THE CALL TO SERVE
A look at Emmanuel College’s record enrolment with admissions counsellor Andrew Aitchison
PLUS: Canada’s First Buddhist Chaplain | Alumni Awards | Indigenous Healing Garden
Principal’s Message
Greetings from Emmanuel College and the start of the New Year in the academic world!
I hope you all had a wonderful summer.
This will be an exciting year to be part of the Emmanuel community. I am especially pleased to be connecting with you here in our new print magazine, EC News. There is still something special about a print publication.
We are also welcoming our biggest incoming class in recent memory and preparing to celebrate some significant anniversaries.
Our enrolment has almost doubled in the last 10 years, which is especially remarkable given the theological landscape in Canada and the United States. In 2014, 93 students were enrolled across all years of Emmanuel’s basic degree programs. This month we are welcoming the exact same number of incoming students—93—into those basic degree programs. These new students are evenly divided among the Buddhist, Christian and Muslim streams.
I credit this remarkable success to the dedication of staff who have worked hard on recruitment and the groundbreaking scholarship and dedicated teaching of our remarkable faculty. I also believe that the enthusiastic promotion of Emmanuel College by
our fantastic alumni has helped to raise the school’s profile and driven this incredible growth.
More students require more support. This year, Emmanuel College awarded close to $900,000 in scholarships, prizes and bursaries, a 10 per cent increase over last year.
We are so grateful to all our donors who have named or contributed to scholarships at Emmanuel.
We have so much to celebrate in the coming year!
In 2025, Emmanuel will mark the 10th and 15th anniversaries of the Buddhist and Muslim foci of our Master of Psychospiritual Studies Program, formerly the Master of Pastoral Studies. We will also mark the United Church of Canada’s centennial.
I hope you are excited and ready to witness these historic moments with me! It will be good practice for 2028 when we celebrate the centenary of the founding of Emmanuel College, for which we have already begun to prepare a full calendar of events. One of the ways we will celebrate the 2025 milestones is the unveiling of the Indigenous Healing Garden, a tangible sign of our commitment to engage with Indigenous issues, promote ecological sustainability and continue our reconciliation journey. Stay tuned for details!
Principal HyeRan Kim-Cragg
Volunteers Needed on the ECAA Executive
Looking for a great way to stay connected to the EC community? The Emmanuel College Alumni/ae Association is always seeking volunteers to join its executive group. This dynamic committee could use your time and talents to help plan exciting events and continue the college’s tradition of excellence in theological education. To learn more about getting involved with the ECAA, please contact Helena Herscovici, alumni affairs officer, at h.herscovici@utoronto.ca.
EC News Fall 2024
EC News is published by: Office of the Principal Emmanuel College
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Toronto ON M5S 1K7
Tel: 416-585-4539
Please forward address changes to: emm.alumni@utoronto.ca or Victoria Alumni Office
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Editor: Leslie Shepherd
Managing Editor: Joe Howell
Web Editor: Dan Blackwell
Photo Editor: Minh Truong
Design: Randall Van Gerwen
Cover photo by Minh Truong
www.emmanuel.utoronto.ca
Photo: Minh Truong
‘We’re Here for Others’
Emmanuel College’s 2023 Alumni Award Winners
By Joe Howell
Rev. Dr. Robin D. Wardlaw spent his nearly 40-year career in ministry fighting for justice both at home and overseas. His conviction started as an undergrad at Victoria College, where he studied in the early 1970s before doing his MDiv at Emmanuel College.
“I discovered in the Department of History at U of T that history always took sides and that you could take the side of the disadvantaged—that one reading of history was coming at it from the point of view of the underdog,” said Wardlaw. “At Emmanuel, I realized that’s a way to read the Bible too. We’re not just here for ourselves; we’re here for others, especially the disadvantaged.”
Wardlaw was recognized for his decades of service championing the underrepresented during the 2024 EC Alumni Day dinner on May 13. The Emmanuel College Alumni Association named him as the recipient
Hae-Bin Jung Emm 0T4 and Adele Halliday Emm 1T7 were also honoured at the event, receiving 2023 Service Awards. Halliday was recognized for “her dedication to leading the United Church in its important work of becoming anti-racist,” said Deb Walker, while Jung was cited for his leadership with the Korean United Church community.
of the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award. Wardlaw was cited for “his profound support of people and causes both close to home and afar,” said Deb Walker Emm 9T7, president of the ECAA.
