2025 Chancellor’s Scholars Confirmed

The Vancouver School of Theology has named Kate Keilty and Hannah Moderow as the 2025 recipients of the Chancellor’s Scholarships. These scholarships are the most prestigious and generous awards offered to VST students each year.

The Chancellor’s Scholars are celebrated at the annual VST Chancellor’s Dinner, scheduled for Thursday, September 25 at the UBC Golf Club. This event raises funds to support VST students through the Chancellor’s Awards, Student Bursaries, and the Thoughtful, Engaged, & Generous Campaign for the Future. The evening is hosted by VST Chancellor, Catherine Evans. In addition to honouring the Chancellor’s Scholars, the evening will feature keynote speaker Benjamin Perrin, UBC Allard School of Law professor and author of Indictment: The Criminal Justice System on Trial (UTP, 2023). He will give a talk entitled Jesus, Justice & Mercy. For tickets, please visit bit.ly/VSTCD2025, or contact Samuel Yun at (604) 822-6315 or syun@vst.edu.

The Chancellor’s Scholarships are presented annually to two final-year students who show exceptional promise for ministry in the eyes of VST faculty and denominational leaders. Chancellor’s Scholars are not only high-level students, but servant leaders prepared to commit their time and talent to service in Christ’s church.

VST invited this year’s Chancellor’s Scholars to introduce themselves and say a word about their journeys thus far. It is VST’s great pleasure to introduce Kate and Hannah.

Kate Keilty (United Church of Canada)

Kate entered the Master of Divinity program at Vancouver School of Theology as a distance student from Ontario in the heart of the pandemic. From previous studies including a degree in microbiology, she engaged in a short and unfulfilling career in analytical and research lab work, followed by a long and consuming career in pharmaceutical marketing, first as a medical writer, then later as a project manager and account director. During much of her time at VST, Kate worked in fundraising and donation management for a small non-profit food pantry. She nurtures a continuing interest in church history, and saw the publication of her first piece of theological-academic writing in 2024 with an article exploring the emergence of the British Methodist Episcopal church in Black settler communities of southwestern Ontario in the mid-nineteenth century. A Candidate for ordained ministry with The United Church of Canada, she is honoured to now be serving in team ministry at St. Paul’s United Church in Sidney, BC, where she’s learning how to cultivate faithful, sustainable church community in a post-Christendom world. Though Kate has adored her time at VST, loving every class and revelation along the way, the real joys of her life are her eternally patient spouse and three young-but-growing children.

Hannah Moderow (St. Mary’s Episcopal Church; Anchorage, Alaska)

Hannah lives with her family in Anchorage, Alaska on the traditional lands of the Dena’ina People. She is a fiction writer by training, and a lover of storytelling across all genres. Prior to her studies at VST, she worked for nearly ten years at Make-A-Wish Foundation and published her first novel for kids, Lily’s Mountain (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), in 2017. One of the great joys of theological education has been immersing herself in Scripture—and learning how to bring sacred stories to life in congregational settings through preaching and liturgy. Hannah currently serves as a deacon at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Anchorage, Alaska, and is passionate about being a part of an inclusive and welcoming faith community. She loves intergenerational ministry—with a special fondness for the wisdom found among elders. In her spare time, Hannah can be found on the trails with her family—or driving her kids to school and activities while contemplating an upcoming sermon text.