This fall I notified Principal Dea. Dr. Richard Manley-Tannis of my intent to retire as Director of the Designated Lay Ministry Program, effective December 31, 2023.

Since January of 2020, I have been privileged and honoured to serve the Designated Lay Ministry students and work alongside four remarkable volunteer program team colleagues: Marc Grenon, Doreen Hewitson, Steven Loweth, and Mary-Jo Tracy. My first learning circle, “The Learning Community” in March 2020, coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and tested everyone’s skills as we shifted from in-person to remote teaching. Adaptation to change is part of the call to ministry, whether that means devising new ways of being community during a pandemic or winding down a ministry. Through it all, I have been blessed by the opportunity to nurture the spiritual and vocational development of remarkable designated lay ministers who serve in many parts of Turtle Island, from British Columbia to Newfoundland and nearly every province in between. They are a blessing to our United Church and have been a personal blessing to me.

My retirement ends a 41-year career in education which began in a French-as-a-second-language classroom in Central Ontario, included 30 years as a professor of English literature at the University of Saskatchewan, and four years working alongside staff and faculty colleagues at my alma mater, St. Andrew’s College. I am profoundly grateful for the learning acquired from those thousands of students over the years, but I am especially indebted to the designated lay ministry students who have helped me deepen my faith and trust in Creator and inspired me on the continuing journey of discipleship. May St. Andrew’s College continue to grow hope, compassion, and justice in the servants of Jesus.

the Rev. Dr. Kathleen James-Cavan