Emmanuel Faculty

Rubén David Bonilla-Ramos

BA, 2014, Interamerican University of Puerto Rico    

Mdiv, 2019, Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico

PhD, In progress, Emmanuel College, Toronto School of Theology, University of Toronto.

 

Contact

Email: rubendavid.bonillaramos@mail.utoronto.ca  

 

Teaching and Research Interests

Rubén David is a Ph.D. candidate at Emmanuel College of Victoria University in the University of Toronto. He has served as a teaching assistant in courses on Christian ethics, professional ethics, and the New Testament, and has worked as a Research Fellow, collaborating on archival research related to the processes of colonization and conquest in Latin America and the Caribbean. Throughout his academic career, Rubén David has been particularly interested in exploring the intersections of colonial processes in Latin America and the Caribbean through the asserting of his own Puerto Rican identity and history. His research interests include decolonial thinking and theology, Latin American liberation theology, studies on imagination and dreams, identity theories, and gender and sexuality studies, with a special emphasis on masculinities. His doctoral research investigates the coloniality inherent in contemporary understandings of what it means to "be a man" in Latin America and the Caribbean, aiming to reimagine alternative possibilities that reveal spaces of vulnerability and liberation for Latin American and Caribbean men in their construction, encounter, and relationships with the Divine. Rubén David also serves as a translator for academic articles and conferences in Anglo-North America and was awarded the 2024 Doctoral Fellowship from the Forum for Theological Exploration and the 2024 Honorary Dissertation Fellowship from the Louisville Institute.

 

Selected Publications

• “Decolonial Moves Beyond “la igualdad hombre-mujer”—A Puerto Rican Case Study of Gender, Theology and Decolonial Thinking” in Decolonial Horizons: Reshaping Synodality, Mission, and Social Justice. Barreto, Raimundo C. and Latinovic, Vladimir eds. Switzerland, AG: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023.
• “Imagination as a Decolonial Tool: An Analysis of the Coloniality of Translation, Imagination, and the Theology of Rubem Alves,” Toronto Journal of Theology 39, no. 2 (2023): 99–109.
• Book Review: “Body Becoming: A Path to our Liberation.” Perspectivas – Journal of the Hispanic Theological Initiative. June 2022.
• “Out of the Closet: Homosexuality, Colonialism and Mission” in Couture, Pamela; Ekué, Amélé Adamavi-Aho and George, Samuel eds. For Those Who Wish to Hear: Emerging Theologians on Mission and Evangelism. Geneva, Switzerland: WCC Publications, 2019.

 

Selected Courses

EMT 3681 Theologies from the Global South

 

Rev. Dr. Kathy Edmison is a member of the CASC Professional Practice Commission.   

She is ordained for the United Church of Canada.  Kathy completed her MDiv at Queen’s Theological College and her DMin at St. Stephen’s Theological College and is a CASC Certified Specialist in Pastoral Care and a Teaching Supervisor.  Kathy has served as a military chaplain, a hospital chaplain (Sunnybrook and Bridgepoint Health) and has also served in United Church congregations in Saskatchewan and Ontario.  She is also a member of the CASC Professional Practice Commission.

• Master of Theological Studies, Emmanuel College at Victoria University in the University of Toronto 
• Bachelor of Education, York University
• Bachelor of Business Administration, Concordia University

Contact

• Tel.: 416-585-4518
  Email: j.hamilton.diabo@utoronto.ca
• Teaching & Research Interests

Jonathan Hamilton-Diabo focuses on the history and impacts of residential schools, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Calls to Action; Indigenous interactions with Christianity and the Church; and building community relationships. As well, he is interested in exploring the impacts of educational systems and teaching methods on individuals and communities.  His teaching focuses on the use of personal stories, experiences and worldviews to make connections. 

Aside from teaching, Jonathan seeks ways to enhance the presence of Indigenous peoples, culture and knowledge at the university as the Special Advisory on Indigenous Initiatives.  He is the convenor of the Indigenous Advisory Circle at Victoria University. 

The majority of Jonathan’s university career was in Indigenous student services (First Nations House) and he was the Director of the Office of Indigenous Initiatives (Provost’s Office and Human Resources & Equity) at the University of Toronto. He has also taught at the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary (now the Martin Luther University College) at Wilfred Laurier University. Prior to entering post-secondary education, he was an ESL Instructor with LINC (Language Instruction to Newcomers to Canada) and co-ordinated a Basic Skills and Career Program for adults at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto. 

Jonathan is Mohawk from Kahnawake, a First Nations community outside of Montreal.  He is an unwavering Montreal Canadiens fan, loves to downhill ski, has an uncanny knowledge of superheroes and comics and enjoys spending time with his wife and children. Oh yes, there is a cat at home.

 

Publications

Articles and Book Chapters

• Hamilton-Diabo, Jonathan. (2022, July 21). Pope Francis’ visit to Canada: The complicated relationship between Indigenous communities and the church. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/pope-francis-visit-to-canada-the-complicated-relationship-between-indigenous-communities-and-the-church-186533.
• Hamilton-Diabo, Jonathan. (2021, August 19). Indian Residential School findings: How diverse Indigenous communities deal with grief and healing. The Conversation.  https://theconversation.com/indian-residential-school-findings-how-diverse-indigenous-communities-deal-with-grief-and-healing-163415.
• Hamilton-Diabo, J and Reynolds, T 2017.  ‘Two Ears, One Mouth: Theological Education Towards Respect’, A Quest for Respect: The Church and Indigenous Spirituality, Special Edition of Intotemak, pp. 156-159.

Reports

• U of T Steering Committee, 2017. Wecheehetowin: Answering the Call.  Final Report of the Steering Committee for the University of Toronto Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.  

Memberships

• Ontario College of Teachers

Selected Courses

Emmanuel College

• EMP 1621H – Multi-religious Theological Education and Leadership 
• EMT3664H – Indigenous Relationships – Exploring Faith, Church and Family
• EMT 2151H – Residential Schools: Enactment, Responses and Calls to Action (new course)
• EMT2155H – Engaging the Spirit: Indigenous Theological Worldviews

Victoria College

• VIC108H - Belonging, Imagination and Indigenous Identity
• VIC150Y – School and Society, Vic One Program
• VIC153H – School and Society: Equity and Social Justice in Education, Vic One Program
• VIC435H1Y – Community-Engaged Research, Capstone
• EDS358H - Residential Schools and Education in Canada, Education and Society Program
• EDS368H – Special Topics: Multi-Faith Education

• BA         University of Toronto
• MA        St. Michael’s University
• MDiv     Emmanuel College
• PhD       University of Saskatchewan

Contact

Email: david.kimcragg@utoronto.ca

Teaching and Research Interests

David Kim-Cragg received his PhD in history from the University of Saskatchewan with a major in Modern East Asian history and two minors in Indigenous and Canadian history.  His soon-to-be-published book entitled Water from Dragon’s Well: The History of a Korean-Canadian Church Relationship (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2022) covers the story of the Canadian church’s early mission to Korea and the resulting influence of Korean Christian leadership upon the United Church of Canada.  His research interests include historical intercultural encounters with and within the United Church and its predecessors.  David has taught Modern Canadian History and has published articles in Touchstone, Historical Papers and the Journal of World Christianity.  He is a contributor to Broadview Magazine and a member of the Canadian Society for Church History.  He serves as an ordained minister to St. Matthew’s United Church in Richmond Hill.  David is excited about teaching that draws out the full range of expertise and experience within a group of learners and about sharing the journey of discovery with others.

Ian Manson

BA, 1979, University of Manitoba

MA, 1986, University of Manitoba

M.Div, 1988, Emmanuel College, Victoria University

ThD, 1999, Emmanuel College

 

Contact

Email: ian.manson@utoronto.ca

 

Teaching and Research Interests

Ian Manson holds a Th.D. in the History of Christianity and is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada.  In addition to his work as a Sessional Lecturer at Emmanuel, he has taught at the University of Winnipeg, served several congregations in Manitoba and Ontario, and supported the work of various Toronto-area churches as Presbytery staff.  His research has focused on the social gospel tradition in Canada, and on the history of the United Church. 

In recent years, he’s been exploring the dynamics of mainline Protestant decline in North America, the ways Canada’s churches are working to renew themselves, and the new models of governance that faith communities are developing.

 

Selected Publications

“The United Church and the Second World War,” in Don Schweitzer, ed., The United Church of Canada: a History.  Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2012.

“‘O Day of God, Draw Nigh’: R.B.Y. Scott, the Church and the Call for Social Reconstruction,” in Airhart, Legge and Redcliffe, eds., Doing Ethics in a Pluralistic World: Essays in Honour of Roger C. Hutchinson.  Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2002.

“George Pidgeon and United Church Evangelism in the 1930s,” Toronto Journal of Theology 12/2, 1996: 213-221.

 

Course Offered

EMP2731 Ministry of Governance and Administration

Alydia Smith

Alydia Smith is a worship leader, educator, caregiver, mother and Jesus-follower who works at the General Council Office of The United Church of Canada supporting worship and faith formation ministries. She is a tuba player who holds a bachelor’s in music from Western University, a Master’s in Divinity from the Atlantic School of Theology, and a doctorate in worship from Drew University under the mentorship of Donald Hilliard and Leonard Sweet. Smith loves learning and crafting and is always looking for new opportunities to grow and create.

Education:  

BaH Queen's University

MTS Knox College, Toronto

ThM Knox College, Toronto

PhD Candidate, Emmanuel College, Toronto

Contact: amy.panton@mail.utoronto.ca

Teaching and Research Interests:

Amy is a Mad Theologian who has gotten involved in practical theological research as she wants to contribute to change. Her research explores the intersections between mental illness and spirituality. Amy is currently writing her dissertation which looks at the recent rise in self-harm (cutting and burning one's own skin) amongst young people all over the world. Amy is interested in better understanding the lived spirituality of people who self-harm so that faith communities can respond and provide care. Amy's research interests include: mental health and spirituality, mad studies, disability theology, crip theory and mad people's history.

In July of 2020, Amy co-launched The Canadian Journal of Theology, Mental Health and Disability with her friend Rev. Miriam Spies. The journal is committed to breaking new ground at the intersection of theology and mental health, exploring disability using an interfaith theological lens, publishing work by people with lived experience of mental illness and other disabilities. 

Selected publications:

Fisher, Elizabeth, and Amy Elizabeth Panton. “Transformation & Resistance in the Interfaith Classroom: Reflections on Teaching in the Canadian Context.” The Wabash Center Journal on Teaching 2, no. 2 (May 28, 2021).

Panton, Amy Elizabeth and Miriam Spies. "A Deep Desire for Transformative Justice: A Reflection on the Birth of the Canadian Journal of Theology, Mental Health and Disability" Mad Students Zine, McMaster University, Fall 2021 (forthcoming).

Panton, Amy Elizabeth. “Christian Perspectives on Self-Harm.” Centre for Peadiatric Spiritual Care, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, February 2019.

Panton, Amy Elizabeth. “Spiritual Care for Youth Who Self-Injure.” Mandate, the United Church of Canada, Spring 2019.

Panton, Amy Elizabeth. Spiritual Care for Self-Injury Project. 

Xiong, Jianhui (Jane), Nazila Isgandarova, and Amy Elizabeth Panton. “COVID-19 Demands Theological Reflection: Buddhist, Muslim and Christian Perspectives on the Present Pandemic.” International Journal of Practical Theology 24, no. 1 (March 2020): 5–28.

Professional Memberships:

International Society for the Study of Self-Injury

International Association for the Study of Youth Ministry

American Academy of Religion

Editors Canada
 

Selected Courses:

EMP2523H - Mental Health and Christian Theology

Martha ter Kuile retired recently from ministry at Bloor Street United Church in Toronto.  Her priority in teaching is to combine practical experience in the world with theological reflection.

Martha’s career began in international development. She worked for CIDA and the UN, living with her husband and children in Kenya, Ecuador, Nigeria, and Guatemala, eventually returning to a farm outside Ottawa. An M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Guelph led her to focus her work on agricultural research for developing countries.

After preparing for ordained ministry with an M. Div. at Queen’s University, she served at churches in the Ottawa area before coming to Bloor Street United in 2007. She continued her theological studies at Saint Paul University with an M.A. in Christian Ethics, on the history of Christian ideas about poverty. Martha completed her PhD in Theology at Saint Paul University, University of Ottawa. Her dissertation developed a Christian Realist Virtue Ethics, based on Reinhold Niebuhr and Martha Nussbaum. Her article, Virtue and the Fragile Christian Realist, appears in Paradoxical Virtue: Reinhold Niebuhr and the Virtue Tradition, Kevin Carnahan and David True, eds., Routledge, 2020.