In an effort to address the changing landscape of ministry, Vancouver School of Theology received a grant of $9,923,200 USD from Lilly Endowment Inc. in December of 2025 to help establish Reimagining Theological Education (RTE) Across The United Church Of Canada Affiliated Schools: Confronting The Narrative Of Decline. 

Rooted in collaboration among the eight theological institutions affiliated with the United Church of Canada—including Atlantic School of Theology (AST)—the RTE project closely aligns with the denomination’s Toward 2035 strategic plan. 

Earlier this year, AST President Rev. Dr. Heather McCance gathered in Winnipeg with heads of the seven other UCC-affiliated schools and General Council Office (GCO) staff to establish national funding priorities. 

Both AST and Emmanuel College in Toronto are creating new pathways to support ordered ministers as they transition out of academia. In partnership with the GCO, AST will focus on providing continuing education tailored to graduates during their first five years of ministry. 

We sat down with Dr. McCance to discuss AST’s role in this initiative and what it means for the future of our graduates and the wider Church. 

The big news for AST is our collaborative initiative with the General Council Office to support ministers in their first five years. Why is this early-career window so critical, and how will these new continuing education offerings bridge the gap between academic study and active parish leadership?

That’s definitely one of the pieces of the project that AST is going to be helping to lead—there are many other RTE projects that we're also excited about!

Studies have shown that ministers in their first five years of ministry often struggle with the pressures of the vocation. In some denominations, as many as 16% of pastors leave ministry altogether during this period.

There can be a sense of isolation in the role, especially for those serving in rural or remote places. Ministers often encounter difficult pastoral situations in real life for the first time; there’s a great deal of difference between learning how to counsel a family who have lost a loved one to suicide and actually doing it. And frankly, in many churches there is a great deal of anxiety and grief about the numerical shrinking of the church, and that anxiety and grief sometimes get projected onto the minister if they don't arrive and “fix it.”

AST will be working in two ways to support ministers in their “first five.”

First, we will be working on a mentorship program. This will allow recent graduates to continue to gather regularly with their peers and with a trusted mentor, someone with experience in ministry and training in mentoring. They can bring their hopes and concerns to this group and receive support, ideas, and affirmation. Often, just knowing that one is not alone can make a huge difference.

Secondly, we’ll be offering practical learning supports through a series of microcredential programs. These will offer training in some of the practical skills that may not be strictly “theological” but are vital for success in ministry—things like financial literacy, volunteer management, strategic planning, and change management.

The Lilly Grant emphasizes each school's ‘unique charism.’ How does this specific continuing education project reflect AST’s unique mission and our role in the Atlantic region?

As we wrote in our project proposal, AST brings particular strengths—or charisms—to this work: community-based formation, ecumenical partnership, and contextual, practice-integrated theological education. AST’s cohort-based, praxis-integrated model of formation is already demonstrating strong engagement and is increasingly recognized as a model for replication across theological education contexts.

Our close relationship with our founding parties in the United, Anglican, and Roman Catholic churches means that we are deeply aware of the needs of the Church throughout this region, and that has meant we are in a good place to respond in these ways.

You recently met with the heads of all eight UCC-affiliated theological schools in Winnipeg. How does working closely with institutions like Emmanuel or VST expand opportunities for AST students and faculty without losing our distinct regional identity?

Every theological school in Canada has its own strengths, and the ability to learn from one another and not duplicate efforts is one of the strongest goals of the RTE project.

For example, all eight UCC schools teach UCC doctrine, history, polity, and worship leadership. In an era when so many of our students are already studying at a distance, why shouldn’t they learn together? It saves resources and increases students’ exposure to the realities of the church in other parts of the country.

The Centre for Christian Studies has a vocation to education for diaconal ministry. The Sandy Saulteaux Spiritual Centre both trains Indigenous people for ministry and offers training to non-Indigenous learners about Indigenous spirituality. Emmanuel has moved strongly into the interfaith space, and St. Stephen’s focuses on psychotherapy. What a gift for all of our students if we are able to cooperate so that they can all benefit from each of these—and what a gift for students from elsewhere to learn from us about the strengths that we bring!

This project feeds directly into the United Church's 'Toward 2035' strategic vision. When you look down the road, how do you see this project changing the day-to-day experience of an AST graduate five or ten years from now?

The Toward 2035 studies have suggested that in less than a decade there could be as few as 89 full-time ministers in all of Canada. That means that many of AST’s UCC graduates won’t be serving as full-time, paid ministers in the ways we’ve come to see as “normal.” They’ll be working with teams of church members, equipping and empowering them to do ministry in their communities—likely in more than one community of faith. 

They may be ministering in ecumenical shared ministries, pastoring a community of faith that includes parishioners from Lutheran, Anglican, Mennonite, Baptist, or other traditions and that seeks to honour each of them. They will need skills in community engagement and (dare I say it?) evangelism, in interculturality and leading adaptive change, and in working with volunteers and with teams. I have faith that the kinds of programs we’re developing through this project will equip them to be able to do all this and more, as they are faithful to God’s call into the future.