News from CCS and the CCS community
Companion of the Centre, former editor of Tapestry and chair of the Communications Committee, and friend of CCS, Ken DeLisle was recently elected president of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario Conference of the United Church. (Ken publishes regular “President’s Ponderings“) Congratulations Ken and best wishes.
There have been a few updates to the schedule for the CCS 120th Anniversary celebration in October. On the opening night there will be a public lecture on “Transformative Hope – A Dialogue” with Stan McKay and Joy Kogawa. At the Saturday evening banquet Caryn Douglas will be honoured as a Companion of the Centre. …
CCS isn’t the only theological centre with an anniverary this year. Five Oaks Centre is celebrating its 60th! And to mark the occasion they’ve published o book of memories, “Seasons at the Centre”. A number of CCS friends have contributed to the book, including Diane Trollope, Wilda Bostwick, Gwyn Griffith, Ted Dodd. CCS grad Debra…
Again, I was privileged to facilitate the Leadership Development Module from June 4-16. This time I was co-leading with recent CCS graduate, Kimiko Karpoff. Ten very engaged students expressed deep appreciation for this powerful learning experience. At each LDM, I am struck by the rich mix of the CCS approach to education.
We invest a lot of time building community and developing a sense of trust. We are “big” on teaming, respecting differences, and honouring diversity. Self-awareness grows in this relational setting where many experience a sense of safety to share themselves at a deep level.
We offer experiential learning with lots of creativity and “hands on” learning. The model incorporates a participatory action and contemplative reflection, prayerfulness and playfulness.
We tend to start with an affirmative stance; each participant is seen as a worthwhile and valuable child of God. Students are not empty vessels waiting to be filled, but adults with gifts and talents, experiences and backgrounds that form and shape who they are. That being said we also devote much time to evaluation; every time we turn around an opportunity to share feedback is extended.
The hallmark of your pedagogy is transformative integration. People are changed in the process of learning about themselves, working with others and the journey of faith. We strive to hold together heart and head, theory and practice, mind and spirit, the personal and the political, being and doing.
Ted Dodd
The two-week June 2012 Leadership Development Module in New Westminster, BC ended yesterday. All reports indicate that it was a spirit-filled time of reflection and growth (and hard work and lots of reading). Maybe we’ll update you when Ted gets back to Winnipeg.
Registrations are still coming in for CCS’s 120th Anniversary celebration this fall. And if you have any memorabilia from CCS or its United Church and Anglican forerunners, let Marc know.
Congratulation to all the CCS grads who have been commissioned to diaconal ministry in the United Church this last month: Alice Hanson, Vicki McPhee, Tracy Robertson, and Debbie Springer in Alberta Northwest Conference; Marly Bown in Bay of Quinte Conference; Ingrid Remkins, Jody Maltby, and Mary Elizabeth Piercy in Toronto Conference; and Carey Wagner in…
Students of Emmanuel College, a seminary of the University of Toronto, have written a Letter of Solidarity with those in Quebec and elsewhere who invite us to imagine a different approach to education and democracy. The ongoing demonstrations in Quebec, which began as a student strike, have quickly gained support across Canada and around the world. Rising…
The Centre for Christian Studies is pleased to announce that Ann Naylor and Ted Dodd, program staff at CCS, have been named as the 2012 recipients of the prestigous Davidson Trust Award for excellence in theological education, awarded by the United Church of Canada Foundation. “It is the intent of the committee to acknowledge and…
Check out the new brochure! Contact Marc at mdesrosiers@ccsonline.ca if you want to order some copies.
The new edition of Tapestry – the Centre for Christian Studies’ newsletter is out. If you receive it by mail, it’s on its way. You can find it in glorious colour pdf here.
Are there any deaconess uniforms out there? Any graduation certificates? CCS is looking for material to add to its history files and archival collection. The 120th Anniversary celebrations provide an opportunity for this to happen. We encourage you to check your storage room, your basement, your attic for: Scrapbooks Photographs of your days at CCS…
Our Development and Community Relations staffperson, Marc Desrosiers, was on sick leave for a few weeks in early May, which meant no regular “Common Threads” update emailed out to our community (and no re-posting of some of those articles here on the CCS blog). Marc is back in our midst and we are happy to…
At the beginning of this year we installed two SMART boards at CCS. (If you’ve never seen one, a SMART board is like a large touch-sensitive computer monitor that you can use like a whiteboard to write notes, show slideshow presentations, etc.) They’re a lot of fun and they’re inspiring us to think about how…
Expecting to be in Winnipeg on Saturday, May 12th? Feel free to join us at Woodsworth House for a work bee. Fresh air! Lending a hand sprucing up the exterior of CCS! Meeting wonderful co-workers. We are looking for a group of committed volunteers to gather at CCS on Saturday, May 12 (rain date May…