St. Michael's Faculty of Theology Convocation 2021

My convocation took place last Saturday. Being conferred a degree "in absentia" is a strange experience. I watched as the kneeling registrar was hooded in my place. Watching it happen to someone on my behalf is not the same as experiencing it for myself. So, while I know I have officially crossed the graduation threshold, it's only starting to sink in. 

At the virtual convocation I received more than a degree. At around the 9 minute and 48 second mark an announcement was made and my name popped up on the screen. I was surprised, overwhelmed, and humbled. I laughed out loud. Growing up I didn't feel smart and I was certainly not academically inclined. My high school transcript shows grades in the 60's and 80's with most marks in the 70's. During my Masters degree, I became a better student. I started to learn how to write and research more effectively, thanks to my brother-in-law. Even then, I was nowhere near the top of my class. 

Last Saturday reminded me that "God chooses the foolish and weak things of the world to bring down the wise and strong" (1 Cor. 1:27).  If only my dad could have watched the ceremony. He was no academic. He actually decided to call school quits after grade 10 to work as an Oldsmobile and Chevrolet dent repairman. He tapped out of high school early and that seemed to be okay with him. That's probably why he seemed okay with me being okay with my average grades in high school. He never told me I could or should do better. Yet in time, I wanted to become a better student. If last Saturday is any indication, I guess that happened. Thanks again to everyone who helped, supported, and encouraged me along the way. 

The Convocation video is below and if you want to read the program just click here.

You can now find me on LinkedIn

I now have a LinkedIn account. Click here to see my profile. Feel free to add me to connect. 

Academic Opportunities to Teach

Now that my PhD work is behind me I am looking for opportunities to teach. I would love to find work in the field of pastoral theology--focusing on pastoral formation, congregational systems, and technology & ministry--I also know, "beggars can't be choosers".

I am grateful for the opportunity to teach two undergraduate courses for Tyndale University this past spring and summer. The head of the Christian Ministries department asked me to teach the same two courses again in 2022 and I agreed. While the courses are focused on qualitative research methods, and are therefore not exactly related to my primary field of research, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the students and helping them develop their pastoral research skills. I am looking forward to getting to know a whole new group of learners next spring and teaching the students how to become better researchers. 

Personhood and the Techno-Scientific Vision

Now that Briercrest's Christian Education in a Secular Age online conference has ended, I'm left with a lot of interesting ideas.

In one discussion, a presenter talked about using the terminology of human fruitfulness (connected to the fruit of the Spirit) rather than human flourishing. In another session, a contributor distinguished the role of technology as "acting upon" scientific discoveries. I found those to be a helpful distinctions.

The keynote speaker, Dr. Jens Zimmermann from Regent College, discussed the challenge and promise of Christian humanism. He addressed the concept of "personhood" as originating from the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. His talk touched on the origins of Paideia education and how it became Christianized. The heart of his paper highlighted the danger of what he calls the techno-scientific vision, a way of coming to understand the world exclusively through scientific approaches and measurements. Zimmermann suggests the t-s vision downplays personhood--with its emphasis on understanding and knowing creation through embodied experiences, such as smells, sights, sounds, tastes, and feeling and their expressions and interpretations. These subjective ways of experiencing and describing the world are at the heart an education in the humanities, which is becoming increasingly marginalized in mainstream education, at least in Canada. 

As someone interested in what online theological education is doing to human being(s), these issues are important to keep in mind. The pandemic resulted in us choosing or being told to remove ourselves from direct encounters with others, thereby limiting the fullness of our humanity. Embracing and being embraced by another, feeling the breeze of their movements, tasting the same food as and with them, and seeing, not just their face on a screen, but their way of being human / human being in the world, are vital to our knowledge of what it is to be human. Over time, when we miss out on opportunities to be in the physical presence of others and we miss out on embodied interactions, I think our humanity diminishes.

 

Faith Trends Podcast

Today I received an email from Rick Hiemstra, Director of Research and Media Relations at the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. He invited me to join him and Lindsay Callaway to talk about my dissertation research on online pastoral education in an episode of a new podcast called Faith Trends.

Faith Trends' tagline is "Conversations that connect research with ministry". The podcast is an attempt to bring conversations with Canadian Evangelical scholars to pastors in order to help them in their ministry. If you want to hear more here's a link to the podcast website where you can listen to a podcast intro and the first episode.  

My conversation with the hosts won't get recorded for a while and likely won't go live until December. So, stay tuned. In the meantime new podcasts are uploaded monthly so enjoy the conversations and pass this along to pastors who might benefit.

Christian Education in a Secular Age Conference

Briercrest College and Seminary is hosting a two day online conference addressing Christian Education in a Secular Age. Here's a link to the schedule. I blogged about it back in the summer, when I found out my abstract was accepted. I finished video recording my paper for presentation and it is being uploaded as I write this post. 

In addition to my paper addressing online education I will also be participating in a roundtable discussion about educating clergy for wholeness. In that segment I will be talking about the role of practicums in pastoral formation programs. I will address some of the challenges I see, namely, training supervisors. I'll also touch on the interesting dynamic of Supervised Pastoral Education programs that appear to equip pastors to function as chaplains. 

There is still time to register for the conference and join the conversation. Here's a link if you're interested.

 

What does CRPO have to do with Spiritual Care?

I recently read an interesting article by Thomas St. James O'Connor and Elizabeth Meakes (you can access it here). It focuses on emerging spiritual care practices in the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care (CASC). One of the practices they describe is a spiritually integrated psychotherapy that is being increasingly recognized by the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO).

CASC is recognized as being the body that oversees the training of chaplains (called 'spiritual care providers' in healthcare (and other) settings in Canada. CASC also provides Mainline Protestant clergy students with practicums for learning pastoral care. 

I'm starting to think more about the influence of pastoral and spiritual care on psychotherapy and vice versa. As such I am developing questions (which will hopefully lead to answers!) about what I see as an evolution of healthcare chaplaincy and pastoral education within CASC. While the organization started out training and educating Christian pastors and pastoral counselors in clinical settings, over the past twenty years CASC has increasingly become a multi-faith, psychotherapeutic profession. 

The questions that are starting to emerge for me are related to the role of CASC in pastoral formation for those who plan to serve in congregational settings. For example, What does CRPO have to do with spiritual care? How does formation in a multi-faith, psychotherapeutic context shape one's understanding and service in the office of pastor/minister of a congregation? And, what is gained for the clergy student when there is greater alignment with a secular agency (CRPO)? Conversely, what is lost? 

I'm at the beginning of this inquiry. I suspect more of my future posts reveal additional questions and responses. Stay tuned!