A Letter From The President
VST’s mandate—our reason for existing—is to prepare leaders for ordained ministry in congregations. This year at convocation we anticipate 17 M.Div. graduates. This is almost unique in the mainline theological college world in Canada. We continue to do this because the Holy Spirit continues to gift people for leadership in the church of Jesus Christ. We want to fan into full flame the gifts given through education and formation so that students serve God with passion in congregations, for the love of God and the world.
VST also supports and revels in advanced degree education for those who will be professors, and prepares people who will be engaged in various ministries of compassion in the church and the world. We credential lay leaders for work with youth and children and other forms of Christian education.
When I ask students why they take a class on theology, the number one answer is that they want to be directed by faith for service to God in the world. Students are sometimes concerned with what Charles Taylor calls “the ethics of inarticulacy,” that is, an unfocused busyness that cannot discriminate between what is worth your life and what is just more to do. Theological education at its best connects students with the well-springs of life in the triune God, teaches collaboration (you are not alone) and a life of prayer, so that service to God is informed—even joyful, hopeful and persistent. The ability to articulate faith also means that it can be passed on!
At VST, we do not get caught in a zero-sum game between education for clergy and education for everyone else. We are a both/and institution since ministry is shared by all those God has gifted. Justo González writes:
Some form of theological education is part of the very essence of the church. The first commandment calls on the church, and on every believer in particular, to love God with our minds. This means that theological inquiry is not to be regarded as an interesting pastime for curious people but rather as an act of devotion and obedience to God (The History of Theological Education, ix).
In this issue of perspectives, the theme is thriving congregations—what they look like, who leads them, and how. What we see are people formed by the gospel working together under thoughtful, engaged and generous leadership. What we hear are leaders articulate and attentive to where God has set them. What we observe are congregations deep into collaboration, expectant in worship, using their Holy Spirit–inspired gifts, setting goals in faith, transforming lives, engaging in arguments, forming deep faith in the gospel for broad action in the world, and much more.
It is the best time in the church calendar to celebrate the thriving of congregations. For the church is the body of Christ. In these days we are giving thanks that we have a God who simply could not stay at a distance but came among us as one of us. We have a corporeal, in-the-flesh, up-close and personal God. And so, congregations—the Church of Jesus Christ—have a corporeal existence for the healing of the body of this world and our flesh-and-blood neighbours both near and far. Thriving congregations, peopled by Christians formed by the gospel of Christmas, are God’s way of mending the world.