By Norman Robert Boie, Chaplain

La version française est disponible.

Since September 2022, the Montreal School of Theology has been home to a new ecumenical community between the Anglican Church and the United Church of Canada. As chaplain, one of my responsibilities is to facilitate, promote, and encourage a rich, active, and diverse life of prayer that spiritually nourishes every member of the community according to their needs. I would like to tell you a bit about how we are worshipping and praying together in this new ecumenical environment.

Weekdays at the college are punctuated by services of morning and evening prayer in the Anglican tradition which students prepare and preside over. To add to the richness of our prayer lives, we are in the process of integrating services of morning and evening prayer in the United Church tradition, a practice which has existed for a long time but is lesser known.

On Wednesdays at noon and on Friday mornings, we celebrate communion, and often welcome a guest celebrant. We have had the privilege of welcoming a diversity of priests, and ministers who have led varied liturgies in the Anglican and United Church traditions, honouring the inclusion of both French and English to reflect the linguistic diversity of our community.

To build community in a less formal setting, we meet once a month for a United Church style community evening to build relationships, pray, celebrate, and share a meal.

Our faith in Christ commits us to being ‘one body’ and to respecting each other in the way we express this shared faith. This newly configured college is actively engaged in a living, breathing ecumenism.