VST Summer School
July 4th to 15th, 2022
Vancouver School of Theology is pleased to announce its plans for July summer school programming. Courses will be taught in hybrid form, in-person classrooms and virtual Zoom classrooms.
Vancouver School of Theology has been using Zoom with great success with it’s growing number of distance students, and is pleased to extend this opportunity to its summer school participants.
Register for VST Summer School:
Audit & Certificate Registration | Degree Registration
Public Lectures
“Who am I?”: Self-love In the Days of Self-obsession
Speaker
Janet Soskice
Visiting Distinguished Scholar
July 4th, 2022 at 7pm (PT)
St. Mary’s Kerrisdale Church & Streamed Online
Link: https://vst.edu/event/who-am-i-self-love-in-the-days-of-self-obsession/
Tensions, disruptions and incompleteness: Thomas Merton on Sustaining Hope in the Face of Social Crisis
Speaker
Gary Hall
July 7th, 2022 at 7pm (PT)
VST Epiphany Chapel & Streamed Online
Overcoming Obstacles to Love
Speaker
Thomas Oord
July 14th, 2022 at 7pm (PT)
St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church – In person only
Courses
Hawking, Dawkins and God: Engaging Christian Theology with Science for Contemporary Mission and Ministry
Instructor
David Wilkinson
May 27th – June 3, 2022
Love & Desire
Instructor
Janet Soskice
Visiting Distinguished Scholar
Week 1: Morning (9am – 12pm PT)
July 4th – 8th, 2022
Fearless Dialogues in Church and Community
Instructor
Gregory Ellison
Course Cancelled
Time, Participation in Christ, and Theosis in Paul
Instructor
Ann Jervis
Week 1: Morning (9am – 12pm PT)
July 4th – 8th, 2022
Link: https://vst.edu/courses/time-participation-in-christ-and-theosis-in-paul/
Eco-theology in Judaism: Ancient Resources, Modern Responses
Instructor
Laura Duhan-Kaplan
Week 1: Morning (9am – 12pm PT)
July 4th – 8th, 2022
Link: https://vst.edu/courses/time-participation-in-christ-and-theosis-in-paul/
Link: https://vst.edu/courses/eco-theology-in-judaism-ancient-resources-modern-responses/
Intercultural Ministry
Instructor
HyeRan Kim-Cragg
Course Cancelled
Preaching and the Power of the Gospel: Grace, Sacramentality and Proclamation
Instructor
Bishop Todd Townshend
Week 1: Afternoon (2 – 5pm PT)
July 4th – 8th, 2022
The Mestizo Augustine on Health: Confessions, Therapy and Community
Instructor
Davi Lin
Week 1: Afternoon (2 – 5pm PT)
July 4th – 8th, 2022
Link: https://vst.edu/courses/the-mestizo-augustine-on-health-confessions-therapy-community/
A Spirituality of Race for Children and Youth (and Those Who Love Them)
Instructor
Tony Peterson
Week 1: Afternoon (2 – 5pm PT)
July 4th – 8th, 2022
Link: https://vst.edu/courses/a-spirituality-of-race-for-children-and-youth-and-those-who-love-them/
Communicating Communion: Thomas Merton and Christian Imagination in the Face of Social Crisis
Instructor
Gary Hall
Week 1: July 7th to 9th, 2022
The Reforming Pope: Francis for Protestants and Others
Instructor
Michael Higgins
Course Cancelled
The Gospel of Mark: A Political Theological Bible Study
Instructor
Stephen Backhouse
Week 2: Morning (9am – 12pm PT)
July 11th – 15th, 2022
Link: https://vst.edu/courses/the-gospel-of-mark-a-political-theological-bible-study/
Theology after Residential Schools
Instructor
Christina Conroy
Week 2: Morning (9am – 12pm PT)
July 11th – 15th, 2022
Link: https://vst.edu/courses/theology-after-residential-schools/
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Spirituality of Confessing Christ and Resisting Tyranny
Instructor
Rob Fennel
Week 2: Morning (9am – 12pm PT)
July 11th – 15th, 2022
Leading Change without Losing Your Soul
Instructor
Tod Bolsinger
Week 2: Morning (9am – 12pm PT)
July 11th – 15th, 2022
Link: https://vst.edu/courses/leading-change-without-losing-your-soul/
The Great Co-Mission: Re-Framing Jesus’ Comprehensive Strategy
for Church Growth
Instructor
Chris Pullenayegem
Week 2: Afternoon (2 – 5pm PT)
July 11th – 15th, 2022
Soil, Roots, and Pathways: The Radical Ethos of Eastern Orthodoxy
Instructor
David Goa
Week 2: Afternoon (2 – 5pm PT)
July 11th – 15th, 2022
Link: https://vst.edu/courses/soil-roots-and-pathways-the-radical-ethos-of-eastern-orthodoxy/
From Smoke Machines and Livestreams to Lectionaries and the Latin Mass: Transformations of Christian Worship in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
Instructor
Sarah K. Johnson
Week 2: Afternoon (2 – 5pm PT)
July 11th – 15th, 2022
Link: https://vst.edu/courses/transformations-of-christian-worship/
