would need in order to function as responsible adult citizens. The process involved the whole person." (Kelsey, 7).

Fast forward a couple thousand years and a Christian concept of paideia forms the basis of Dan Aleshire's vision of theological education. In his 2021 book, Beyond Profession, Aleshire proposes:

The goal of theological education should be the development of a wisdom of God and the ways of God, fashioned from intellectual, affective, and behavioural understanding and evidenced by spiritual and moral maturity, relational integrity, knowledge of the Scripture and tradition, and the capacity to exercise religious leadership (Aleshire, 82).

While Aleshire's definition seems like nothing new, he insightfully and carefully extracts certain terms from the definition to show how traditional Protestant theological education tends to omit elements of paideia. Here is the same description with a purely intellectual and academic focus: 

The goal of theological education should be [learning] the ways of God, fashioned from intellectual understanding, knowledge of the Scripture and tradition, and the capacity to exercise religious leadership (Aleshire, 98).

Notice a difference between the first definition and the second? Sadly, I think Aleshire is on to something when he describes typical Protestant theological education for pastoral ministry as being more closely aligned with the second definition. Thankfully, there is hope for a renewed future of theological education that can be more deeply rooted in paideia.

Embodiment and Learning

Part of my research has to do with online education and embodiment. While many Christian scholars focus on the pedagogical considerations of online education, few deal with the theological implications. For example, what happens to our understanding of the incarnation when theological learning happens via the Web? Regent College Professor, Craig Gay has given some thought to the intersection of technology and theology. While he doesn't specifically address online learning, he highlights some concerns about an unexamined embrace of technology and its affect on human embodiment. In his book, Modern Technology and the Human Future, Gay writes:

The incarnation of Jesus Christ is nothing if not a colossal endorsement of embodied human being, of the very walking, talking, eating, sleeping, working, loving way of being-in-the-world that we presently and ordinarily enjoy. And although we are to be clothed in immorality at the resurrection of the dead, we will even then be recognizably embodied. ... the Christian tradition has from time to time lost sight of the significance of human embodiment, but int he face of the dis-embodying bent of modern technology, there is clearly an urgent need now to remember it. (Gay, 153).

On the heels of our Easter resurrection celebrations Gay provides an important reminder of just how valuable the body is for Christian theology. Given the challenge of not being together bodily during the pandemic, and the increasing role of digital media in theological education and church ministry, I wonder if our understanding of embodiment is shifting in ways that should be leading us to pause and question how tech is changing us?   

Looking Forward With Hope

I recently reviewed Looking Forward With Hope by Benjamín Valentín. Valentín's 2019 volume addresses the state of mainline Protestant Theological Education in North America. You can read the published review here for free or via subscription to the Toronto Journal of Theology.