Course 1: Monday - Tuesday, June 17/18
Preaching and Trauma
The Rev’d Dr. Sarah Travis, Knox College, Toronto
Course 2: Tuesday - Wednesday, June 18/19
The Fourth Gospel: Encountering the ‘Glory of the Crucified One’
The Rev’d Dr. Michael Cover, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Course 3: Wednesday - Thursday, June 19/20
Leadership in the Church: Past, Present & Future
The Rev’d Dr. Heather McCance, President, Atlantic School of Theology, Halifax, NS
Each of the three courses costs $125, including meals and accommodations. Courses must be paid in full by the participants, but Continuing Education funds, for those with access to them, will reimburse 80% or approximately $100 per course. Accommodations are available overnight on Sunday, June 16 for those desiring it.
The Clergy College committee is: the Rev Canon Gerry Laskey (co-ordinator), the Rev Thomas Nisbett, the Rev Bob LeBlanc, the Rev Rob Langmaid
Register | Daily Schedule
The Rev'd Dr. Sarah Travis is currently Associate Professor, Ewart Chair in the Practice of Ministry and Faith Formation at Knox College, where she has been teaching since 2012, having joined the faculty in 2022. Travis is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and currently serves as part-time minister at Norval Presbyterian Church. Her primary areas of research and teaching are preaching, worship and the practice of ministry. From decolonizing worship practices to trauma-informed preaching, Sarah has published several books aimed at facilitating a conversation among Christians about topics that matter for the church today. She is a 2023 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Teacher-Scholar Grant recipient, exploring how playful theologies can enhance the worship and self-identity of very small congregations.
Dr. Travis’ publications include several academic articles and the following books:
- Unsettling Worship: Reforming Liturgy for Right Relations with Indigenous Communities, Eugene, OR. Cascade, 2023.
- Unspeakable: Preaching and Trauma Informed Theology, Eugene, OR: Cascade, June 2021.
- Metamorphosis: Preaching after Christendom, Eugene, OR: Cascade, July 2019.
- Decolonizing Preaching: The Pulpit as Postcolonial Space, Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2014.
The Rev. Dr. Michael Cover is Henri De Lubac Chair in Theology and Associate Professor of Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity at Marquette University. A specialist in the New Testament, Early Judaism, and Early Christianity, he is the author of two books: Lifting the Veil: 2 Cor 3:7-18 in Light of Jewish Homiletic and Commentary Traditions (De Gruyter, 2015) and Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (Brill, 2024), as well as numerous articles. He was the 2016 recipient of the Paul J. Achtemeier Award for New Testament Scholarship from the Society of Biblical Literature (2016) and a Humboldt Fellow at the University of Münster (2018-2019). Ordained to the priesthood in 2010 in the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, Fr. Cover serves in the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee, where he leads the Canterbury Fellowship at Marquette and serves as priest associate at Zion Episcopal Church in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. He and his wife Susanna live in Wauwatosa with their four daughters and a cat called Juniper. In his spare time, which is increasingly miniscule, Fr. Cover enjoys fishing, running, and playing chess.
This course will offer a (re)introduction to the joys and challenges of reading and preaching the New Testament’s most perplexing witness to the person of Jesus Christ. After briefly situating the Fourth Gospel in its canonical and liturgical contexts, we will approach the work from three angles: John and drama; John and theology; and John and history. In addition to the three main sessions, Dr. Cover has indicated his willingness to lead a bonus session on the Greek of the prologue (John 1:1-18) for any intrepid souls wishing to dig into the original language of the Gospel.
The Rev'd Dr. Heather McCance has a wealth of experience and expertise in theological education and leadership. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), University of Waterloo, a Master of Divinity (M.Div) and Master of Theology (Th.M), Trinity College, University of Toronto, and a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min), Tyndale University. Dr. McCance has also served as the Director of Field Education at Montreal School of Theology and Director of Pastoral Studies at Montreal Diocesan Theological College. McCance is a passionate theological educator and Anglican priest with teaching and administrative experience in both church and academy, twenty years experience in congregational ministry, and fourteen years as a ministry supervisor-mentor. Her past research has focused on mentoring relationships for leadership formation in the church.
McCance’s course will be divided into three sections: Wisdom from the Past: Systems Theory in Ministry Leadership; Present Practices: Adaptive Leadership in Ministry Leadership and, Future Directions: Ministry Leadership in Liminal Times - giving insight into a practice of biblically and theologically grounded leadership that makes use of the best of current leadership studies. The course will include teaching of theories, discussions, and resources to strengthen ministry leadership in parish and other contexts.