This support of people and causes includes the roughly five years Wardlaw spent as the chair of the Toronto Southeast Presbytery’s Justice and Outreach committee. The committee was comprised of “people from different congregations interested in justice issues,” he said. “We had people interested in racial justice, economic justice, environmental justice and freeing the world from nuclear weapons.” The aim was bringing these issues “to the United Church of Canada as a whole.”
While a minister of Trinity United in Newmarket, Wardlaw also helped rally his church community and beyond to raise more than $1 million dollars for the Stephen Lewis Foundation. That effort came after Wardlaw visited Africa in 2002 and witnessed firsthand the devastation of HIV and AIDS. “When I got back, I wanted to raise $60,000 to build a school in a particularly disadvantaged suburb in Zambia,” he said. As the campaign spread, the team set a loftier goal. “That looped in the Barenaked Ladies with their classic hit ‘If I Had $1,000,000.’ They came and played at the big gala that closed it out.”
Wardlaw retired from ministry in 2017 and completed his DMin at Emmanuel in 2019, officially becoming Rev. Dr. Wardlaw. He encourages others to nominate a deserving EC alum for next year’s awards. “It gets us thinking about one another in that vein: Who is doing good service? Who is contributing to the profession, the denomination, humankind?”
Has someone in the EC community inspired you? It’s a quick and easy process to honour an Emmanuel College alum making a significant contribution to the world around them. Click here to learn more about the two awards and to submit your nomination today! All nominations are due by Dec. 31, 2024.
Photo: Minh Truong
Rev. Dr. Robin D. Wardlaw Vic 7T6, Emm 8T0, Emm 1T9 received the Distinguished Alumnus Award at Alumni Day 2024.
‘Emmanuel’s Visionaries Planted the Seed’
By Joe Howell
Emmanuel College has experienced a record-breaking surge in enrolment for the 2024–25 academic year, marking an ambitious new chapter for Victoria University’s theological school. The college saw basic degree registrations increase by one-third over last year’s numbers, with 93 students entering basic degree programs for a total of 239 students enrolled across all programs.
That’s more than double the number of incoming basic degree students from eight years ago, said Andrew Aitchison, admissions counsellor and recruitment coordinator at Emmanuel: “When I started here in 2016, we admitted 44 students to the basic degree programs that fall.”
That increase is reflected across Emmanuel’s programs, particularly the Master of Divinity, Master of Theological Studies and Master of Psychospiritual Studies (formerly the Master of Pastoral Studies). The MDiv program has expanded from three incoming students in 2021 to 13 in the coming academic year, while a record 23 students were scheduled to start the MTS program this fall. Meanwhile, students enrolled in the Christian, Muslim and Buddhist foci of the MPS and MTS programs have grown to roughly equal numbers for the first time.
Applications for Emmanuel’s graduate programs have also been strong, with the college securing top-notch PhD students and continually receiving more applications than it can admit.
Several factors contributed to this growth, said Rev. Dr. HyeRan Kim-Cragg, principal of Emmanuel College. She pointed to curricular innovation and diversification; improved outreach and communication; the foresight of past leaders; the college’s
Photo: Minh Truong
Fall term sees record enrolment at EC
Professors Henry Shiu, HyeRan Kim-Cragg and Nazila Isgandarova prepare to welcome an equal number of students to the Buddhist, Christian and Muslim foci of Emmanuel’s basic degree programs.
generous scholarship packages; and the dedication of faculty and staff.
“It’s like a tree,” said Kim-Cragg. “Emmanuel’s visionaries planted the seed of us becoming a multireligious theological school and now it’s bearing fruit.” She acknowledged the work of Mark Toulouse, principal of Emmanuel from 2009 to 2017, in heading the creation of the Buddhist and Muslim foci of the MPS program. “And Nevin Reda, our first Muslim faculty member, was a PhD student when this very seed was being planted.”
The 2024–25 academic year will also see the expansion of the MTS program into four distinct foci: Buddhist, Christian and Muslim, plus an Interfaith focus for students interested in studying multiple traditions.
Aitchison said one reason for the MDiv program’s impressive enrolment numbers is the introduction of a new hybrid MDiv program, which had its pilot project in 2023. It allows students to take the majority of their courses virtually, opening the door to potential ministry students living outside Toronto or who are juggling childcare and other obligations.
Another curricular innovation at Emmanuel is the combination MDiv/MPS program, said KimCragg. “A student who wants to be a minister but also wants to be equipped with counselling and psychotherapy skills doesn’t need to choose between the two.”
Kim-Cragg also called attention to the college’s impressive funding packages. All incoming full-time master’s students receive an entrance scholarship, while entering conjoint PhD students are awarded a scholarship package that more than covers tuition fees and applies to the first four years of study.
