Theological students taste international ministry

Michelle Taylor, Jeffrey Hooper and Nicolas Alexandre are the latest Anglican theological students who have decided that they want to learn and experience what it is like to “be church” outside Canada.

The three are the latest participants of the Anglican Church of Canada’s Theological Student International Internship Program, which places theological students in three-month internships with the church’s partners overseas.

Mr. Alexandre, a student at the College of Emmanuel and St. Chad and parishioner from the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior, is going to the Philippines in May. “I’m really excited about the opportunity,” said Mr. Alexandre, who said he is always “open to diverse experiences.”

Mr. Hooper and his wife, Michelle Taylor, from the diocese of Algoma, left in January for Uganda. A student at Toronto’s Wycliffe College, Mr. Hooper participates in various parish ministries while Ms. Taylor, a veterinarian, assists another Canadian Anglican, Rev. Carolyn Langford, who has served the diocese of Central Buganda by lecturing at the diocesan university and developing a model farm.

“I hope to gain a better understanding of the global church body. I understand it on an intellectual level but would like to deepen my understanding of what it means to be part of the body of Christ,” said Mr. Hooper. “What can we learn from African churches? How can it inform us?”

He and Ms. Taylor said they’re excited about “seeing God from different lenses.”

Ms. Taylor said she’s hoping the experience will be her “stepping stone to further Christian work within Canada or internationally.”