![]() Paterson said in a telephone interview that the sale of VST “symbolizes how the United Church of Canada is no longer mainline, along with most churches across North America, including the evangelical ones.” ![]() United Church of Canada moderator Gary Paterson said Tuesday that “my first response is personal sadness.” He graduated from VST and his partner, Vancouver councillor Tim Stevenson, also attended the school. “We have the incredible opportunity to (develop) a purpose-designed facility to advance thoughtful, engaged and generous Christian faith for the 21st century.” We realized we were asset-rich and needed to make those assets liquid to more usefully serve the mission of the church,” Topping said. Many churches across North America are made up of “large, cavernous buildings with a few people. In addition to providing graduate classes on spiritual practice, ethics and religious history for Anglicans, United church members, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Unitarians and others, VST houses the Indigenous Studies Centre for aboriginals in Christian ministry, and the Iona Pacific Inter-Religious Centre, headed by Rabbi Robert Daum.Īfter discussions in recent years, Topping said school officials decided they needed only about a quarter of the space provided by the Iona Building. It is a treasure that will provide an inspiring setting for our faculty and students.” Gage Averill, the UBC dean of arts, said: “The magnificent Iona building is ideally suited for the UBC Vancouver School of Economics. This arrangement also supports a theological institution that has been a valued academic neighbour for many years.” “When approached by VST, we grasped immediately the unique value of this opportunity. “This building holds historic significance for our community,” said UBC President Stephen Toope, who is an active Anglican. UBC’s Vancouver School of Economics will begin using the facility in September 2015. UBC plans to take possession in July of the 100,000-square-foot building at 6000 Iona Drive, which includes a chapel and library. Impressive list at VST spiritual gathering VST theologian joins Dalai Lama’s ecology team To upgrade the Iona building and create operating funds, the school worked with real estate developers to build hundreds of rental units and luxury condominiums along Chancellor Boulevard in UBC’s so-called Theological Neighbourhood, which includes two Catholic colleges and a Baptist institution.īut, given the 2008 economic downturn and with funding decreasing from mainline Protestant denominations, Topping said revenue from the redevelopment has not been strong enough to maintain both the Iona building and school operations. Vancouver School of Theology, which has a 999-year lease with the University of B.C., moved into property redevelopment in a big way the past decade. Economics, when it’s properly done, is also a discipline devoted to human flourishing and the common good.” Proceeds from the sale of the recently renovated theological building, formally called Iona and informally referred to as “The Castle,” will go to renovating Somerville House and moving into it, and to an endowment fund.Īsked about the symbolism of a Christian school of theology becoming a secular school of economics, Topping said, “There can be overlap. The school will retain its A-frame Chapel of Epiphany. The Christian graduate school will move this summer into a smaller, adjacent building on the north side of the UBC campus, called Somerville House. And not for a moment would I want to conceal that.” Many Canadian Protestants will grieve the loss of the venerable building, said Topping, a Presbyterian theologian. But principal Richard Topping says the building, with its stunning views of Bowen Island and Howe Sound, is too large and too costly for its 115 full- and part-time students. VST has trained thousands of United, Anglican, Presbyterian and other clergy in the past 86 years. It will become the new home of UBC’s school of economics. ![]() The stone-faced Vancouver School of Theology, built in 1927 as a seminary for Protestant clergy, has been sold to the university for $28 million, it was announced today. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt. ![]() Westcoast Homes & Design Previous Issues.Vancouver Sun Run: Sign up & event info.
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