St. Stephen’s College Joins Major Collaborative Grant
St. Stephen’s College is thrilled to be one of eight graduate schools participating in a large-scale collaboration grant totaling $9,923,200 USD from the Lilly Endowment.
This grant will establish the Reimagining Theological Education Across The United Church of Canada Affiliated Schools: Confronting the Narrative of Decline project which, over the next five years, will foster a new, responsive, collaborative framework involving The United Church of Canada (UCC) and its affiliated schools. The project will also lead to the formation of a permanent endowment, supported by the Lilly Endowment, matched by additional fundraising by the collaborative partners, and with support through The United Church of Canada Foundation.
The project is led by the Vancouver School of Theology in close collaboration with the General Council Office of The United Church of Canada, and seven other graduate schools located in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes.
“This is a consequential project, one in which St. Stephen’s is excited to contribute. As we enter the second quarter of the 21st century, this multi-year project aims to deepen, enliven, and more acutely orient the ecosystem of UCC theological education to the needs of Canadian faith communities. St. Stephen’s is particularly excited to contribute from our strengths, which have always been focused on the formation of spiritually-integrated professionals and ministry practitioners who enrich our shared, common good. This grant provides an exciting opportunity to leverage, strengthen, and expand the College’s work in uplifting the whole people.”
(Dr. Fred Tappenden, Principal and Dean of St. Stephen’s College)
The project is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, which was established in 2021. Since then, the Initiative has provided grants totaling more than $700 million to support 163 theological schools in efforts to strengthen their own educational and financial capacities and to assist 61 schools in developing large-scale collaborative endeavors.
St. Stephen’s extends its thanks to the Vancouver School of Theology and The United Church of Canada for their leadership in spearheading this application, and to the other partner schools that have each contributed to the project’s design.
Read the official media release from the lead institution.