Chair Report

Vic WiebeTRAINING MINISTERS IN A NEW WAY?

At General Council 40 in Kelowna last August, a proposal for a new model for theological education, referred to as Candidacy Pathway was considered.  It would streamline the discernment process, reduce the study at a theological college from four to three years by removing the internship requirement, and then add a two year paid “supervised practice” component prior to ordination.  St. Andrews College lobbied against this change because we felt that the integration of academic and internship requirements was critical to a sound professional education program.  We also felt that it was important to preserve the opportunity for smaller pastoral charges, who might not be able to afford a full time paid student, to be able to continue their contribution to the education of student ministers.   General Council decided to refer the proposal back to the General Council Executive for further study. 

We recognize that changes are needed in the process of training ministers for the church.  Four years of graduate studies including several relocations (from home to university, to internship site, back to university and then to the settlement site) are an onerous burden personally and financially for student ministers and may be a significant barrier at a time when we urgently need more candidates for ministry.  Since the decision of General Council, we have entered into discussions amongst faculty and board, with our three target Conferences and with the General Council staff and committee assigned to further study this matter.  We have proposed a pilot project that would build on our present system by maintaining our current two year phases 1 & 2 academic years, but then extend our phase three16 month half time internship to 2 years of paid half to three quarter time internship.  Combined with this internship would be several learning circles on specific topics, but would also include reflection and discussions to further the integration of theory and practice.  The proposals would allow for the completion of all of the academic and practice requirements within a total of 4 years.  This model uses many of the basic concepts of the probation system of the Methodist tradition in the United Kingdom. 

The initial responses to our proposal have been positive.  It addresses the issues that the Candidacy Pathway proposal was attempting to get at, but it retains the integration of the academic and practice components that were of critical concern to us.  A special task force is being established by General Council Executive to further study and make recommendation to the next General Council on the Candidacy Pathway proposal.  We believe that the issues are very important to the future of ministry within the United Church of Canada and hope that our proposal can make a significant contribution to the changes that need to be made. 

Anyone interested in reading our proposals can obtain a copy by contacting the College.  The proposal is also available on our website.

Vic Wiebe
Board Chair