BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:icalendar-ruby CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260713T084620Z UID:33-73614@dnwlearningcentre.ca DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250825 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250827 CLASS:PUBLIC CREATED:20250626T124002 DESCRIPTION:Known &\; Unknown: Ministry Leadership in Liminal Time\nAugu st 25 to 27\, 2025\nCheck the VST website for full conference informatio n! \nSome call this a ‘liminal season’ — a time when individuals an d institutions are struggling with surprising forces inside and out\, ofte n experiencing disorientation\, disengagement\, and disenchantment. Leader ship in ministry today requires dexterity in navigating the ‘known and t he unknown’ of this time.\nAt this Vancouver School of Theology conferen ce\, we have invited presenters\, workshop leaders\, worship leaders\, and preachers to offer wisdom into this liminal season from a variety of pers pectives. We hope that students\, alumni\, and church leaders will engage and connect across diverse experiences to live into this liminal season w ith faithful leadership.\n“In the universe\, there are things that are k nown\, and things that are unknown\, and in between\, there are doors”\n —William Blake\nKeynote Addresses\n\n\n\nGrace Ji-Sun Kim\, an o rdained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA)\, received her MDiv from Knox College (University of Toronto) and her PhD from the University of T oronto. She is Professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion\, Richm ond\, Indiana.\nGrace is the author or editor of 25 books\, most recently\ , Earthbound (2025)\, When God Became White (2024)\, Surviving God c o-written with Susan Shaw (2024)\, Christianity In North America (2023)  Spirit Life (2022) and Invisible: Theology and the Experience of Asian American Women (2021). She is also co-editor of the Palgrave Macmillan s eries ‘Asian Christianity in the Diaspora’ and has written for Time\, The Nation\, Huffington Post and Sojourners. She is the host of the Madang Podcast hosted by the Christian Century\n\n\n\n\n\ nSarah B. Drummond\, a minister of the United Church of Christ\, serves as the Founding Dean of Andover Newton Seminary and Professor in the Practic e of Ministerial Leadership at Yale Divinity School. Dr. Drummond earned h er MDiv from Harvard Divinity School and her PhD in Urban Education from t he University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.\nSarah has written five books on the subject of ministerial leadership and dozens of articles on the same. Her recent books are Intentional Leadership In Between Seasons (2022)\,  Sharing Leadership: A United Church of Christ Way of Being In-Community  (2021) and Dynamic Discernment: Reason\, Emotion\, and Power in Faith C ommunity Change Leadership (2019).\nWorkshops\n\n\n\n\nExperiencing Spiritual Formation in Field Education\nThis “hands-on” workshop is an opportunity to enrich the field education cu rriculum for spiritual formation by introducing simple\, effective\, and c ulturally diverse spiritual practices that foster spiritual maturity. This workshop will profile the many wonderful resources offered from numerous authors of the recently published book Experience: Spiritual Formation in Theological Field Education.\nDawn Davis is the Professor of Contextual Learning in the Faculty of Theology at Huron University\, London\, Ontario . She is an Anglican priest with a professional human resources certificat ion\, specializing in training and development. She also has a doctorate i n ministry in spiritual formation. Dawn developed the international Revive Program to help parishes grow in spiritual vitality. Lay leaders join wit h a facilitator in small groups to learn how to pray\, lead scripture medi tations and develop their sense of call for leadership. She also serves as an honorary assistant at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London\, Ont. as the f aith formation director. Dawn recently co-edited a book with the late Matt hew Floding titled Experience: Spiritual Formation in Theological Educati on.\n\n\n\n\n\nHow Adaptive Leadership Changes Wha t is Possible for the Church\nIn this highly participatory workshop\, lear n how adaptive leadership can change the horizon of possibility for your c ongregation\, and for the Church as a whole. This is a practical theologic al stand-off against the most difficult challenges our congregations face today. You will find new encouragement\, discover skills you never knew yo u had\, and come away with 6 practices that you can use to open new horizo ns right away\, with no additional budget or leadership position required. You’ll be encouraged\, you’ll be equipped\, and you’ll discover the Holy Spirit at work in your congregation in the most surprising ways.\nTh e Rev. Clara King (VST MDiv ’09) is an experienced adaptive leadership educator\, a PhD candidate in Practical Theology at Fuller Seminary (in Ca lifornia)\, and a Research Affiliate at VST. An Anglican priest in the Dio cese of Calgary\, Clara has 20 years of experience leading change in congr egations and church systems using adaptive leadership. She is a teacher an d mentor in the Leader’s Way Program for Clergy at Yale Divinity School\ , and a regular contributor to Faith+Lead at Luther Seminary in Minneapoli s. With her husband Michael\, Clara has two adult step-daughters\, two cha racterful horses\, and a delightful Border Terrier named Jonah. You can fi nd her online at ClaraKing.com\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nStewarding Witness: Forming Generous Disciples (without talking about finances)\nThe solution often prompted for the Western Church’s sustaina bility crisis is to be more efficient and work harder. But what if we look closer at our theology of stewardship? This workshop will explore how som e churches are taking the focus off of stewarding finances and onto stewar ding their witness to the gospel. Learn how forming generous disciples mig ht be a strategy navigating our changing sustainability landscape.\nAndrea Perrett is a pastor at CapChurch in North Vancouver. Trained through the PCC\, Andrea has an MDiv and ThM from VST. She is a church planter and pr eviously led a church planting network through the Centre for Missional Le adership at St Andrew’s Hall. As a multivocational leader she also works as a dietitian and leads an online missional bread baking group. Andrea a nd her spouse Jordan call North Vancouver home\, where they explore the mo untains with their 4 year old and goofy black lab.