We are pleased to announce that AST has received a $50,000 Planning Grant to begin a consultation process that will lead to an application for a $1 Million USD “Pathways for Tomorrow” grant from the Lilly Endowment later this year.
The successful planning grant application included the following briefing, which explains the process in more detail:
It is perhaps redundant at this juncture to recount the seismic shifts in the life of local churches, parishes, and congregations that have taken place over the past decade and more. Canadians are far less likely to be affiliated with or active in local congregations than in generations past, resulting in demographic and financial challenges to inherited models of ministry. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed and heightened these challenges. A growth in immigration in Canada has resulted in an increased need for intercultural ministry competency. . .
Opportunities are emerging from these shifts, for while we have experienced a downward trend in enrolments in our core Master of Divinity programs, there is increased interest in both continuing education for currently practicing pastoral leaders as well as theological education for people called into new models of pastoral leadership.
With this planning grant, we are seeking to consult with our stakeholders and community about the opportunities to respond to these opportunities in ways that would enhance our educational capacities, our technological ability to respond, and our financial sustainability.
AST has contracted with the Rev. Dr. Steven Chambers of Halifax to be the consultant on this project. Dr. Chambers was until recently the Interim Director of Theological Field Education at the Vancouver School of Theology and has served as the Project Director of VST’s Pathways for Tomorrow project, ‘Leaders for a New Day’.
“The Pathways for Tomorrow Program of the Lilly Endowment is providing theological schools across North America with encouragement, hope and significant resources as they explore how to prepare effective leaders for Christian communities of faith through the coming decades,” says Dr. Chambers. “I am honoured to be a part of the early stage of AST’s exploration of the challenges and opportunities in support of those lay and ordered leaders. I look forward to a creative and robust consultation process with many in the AST community over the next few months.”
AST President Heather McCance expressed her wholehearted support for the project, saying “I am excited for this opportunity and truly feel blessed to have Steven Chambers working with us through this process. I look forward to hearing the wisdom of our collective community about how God is inviting us into new modes of theological education for the good of God’s church and world.”
www.astheology.ns.ca
by
Dawn Robertson, Atlantic School of Theology
Advancement Office