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The Canadian Society for the Study of Religion (CSSR)

The Canadian Society for the Study of Religion was founded in 1965; it is an interdisciplinary society whose aim is to promote teaching, research and publication in religious studies in Canadian universities. Since its founding the CSSR has drawn both people and resources for the scholarly study of religion in Canada.

The CSSR/SCÉR provides a forum for all who are involved in the academic study of religion, e.g. anthropologists, historians, phenomenologies, philosophers, psychologists, sociologists. It fosters an interdisciplinary discourse in order to arrive at a better, integrated understanding of religious phenomena. In addition, the Society encourages research in the development of religion with particular reference to the Canadian scene. Finally, the Society promotes a critical examination of the goals, methods, and styles of teaching demanded by the discipline. English and French are the official languages of the Society. Members are free to participate in the proceedings in either language.

Since 1970 the CSSR has been a member of the International Association for the History of Religions. The CSSR/SCÉR shares with the SQÉR the two Canadian representative positions on the International Committee of the IAHR. News about the IAHR is regularly published in the CSSR/SCÉR Bulletin. The IAHR meets every 5 years, in various countries around the world; the 1995 meetings were in Mexico; the 2000 meeting will be held in Durban, South Africa.

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The Canadian Society of Patristic Studies (CSPS)

The Canadian Society of Patristic Studies was founded in 1975 during the seventh International Conference of Patristic Studies, which meets in Oxford every four years, drawling together about eight hundred scholars from fifty countries. The CSPS exists to encourage research and to communicate its results to other scholars. Its annual meeting is an important part of the Society's life, as also are its Bulletin, and the Directory of Canadian Patristics scholars. The Society also has an annual undergraduate essay prize.

Patristics is the study of the early centuries of Christian thought, from the origins of the church to the first part of the eighth century, in both the eastern and western empires: the study of the thought of the "Fathers of the Church."

At a meeting during the Learned Societies Conferences at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton in 1977, a small executive was elected. A year later, the first of the society's annual conferences was held, and a constitution was adopted. Since then the society has met annually. Since 1982, when it joined other societies under the aegis of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities (CFH), it has met with the Learned Societies Conference for Studies in Religion (CCSR) since 1984. On the international front, the society has maintained informal and cordial relations with the organizers of the Oxford conferences, with the Association Internationale des Études Patristiques (AIEP) and with the North American Patristics Society (NAPS).

In recent years the traditional topics of discussion at conferences have included theology, church history and the influence of the classical heritage in culture and philosophy on the "fathers" -- have been augmented, in a welcome and exciting process of aggiornamento, by such themes as rhetoric, violence, sexuality, and the role of women. This trend reflects the engagement of members, particularly younger members, in the vital new approaches to traditional materials and fields in the humanities afforded by the social sciences, by cultural studies and the new criticisms, and by women's studies. Within its specialized field of interest, then, the society finds itself engaged in the great debates of our time as well as in more traditional kinds of inquiry.

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Canadian Society of Church History (CSCH)

Founded in 1960, the Canadian Society of Church History is a non-denominational association dedicated to promoting and encouraging research in the history of Christianity, particularly the history of Christianity in Canada. Over the years, the Society's annual meetings have provided a forum for Canadaís leading historians of Christianity. In addition, the Society has encouraged younger historians, especially graduate studies, to present papers that contribute to the historical understanding of Christianity.

Indeed, the phrase "religious history" would best characterize this society's purpose which, at the time of the society's founding, was more accurately described by the phrase "Church History." While some members work from a range of more traditional historical methods, other explore newer social-scientific and cultural approaches to the study of Canada's religious heritage.

Members receive a subscription to the quarterly journal Studies in Religion/Sciences religieuses, annual papers or proceedings of the annual meetings, and the camaraderie and professional companionship of more than one hundred Canadian historians of religion.

The CSCH maintains ongoing contact with the Société canadienne d'histoire de l'Eglise catholique, the Canadian Catholic Historical Association, the American Society of Church History, the Canadian Historical Association, and the Canadian Society of the Study of Religion.