\n \n     \nLearning about starting a congregati on in this liminal time\nSpeakers: Marnie Peterson\, Rector of St. Anne ’s Anglican Church\, Steveston\; Rev. Aaron Miller\, minister of Univers ity Hill Congregation and Campus Minister at UBC\, and Rev. Afonso Issa (l eft to right)\, a recent graduate of VST and newly ordained Presbyterian m inister. Marnie\, Aaron\, and Afonso guided a group of VST students in Spr ing Term 2025 in an immersive\, on-the-ground experience in the early-stag e development of a new ecumenical community of faith.\n\n\n\n\n\nWorking with Liminal Space: Creative Approaches to Uneasy Tim es\nNo one is confused that we are in a liminal time personally\, politica lly\, culturally or as faith communities. What we struggle with is how to cope with that reality. Is it time for creativity\, playfulness and prayer fulness to help us listen to the Holy Spirit in this time? This workshop w ill invite us to creative exercises that don’t try to solve or stabilize our liminal time\, but instead helps us stay curious about it and attempt to hear God within it. You’ll leave with some practices to help you man age your fear and uncertainty\, either personally or with your community\, and that can be used in group or facilitated processes as you lead and su pport faithfully in uncertainty.\nRhian Walker joined St. Andrew’s-Wes ley in 2018 and is currently the Co-Lead minister of a busy downtown chur ch. She brings a love for nurturing the spiritual development of those aro und her. She is passionate about new expressions of church and believes in the power of spiritual practice and community to transform the suffering in our communities and our world. She has a Masters of Public and Pastoral Leadership from the Vancouver School of Theology\, an MA in Philosophy\, Religion and Literature from Sussex University and a BA in Philosophy and Creative Writing from UVic.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLearning f rom Indigenous Leadership\nIndigenous People have\, by necessity\, led the ir communities through constant change for the last 400 years. This worksh op will explore some of the tools and principles that have proved effectiv e in these times that may prove illuminating to all leaders during our cha nging times.\nRev. Dr. Ray Aldred is a husband\, father\, and grandfather . He was first ordained with the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Cana da and is now ordained with the Anglican Church of Canada. He is status Cr ee from Swan River Band\, Treaty 8. Ray is the director of the Indigenous Studies Program at the Vancouver School of Theology whose mission is to pa rtner with the Indigenous Church around theological education.\n\n\n\n\n\nLiminal Space Through A Journalistic Len s\nThis workshop will explore using journalistic techniques to learn about each other’s transitions and threshold moments. Participants will inter view each other about moments of transformation or important change in the ir lives\, and then work on writing a short\, broadcast journalism-style s tory of about two minutes about what they learned. We’ll talk about list ening\, interviewing and storytelling techniques. Participants will have t he possibility of filming one another as if they were reporting a feature news story. After\, those who wish may share their filmed stories\, and we ’ll debrief\, discussing what it’s like to share one’s story\, what it’s like to tell someone else’s\, and where it feels like the Holy Sp irit is present.\nWilliam Burr grew up in Ottawa and just completed his M aster of Divinity at VST. Will works as a journalist for Radio-Canada\, th e French CBC\, where he loves to do human interest stories. He also loves to paint and make music. This year he joined a choir\, United Voices\, whi ch performs sacred classical music.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSpirit-Led Change: Moving Faith Communities Through Liminal Space\nParishes and congregations everywhere are living in a liminal seaso n—no longer who they were\, not yet who they will become. This workshop introduces a model that sparks movement in such “in-between” spaces: a daptive\, values-based leadership and organizational-development methods d eeply rooted in spiritual discernment that embed change structurally and c ulturally. Through story-telling and reflections\, participants will leave with key insights on ways they can be more proactive in ushering positive change in their own contexts—whatever size\, setting\, or stage of vita lity.\nThe Rev. Tellison A. Glover\, D.Min.\, serves as Director of Missio n and Ministry Development for the Diocese of New Westminster. Holding a D octor of Ministry in Congregational Development from Nashotah House and ex perience as an Organizational Development practitioner\, he supports paris hes through transition\, visioning\, while advancing diocesan initiatives on land stewardship and redevelopment. Tellison’s work brings together c ultural shifts in an organization that deepen leadership capacity  and he lp faith communities feel seen\, heard\, and held. Passionate about re-ima gining mission in rapidly changing contexts\, he equips leaders to discern the Spirit’s movement and translate insight into sustainable action.\n\ n\n\nPanels\n\n\n\n\n \nWe will have several panels to engage us in our t hinking about transitions\, integration\, and our ministry leadership as w e all seek to attend to the threshold or liminal moments that face us.\nPa nel Host: Rev. Beth Hayward\n\ nRev. Beth Hayward\, formerly in ministry at Canadian Memorial United Chu rch in Vancouver\, is now at Bedford United Church in Nova Scotia. Beth is an experienced spiritual teacher\, inspirational preacher\, public theolo gian\, podcaster\, and storyteller. She has spent her vocational life crea ting communities of deep care\, grounded in curiosity\, compassion\, and f ierce authenticity.\n\n\n\n\n\nRegistration Fees\n\n$200 Regular Ticket\n$ 150 Student/Senior Ticket\n\nYour registration fee includes the full confe rence program and meals (2 lunches\, 3 dinners\, wine and cheese reception and breaks).\n\n\n\n\n LAST-MODIFIED:20250626T124002 LOCATION:St. Andrews-Wesley United Church SUMMARY:Known and Unknown URL;VALUE=URI:https://dnwlearningcentre.ca/events/known-and-unknown/2025-08 -25 ATTACH;FILENAME=known-unknownconference.jpg;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dq5p wpg1q8ru0.cloudfront.net/2025/06/26/19/38/31/f9d9397e-d628-4a81-ae5d-69ded 7a65e1f/known-unknownconference.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR