I am very excited to write to you about the many new things that are happening at ESC.
This past year, our council approved the delivery of a series of new courses that aim to conjoin theology and the field of health care. The idea for these courses came about because of many conversations with clergy and bishops that highlighted a great number of challenges we face in our society.
So, with some special help and teaching from our friends in the health authority, we were able to begin to address some of these challenges. I will mention two of the new courses here and how you can enrol.
Our first class began in September, and is called “A Theology and Ethic of Healthcare.” In it, we address many topics that pertain to how we think about our health. Topics such as addressing trauma with our health-care system, what it means to be created in the image of God, and medical assistance in dying (MAiD) were at the forefront of many conversations.
Our instructor, Erika Mills (SHA), brilliantly wove together her experience with scholarly opinion and led our students to a more robust understanding of the topics and of themselves.
In January, we begin to address a very difficult topic: addiction. The statistics are very bleak, and overdoses have reached record highs in our province and elsewhere. We have all been affected by this terrible crisis. This is why we have teamed with Dr. Andrew Yang (SHA), himself a specialist in addiction treatment, to teach and guide our students through this complicated subject as we attempt to make a positive impact in our communities.
Our goal is simple: to educate as many people as we can about what addiction is and prepare everyone for how to deal with it in theologically thoughtful and helpful ways.
If you are interested in joining our class in January, please reach out to me. We will be happy to have you. If you are Anglican, we are offering bursaries to lower the cost of each class and make our classes as accessible as possible.
Please reach out to me should you have any questions and would like more information about these and future courses. You can email me at [email protected].
Dr. Adam Z. Wright is an associate professor of New Testament and director of programming at the College of Emmanuel and St. Chad.
