Montreal Diocesan Theological College & United Church Studies at Dio is delighted to be holding its first convocation as an ecumenical college on Monday, May 8th at 7:00pm. The service will be held at Christ Church Anglican Cathedral (635 St. Catherine’s St. W.) and will be followed by a reception in Fulford Hall.
In May of 2022 Montreal Dio and the United Theological College had a joint convocation. That same day, representatives of each college signed agreement documents that began the process of reforming the two institutions into one ecumenical college. This year, Dio is excited to be celebrating its first convocation as one college for students from United, Anglican, and a variety of other denominational backgrounds. It has been both a challenging and life-giving year as the college community has learned to worship together in new ways and reimagine community life together. Faculty, staff, and students look forward to this opportunity to celebrate all they have accomplished this year, and to recognise the graduating students for all their academic achievements and contributions to the community amidst this significant transition.
The college will be welcoming The Rt. Rev. Ogé Beauvoir as convocation speaker. Bishop Beauvoir is the retired Bishop Suffragan in charge of the Northern Region of the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti, a founding member of Religions pour la paix Haiti, and an Honorary Canon of Christ Church Cathedral Montreal. He is a graduate of Dio’s Diploma in Ministry program and was also awarded the Honorary Doctorate of Divinity in 2009.
The Rev. Patricia Lisson will be receiving the Honorary Doctorate of Divinity in recognition of her accomplishments in social ministry over her long career as a minister of the United Church of Canada. Since being commissioned as a minister in 1978, she has consistently expanded her work beyond the walls of the church, assessing the needs of the local community and establishing various partnerships between church and government and social service organisations. She has been an integral part of establishing various community initiatives including St. Paul’s Centre and Common Ground Women’s Centre in downtown Toronto, and a health centre, seniors centre, and family centre at the Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood Community Centre. Her most recent ministry charge was as the executive director of St. Columba House, a community centre in Pointe St. Charles committed to advocating for and being a resource to those in the margins of society. Throughout her career she has been involved internationally in human rights advocacy. Currently she serves as the chair of the Canadian chapter of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines. As chair she has attended the UN in Geneva twice to advocate for a formal investigation of the human rights situation in the Philippines.
Before the convocation service, Patricia will be leading a free workshop at 3:30pm at St. James United Church called “Soul of the Community: Building Neighbourhoods of Hope”. The workshop will focus on how fear can drive us toward hopeful action in our communities. Click here to learn more about this event.
The college community hopes to see many of you at the convocation service. If you are unable to attend in person there is an option to livestream the service at: www.montrealcathedral.ca/live. For more information about the service, click here for the facebook event.