Both Aitchison and Kim-Cragg highlighted improved outreach
and communication as an essential factor in Emmanuel’s growth.
“We’ve made continued efforts to reach out to different communities beyond the ivory tower,” said KimCragg. “Tomorrow I’m visiting a synagogue to help make us known to the Jewish community. I also have visits planned to a Muslim centre and a Buddhist temple, and I am preaching in a United Church congregation as well.”
She pointed to the many conferences and places of worship at which Emmanuel’s staff and faculty have recently spoken, travelling to the Netherlands, South Korea, across North America and more. “And Andrew is always on the road, engaging with various communities,” said Kim-Cragg. “We have to be out there so people know about the good things happening at Emmanuel!”
One message Aitchison has been sharing is that Emmanuel graduates have strong career prospects, with many securing jobs even before graduation. “We’re open to receiving folks at any stage of life who have heard the call to serve and are ready to answer it,” he said.
The continuity provided by the admissions counsellor over his eight years at Emmanuel has also factored in the increased enrolment.
“I’ve learned that the average time it takes for somebody to decide to attend a theological school is approximately three to five years, so having a steady contact is so helpful,” said Aitchison. “They’re facing a decision to uproot their life, make sacrifices and switch their whole world around.”
Aitchison and Kim-Cragg are themselves graduates of Emmanuel College, as are many other staff and faculty members. Their belief in the college’s mission to prepare future spiritual leaders resonates with prospective students.
“I come from a long line of Emmanuel graduates,” said Aitchison. “My grandmother’s uncle, a United Church minister, was in one of the first graduating classes in the 1930s.”
Kim-Cragg said her goal is to provide students with the same rigorous and comprehensive theological education she herself received at Emmanuel as a Doctor of Theology candidate. “We hope to provide a transformative experience for our students—not just a checkpoint where you get the grade and leave,” she said.
Click here to read the full-length story.
Photo: Minh Truong
Professor Shiu, Professor Isgandarova and Principal Kim-Cragg gather together in the Buddhist Prayer Room.
Indigenous Healing Garden Planting an
By Leslie Shepherd
An Indigenous Healing Garden will soon take root at Emmanuel College, growing into a space for reflection, truth and reconciliation, and learning about Indigenous traditions and stewardship of the land.
The garden, created in consultation with Indigenous advisers and various stakeholders, is being built on the east side of the college’s Gothic-style building at Queen’s Park and Charles Street. It will be fully accessible and ecologically sustainable, growing Indigenous sacred medicinal plants, as well as vegetables and wildflowers.
Work on the garden was set to begin this fall, with an expectation of an official opening during the spring of 2025 to coincide with celebrations for the United Church of Canada’s centennial. Next year is also the 10th and 15th anniversaries for the Buddhist and Muslim foci of the Master of Psychospiritual Studies at Emmanuel, followed by the centenary of Emmanuel’s founding in 2028.
Creating the garden is part of Victoria University’s commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation process and was a priority for Emmanuel College Principal
HyeRan Kim-Cragg when she was installed in 2022. “This is a dream come true,” she said.
Victoria University President Dr. Rhonda McEwen called the garden “a tangible realization of our commitment to build relationships between and among Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.”
“We like to talk about Vic’s beautiful campus, but beauty is more than just aesthetics; there is beauty in recognizing the land,” she said. “The garden will also be a tangible symbol of respecting the land, the Earth, the soil and the water and the things that grow, nourish and heal us.”
Photo: Minh Truong
An Indigenous Healing Garden will be built adjacent to Emmanuel College where the “Crucified Woman” sculpture now stands. The garden will be fully accessible and there will be a new accessible entrance to the east side of the college itself.
Kim-Cragg said the garden is aligned with Vic U’s Strategic Framework, which commits us to intensify sustainability initiatives across the entire university. Grass, which requires a lot of water to grow and stay green, will be replaced with plants native to this area that will also attract bees and butterflies.
Jonathan Hamilton-Diabo, the June Callwood Professor of Social Justice and adviser on Indigenous issues to the president of Victoria University, said he expects the new plants to include sage and sweet grass, which are used in various ceremonies, such as smudging. Cedar, which can be brewed for tea, and tobacco, often used when inviting or thanking someone for doing something, or offered in a fire to bring thoughts and prayers to the Creator, are also being considered.
Kim-Cragg said she hoped that the garden would become part of Emmanuel College’s academic curriculum, focusing on Indigenous cultures and our relationship to the
land, with classes taking place in the garden, weather permitting.