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Canadian Theological Society (CTS)

The Canadian Theological Society was founded in 1955 by theologians from McGill University, Queen's University and Protestant theological colleges in Toronto. For the first fifteen years, it met only in Ontario and Quebec and was largely a Protestant organization. By 1970, however, its membership expanded geographically and denominationally when Roman Catholic scholars began to join. At the same time, it began to meet during the Learned Societiesí Conference in conjunction with sister societies such as the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion and the Canadian Patristic Society.

The Society is a national, non-denominational organization devoted to the promotion of the study of theology. Although most of its members are academics, it is open to students and interested clergy and lay people. CTS promotes its aims by means of research pursued by its members and reported at the annual meetings. The Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion's Studies in Religion is the successor to the Societ'ís Canadian Journal of Theology. The Society publishes its own newsletter biannually. It also sponsors an annual essay prize for graduate students of theology.

The CTS is still broadly Christian in its outlook. At the same time members of other faiths have joined with Christians in increasing numbers. The CTS encourages theological reflection among all groups in a spirit of dialogue.

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Founded in 1963, the Canadian Society of Theology has alredy held more than twenty-five congresses on questions pertinent to the development of contemporary theology. The sociey has as its primary objective the promotion of theological studies as a discipline and theology as a way of life. To realize this objective, the society endeavors to gather professors and researchers in the field of theology from diverse faculties and schools in Canada, to stimulate theological research in general, to provoke and organize the study of theological questions in contemporary society.

The society is intended for those who are engaged in any theological activity, whether professors or researchers, whether involved in the service of an ecclesiastical community or another type of institution. Qualifications for membership include holding a higher degree in a theological discipline or in a recognized theological practice. Its social seat is fixed at the University of Montreal's faculty of theology.

Fondée en 1963, la Société canadienne de théologie a déjà tenu plus de vingt-cinq congrès sur des questions pertinentes au développment de la théologie contemporaine. La Société a pour objectif fondamental de promouvoir les études et la vie théologiques. Pour réaliser cet objectif, elle s'efforce de: rassembler les professeurs et chercheurs en théologie des diverses facultés et écoles de Canada; stimuler la recherche théologique en général; provoquer et organiser l'étude des questions théologiques contemporaines.

La Société s'adresse aux personnes qui exercent une activité théologique, soit comme professeurs ou chercheurs, soit au service d'une communauté ecclésiale ou d'une autre institution. La condition d'être membre est de détenir un diplôme supérieur dans une discipline théologique ou pertinent à une pratique théologique reconnue. Son siège social est fixé à la Faculté de théologie de l'Université de Montréal.

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Société québecoise pour l'étude de la religion (SQÉR)

La Société québecoise pour l'étude de la religion fut fondée en 1989. Être membre de la SQÉR, c'est participer à une société qui: regroupe plus de 150 spécialistes du Québec, du reste du Canada français et d'autres horizons géographiques et culturels; organise, de concert avec les autorités concernées, la Section des sciences religieuses aux congrès de líAssociation canadienne-français pour l'avancement des sciences (ACFAS); est membre de l'ACFAS, de la Corporation canadienne des sciences religieuses, de la Fédération canadienne des études humaines et de líAssociation internationale pour líhistoire des religions; représente ses membres auprès des diverses instances publiques ou privées jugées pertinentes; suscite ou organise des activités scientifiques telles ques colloques et des débats d'intérêts public, par exemple sur líéducation religieuses dans les écoles publiques.

Être membre de la SQÉR, c'est: être inscrit dans le bottin publié dans le Bulletin de la SQÉR et y voir annonces ses publications; recevoir deux fois par année le Bulletin qui vous informe des activités et des projets de la Société, des ses membres et des divers départements et facultés impliqués dans l'étude de la religion; être invité àparticiper aux travaux de la Secion des sciences religieuses dans le cadre des congrès de l'ACFAS; pouvoir s'abonner à prix réduit aux affaires de la Société (assemblée générale, conseil d'administration), à des colloques, ateliers de travail, débats ou réflexions variés dans le domaine des sciences religieuses.

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