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CATA 2026 Conference &
Public Lecture
Winnipeg, MB - May 29-30
“Common Places, Contested Spaces: Religion and Theology in Canada and Beyond.”
Join us at the Canadian-American Theological Association (CATA) 2026 Conference and Public Lecture which will take place on May 29-30, 2026. The conference will take place on Saturday, May 30, 2026 at St. John's College, located on the campus of the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg. A public lecture will also be held the evening before, on Friday, May 29 at a Willowlake Church in Winnipeg, MB. CATA will be meeting alongside of other Canadian academic theological and religious societies as part of the inaugural Canadian Theology and Religion Colloquium. The overarching theme of the colloquium is “Common Places, Contested Spaces: Religion and Theology in Canada and Beyond” and the keynote speaker is the Dr. Daniel Stulac whose address is entitled, “Learning To Be Here: Canonical Reflections on the Canadian Prairie.”
The Executive of CATA welcomes proposals for papers to be presented at our Annual Meeting to be held on day two. Proposals from graduate students are enthusiastically welcomed!
Registration
This year’s CATA conference will be part of the inaugural Canadian Theological and Religious Studies Forum. Registrants have the option of enrolling for the single day on which the CATA annual meeting will be held ($45) or for the entire forum which includes admission to the various academic societies that will be meeting over the course of four days ($150).
More information coming soon!
Program
This year’s program includes two events: (1) a public lecture on the evening of Friday, May 29, 2026; and (2) a full-day conference at St. John’s College (Winnipeg, MB) on Saturday, May 30, 2026. The conference theme is Common Places Contested Spaces: Religion and Theology in Canada and Beyond and will feature Keynote Speaker, Dr. Daniel Stulac, whose address is entitled, “Learning To Be Here: Canonical Reflections on the Canadian Prairie.” The conference will also include many papers, given in parallel sessions, on a range of related topics in biblical studies, theology, history, philosophy, and interdisciplinary studies.
8:30 AM ‑ 5:30 PM
Keynote Address:
God’s Providence and the Son’s Suffering in Luke’s Gospel
Luke’s Gospel emphasizes God’s providential ordering of all things, a theme that is often signaled by the verb dei (“it is necessary” or “it must”). Luke uses the verb seventeen times in his Gospel, and fourteen of these occurrences are unique to Luke. God’s providential ordering includes the necessity of rightly discerning and keeping God’s commands, the necessity of fearless faithfulness on the part of Jesus’s disciples, and the necessity of the Son’s suffering and submission to death. The theme of God’s providence raises several pressing questions: In what sense was Jesus’s suffering necessary? What is the role of Satan in light of God’s providence? What is the relationship between human and divine agency? Luke’s carefully crafted narrative offers a window into how to wrestle with these questions.
Keynote Speaker
Daniel Stulac
Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Briercrest College
Dr. Daniel Stulac is Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Briercrest College. He holds a PhD from Duke University, where he previously taught for five years. Dr. Stulac specializes in Old Testament interpretation and agrarian hermeneutics, and is the author of five monographs including Life, Land, and Elijah in the Book of Kings (Cambridge University Press, 2021). His research explores the intersection of Scripture, ecology, and theology, bringing both scholarly expertise and pastoral sensitivity to biblical studies.
Call for Papers
Abstract submission for the CATA 2026 Conference is now closed. Thank you to everyone who submitted an abstract!
CATA encourages submission of high-quality papers on any topic falling within the disciplines of biblical studies; theological readings of Scripture; historical, systematic, philosophical, moral, and pastoral theology; and interdisciplinary theological work that engages with other academic disciplines. Special consideration will be given to papers that broadly intersect with the colloquium theme. “Common Places, Contested Spaces: Religion and Theology in Canada and Beyond.”
Papers should be scholarly but not highly specialized presentations of about 20 minutes, aimed at an audience of students, pastors, and faculty from across the spectrum of theological disciplines.
TOPICS
STUDENT AND EARLY CAREER PAPER COMPETITION
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
IMPORTANT DATES
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Topics in the broad theological disciplines that fall outside of the specific theme of the conference are also welcome. For example, related themes might include theological reflection on:
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Student and Early Career Paper Competition |
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The submission time for the Student and Early Career Paper Competition is now closed. For those who submitted abstracts for the competition by March 13, your full draft is due on May 1 (please send it to Dr. Robert Dean). Graduate students, post-docs, independent scholars, and pre-tenured faculty are invited to submit papers for the CATA Student and Early Career Paper Competition. The winning paper will be published in CATA’s journal, the Canadian-American Theological Review, and its author will receive a congratulatory monetary gift. |
Submission Guidelines |
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Important Dates |
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