This would support a call to action from Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission for theological schools to “develop and teach curriculum for all student clergy, and all clergy and staff who work in Aboriginal communities, on the need to respect Indigenous spirituality in its own right.”
Hamilton-Diabo said the garden’s prominent location in the middle of Victoria University was important. He said it would be a visual indication showing an Indigenous presence in the University of Toronto and the city of Toronto.
“It shows our university community, and attending Indigenous students, the importance of visibility of Indigenous cultures on campus. It will acknowledge that there is an active Indigenous community at the university, that we are not relics of the past but are still here in many different ways.”
Hamilton-Diabo said locating
the garden adjacent to Emmanuel College, one of the country’s leading theological schools, recognizes the healing and reconciliation that still needs to be rebuilt between some Indigenous people and churches.
He said that after much discussion with the Indigenous advisers, the “Crucified Woman” sculpture will remain in its current location and be part of the new garden. He said that while many people see it as a Christian symbol, its original intent was to represent the universal suffering of women.
The Indigenous Healing Garden received a Seeds of Hope grant from the United Church of Canada to literally seed this project. Vic’s Office of Alumni Affairs & Advancement is also working to raise $500,000 through naming opportunities for benches, walkways, flower beds and paver stones. If you would like to donate, please email vic.alumni@ utoronto.ca or call 416-585-4500 and ask to speak to Director of Philanthropy Mary Heinmaa.
Work on the garden was set to begin this fall, with an expectation of an official opening during the spring of 2025 to coincide with celebrations for the United Church of Canada’s centennial. Next year is also the 10th and 15th anniversaries for the Buddhist and Muslim foci of the Master of Psychospiritual Studies at Emmanuel, followed by the centenary of Emmanuel’s founding in 2028.
Renderings by the architectural firm Brook McIlroy show what the Indigenous Healing Garden could look like.
Meet the First Buddhist Chaplain in the Canadian Armed Forces
Chaplains in the Canadian Armed Forces wear patches on their uniforms above their name tags to identify their faith—most often a Latin cross, a crescent moon or tablets with a Star of David. As the first Buddhist chaplain in the CAF, Capt. Joanne Yuasa is also the inaugural service member to wear a dharma wheel emblazoned on her uniform.
Yuasa, an Emmanuel College graduate and ordained Shin Buddhist minister, did not set out to become a trailblazer. Rather, the path that led her to chaplaincy was as serendipitous as the one that led her to Buddhism as a young adult struggling with anxiety and depression.
Born in Japan and raised in Vancouver, Yuasa discovered Buddhism after her therapist suggested she visit a nearby temple to connect with the Japanese Canadians who gather there. The teachings she learned there had a profound impact on her well-being. “That is when I really connected spiritual health and mental health,” said Yuasa.
When Yuasa started at Emmanuel in 2018, entering the Buddhist stream of what is now called the Master of Psychospiritual Studies, she didn’t know this career path was an option. During her first semester, she asked a professor how to best
spread the Buddhist teachings that had made such a difference in her own life. The professor asked Yuasa if she’d ever considered military chaplaincy.
“I said, ‘I’ve never thought about it because Buddhist chaplaincy’s not a thing.’ My prof said, ‘You could probably make it a thing—you are ordained and you’re taking this master’s degree.’”
Upon investigation, the role seemed like a perfect fit. Yuasa wanted to help people by incorporating Buddhism with psychotherapy and mental health, and because Shin Buddhism is non-monastic, she was encouraged to be out in the world.
She learned military chaplains, considered non-combatants under the Geneva Convention, are prohibited from bearing arms. And while there weren’t any Buddhist chaplains in the CAF, there didn’t seem to be a rule against them.
Intrigued, Yuasa began the lengthy application process. “By second year, I was in the military,” she said. “I was accepted into the CAF’s Subsidized Education for Entry Level Masters program, so my tuition was being paid for, my books were being paid for and I was getting a lieutenant’s salary.”
She completed her MPS while obtaining a Certificate in Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy and a Certificate in Theology and Interreligious Engagement, and after graduating in 2021 did additional training, including Basic Military Officer Qualification.
Capt. Yuasa is now based at CFB Kingston and enjoys her work providing spiritual guidance to the people stationed there. She encourages other people to consider both chaplaincy and studying at Emmanuel.
“The most important thing I was able to do at Emmanuel is combine the doctrine of my tradition with psychotherapy and my skills as a minister,” she said. “To merge all of that together was a big help, both in my professional life and personally.”
story.
Story and photos by Joe Howell
Chaplain Capt. Joanne Yuasa Emm 2T1 in the chapel of the multifaith Spiritual Fitness Centre at CFB Kingston.