An Open and Relational God in an Open and Relational Universe
Instructor
Thomas Oord
Week 2: Afternoon (2 – 5pm PT)
July 11th – 15th, 2022
Link: https://vst.edu/courses/an-open-and-relational-god-in-an-open-and-relational-world/
Tuition
Audit & Certificate Tuition
- Regular Rate
- Audit Registration: $300/course
- Continuing Education Certificate Credit: $375/course
AUDIT & Certificate REGISTRATION
Degree Tuition
VST students registering for credit can do so through their Student Portal. Other students interested in graduate degree credit (i.e. students pursuing theological degrees at other institutions) should request access to the Student Portal and the VST Registrar will be in touch for further information.
Summer School Information
Course Expectations
- Summer courses are open to all interested participants. There are no prerequisites or theological training needed to audit a course. Auditors attend and participate in the course but are not required to submit any assignments for grading. It is our hope that all summer school students will be able to participate in real-time in the virtual classrooms, although an asynchronous option for auditors is available if necessary. All degree and certificate students are required to be synchronous.
Equipment Requirements for Synchronous Distance Learning
- A relatively recent laptop, desktop, or mobile device (smartphone or tablet)
- If using a desktop computer, an external webcam will most likely be required.
- A headset with built-in microphone, or a pair of headphones and your device’s built-in microphone (i.e. laptop mic). Headphones are required for the best audio experience.
Continuing Education Certificate Credit
If reading and writing help you engage more deeply with course material, you may want to consider taking a class for Continuing Education Certificate credit. Work expectations include preparation and reading before the start of the course with a graded reflection paper following.
Degree Credit
Most Summer School courses are also available for 1.5 credits of either basic or advanced graduate degree credit. If you are interested in taking a course for degree credit towards your VST degree program, or to transfer into a comparable theological degrees elsewhere, please email registrar@vst.edu. (Do not register online.)
Course Outlines & Required Readings
Course outlines and required reading texts will be posted online as they arrive (likely by end of April). Please refer to each individual course above to find course outlines and required reading.
Textbooks
Please make your own arrangements for acquisition of the Required Texts for your course through your local bookstores. Online bookstores such as Indigo.ca or Amazon.ca have competitive prices with fast shipping to your neighbourhood.
Accommodations
VST is a non-residential graduate school, meaning we do not have housing for our students. However, there are a myriad of options available for students looking for short-term accommodations either on or off campus. Here are just a few of the resources available:
- Andrew’s Hall – Across the parking lot from VST (Summer Term only)
- Carey Hall – 2 blocks away from VST
- Triumf House – On UBC campus
- UBC Conferences Accommodations – A variety of options and prices
- UBC Suites – Various locations on campus
- UBC Commuter Student Hostel – Designed for weekday commuters
- UV Rent Line – UBC’s off-campus housing
- Airbnb
Financial Aid
The H.R. MacMillan Fund for Clergy Continuing Education provides funding for Clergy continuing education in British Columbia, or for any clergy person taking courses at Vancouver School of Theology.
Course Cancellation
In the event of low registrations, some courses may be cancelled. Please register early to avoid disappointment. Information on course cancellation will be available on our website in early June. If VST has to cancel a course, you will be given a full refund.
Withdrawal Policy
If you withdraw from a course, notification must be received in writing to the Registrar by the dates below, in all cases $25/course will be non-refundable. Of the remaining fees, the following are refunded depending on the date of withdrawal:
• 100% refunded if notification received 7 days prior to the 1st day of classes;
• 80% refunded if notification received between 7 days and the 1st day of classes;
• 40% refunded if notification received by the 2nd day of classes;
• After the 2nd day of classes, no refund can be given