This course is designed to learn about intercultural ministry in order to engage in theological education in ways that integrate academic knowledge with practical skills towards fulfilling the commitment to becoming an intercultural church. Course will be taught in person at VST, and via Zoom for distance students (degree students must connect synchronously if studying …
View course details “Intercultural Ministry”

This course outlines the theoretical and pedagogical framework utilized in Fearless Dialogues community conversations to create unique spaces for unlikely partners to engage in hard, heartfelt conversations.  Particular attention will be given to the life and work of 20th and 21st century faith leaders, who equally value the epistemic quality of theory, community engagement, and …
View course details “Fearless Dialogues in Church & Community”

This course will explore how Christian faith engages some of the big issues of modern science to enable theological reflection, effective apologetics and an exploration of science as gift. This course takes place in two locations: Calgary and Vancouver Students who take the course for audit or credit (1.5) participate in a May 27th Friday …
View course details “Hawking, Dawkins and God: Engaging Christian Theology with Science for Contemporary Mission & Ministry”

What is Canadian Political Theology? Join hosts Jon Coutts and Ryan Turnbull as they and other expert presenters tackle various approaches to political theology and ask what, if anything, is distinctive about Canadian approaches to this tradition. New Leaf is excited to be offering this session of the Learning Centre in collaboration with Ambrose University. …
View course details “Canadian Political Theology”

We’ve been hearing from spiritual leaders and Jesus-followers all across Canada that they’re weary. For so many, the pandemic and the difficulties of this present moment in Canada have simply caused the reservoir to go dry. Pastors, planters, priests, and ministry leaders give so much of their time offering a meal to others, they often …
View course details “The Table, New Leaf Network National Event”

This course studies the black gospel tradition, focusing on the genre’s distinctive combination of sound and belief. Music, movement, and conviction, the three expressions gospel holds together, will be explored through three interpretive lenses: exemplary performers, pivotal periods, and formal processes. This week’s work will bring material and approaches from the fields of musicology, music …
View course details “Black Gospel Music–Not for credit”

In this course, we will bring theological and scriptural understandings into conversation with the current digital technological shifts.  In response to the new technologies, we will practice ethical discernment for our everyday digital lives and examine approaches grounded in forgiveness, integrity, diversity, and social and ecological justice.  We will center the question: what does God …
View course details “Hacking Christian Ethics: Spiritual Resources for Living in a Digital World–Not for credit”

In the midst of what Aetna Insurance calls a “loneliness epidemic,” which has only been exacerbated by a global pandemic, with political polarization of historic magnitude wearing away connections, we could all use a primer on how to build robust community. Blessedly, that’s what the apostle Paul did for a living. His First Letter to …
View course details “The Lost Art of Community-Building: A Study of Paul’s 1 Thessalonians–Not for credit”

This course will study the relation between faith in God and the capacities of human reason.  The main topics will be the relation between faith in God and morality, religious experience, the problem of evil, the nature of faith, the traditional proofs for the existence of God, miracles and science, immortality, and religious pluralism. In …
View course details “Faith and Reason–Non-credit”

Discover the vital role of the arts in times of precarity, examining artistic practices born amidst crises. Awaken yourself to the prophetic witness of the arts, asking why so many people turn to the arts during times of struggle. Together we’ll explore the lives and work of artists such as Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei, the …
View course details “Art in a Time of Crisis”