While this time is disorienting, challenging and requires rapid adaptation for all church leaders, it doesn’t stop the essential practice of faith: to pay attention to the life and faith of our community, to the challenges and opportunities of these circumstances, and to the wisdom of our tradition.
What is being unveiled for us in these times? For good, or for ill, what are we beginning to catch glimpses of about ourselves, and about God?
Led by Rev Janet Gear and Rev Brian Thorpe, gather with colleagues for 4 weeks to explore the spiritual questions that arise during a crisis, the theologies that are guiding us, and how we respond to the needs of our communities right now.
Dates & Times
Pacific Time Zone: please adjust for your area, accordingly
Tuesday Cohort: 10-11:30am (Tuesdays May 5, 12, 19, 26 2020)
Thursday Cohort: 1:30-3pm (Thursdays May 7, 14, 21, 28 2020)
Location
Online gatherings
Cost
$75
Additional Details
Space is Limited in each Cohort. You will need a computer or device with audio, video, and a stable internet connection.
Facilitators
Rev Janet Gear preaches, teaches and leads retreats within and beyond the Pacific Mountain Region. Raised in Vancouver, she has supported the life and work of the UCC and ecumenical partners primarily in three areas: education for ministry and leadership, social justice and community organizing, and theology and faith. She served the Theology and Faith Committee during the writing of 'A Song of Faith', and currently writes and offers workshops on theological diversity in congregations. She has served the Boards of First United Church and Pacific Jubilee. For 15 years she was on the teaching faculty of Vancouver School of Theology. Janet was educated at UBC and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She lives in North Vancouver with her family and worships at St. Andrew’s Wesley United Church.
Rev Brian Thorpe grew up in Saskatoon and graduated from the University of Saskatchewan and St. Andrew’s College. He then completed a PhD at McGill University in Montreal. In 1980 he moved to Vancouver where he served three different congregations (University Hill UC, North Lonsdale UC, Mount Seymour UC). In 2000 the General Council of the United Church asked Brian to work exclusively on the church’s response to the legacy of the Indian Residential Schools System. From 2005 to 2013 he returned to pastoral ministry at Ryerson United Church (now Pacific Spirit United Church). Upon retirement he was made Minister Emeritus in the congregation. He has also taught at the Vancouver School of Theology, and is currently the Past Chair of the First United Church Community Ministry Society on the downtown east side of Vancouver.
