Assistant Professor of United Church of Canada Studies
- BA (History), University of Victoria, 2001
- MDiv, Vancouver School of Theology, 2007
- ThM, Vancouver School of Theology, 2011
- PhD (Interdisciplinary Studies), Graduate Theological Union, 2016
Contact
Email: carmen.lansdowne@utoronto.ca
Carmen Lansdowne joined the faculty at Emmanuel College in December 2025 in the newly created role of Assistant Professor of United Church of Canada Studies. A well-known leader in the life, work, and witness of The United Church of Canada, Carmen began her role following a three-year term as Moderator of the United Church. Her leadership journey spans nearly two decades of church and nonprofit governance and executive leadership. During her term as Moderator, she piloted a leadership development program called (Re)Generate as part of the United Church’s strategic priority to invigorate leadership. She is a member of the Heiltsuk First Nation and an ordained minister in the United Church.
Carmen’s first scholarly monograph is Wearing a Broken Indigene Heart on the Sleeve of Christian Mission (CMU Press, 2025). With her Indigenous siblings Vance Blackfox (Citizen, Cherokee Nation) and Robert O. Smith (Citizen, Chickasaw Nation), she serves as co-editor of the Survivance Series for Fortress Press. The series is designed to curate books that thoughtfully engage Native American and global trans-Indigenous perspectives in relation to Christian history, theology, and society. Her current writing project is co-editing a volume of essays on liberating theological education and pedagogies with Stephan De Beer at the University of Pretoria.
A sought-after preacher and speaker, Carmen has been invited most recently to speak or preach at the Luther Lecture (Luther College, Regina, 2025), Evolving Faith Conference (2023), the John Albert Hall Lecture (University of Victoria, 2023), the United Church of Christ General Synod (2023), and the Christian Left Conference (Emmanuel College, 2022). She continues to preach regularly in communities of faith and is a frequent guest on podcasts.
Carmen teaches basic degree courses at Emmanuel related to preparation for ministry. Her research focus is ministry leadership for the next quarter of the twenty-first century. Her previous teaching experience includes sessional teaching at Union Theological Seminary (New York), the Centre for Christian Studies, Vancouver School of Theology, University of Winnipeg, Sandy Saulteaux Spiritual Centre, Starr King School for the Ministry, and the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley (Santa Clara University). She is a member of several research cohorts, including the Church Apologies Project (University of Waterloo), the International Working Group on Theology in the Capitalocene (Vanderbilt University Divinity School), and a Fellow of the Christ Seminar with the Westar Institute.
Carmen continues to speak, facilitate, and write both inside and outside of the church. She has been praised by youth and young adults in the United Church as both “an incredibly talented churchy person” and the “nerdiest church nerd.” She is passionate about creating a life with great stories and adventures with her family from their home base on the west side of Toronto.
Courses
- EMT 2155H Engaging the Spirit (2025 only)
- EMP 1021H Leading Congregations
- EMT 3412 Confessing Our Faith
- EMP 2731 Ministry of Governance and Administration
Selected Publications
Books
- Provisional Title: Tracks in the Snow: A Memoir (Douglas & McIntyre, under contract)
- Wearing a Broken Indigene Heart on the Sleeve of Christian Mission (CMU Press, 2025)
Refereed Chapters & Articles
- “More for You than Me: My experience as the first Indigenous woman to serve as Moderator of The United Church of Canada,” Oxford Intersections – Gender, Religion & Culture, Oxford University Press (accepted, submitted for review)
- “It is a strict law that bids us dance”: Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw and Haíɫzaqv Traditions Transforming Christianity by Receiving the ‘other,’ Decolonizing Church, Theology, and Ethics in Canada. Néstor Medina and Becca Whitla, eds. (McGill/Queen’s University Press, 2025)
- “Indigenizing Religion & Science,” Bloomsbury Religion in North America with Mary Keller, Jeanette Weaskus, Whitney Bauman, and Lisa Stenmark, eds., Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021 (Online Resource); 2024 (Print Edition)
- “Autoethnography That Breaks Your Heart, OR: What does an interdisciplinarian do when what she was hoping for simply isn’t there?” Mixed Blessings: Indigenous Encounters with Christianity in Canada. Chelsea Horton and Tolly Bradford, eds. (UBC Press, 2016)
- “North American Indigenous Theology,” Emerging Theologies from the Global South. Mitri Raheb and Mark A. Lamport, eds. (Cascade Books, 2023)
- “ORiginAL Voices: Eradicating the ‘Fearful Asymmetry’ or power imbalance in Indigenous/Western thought in history and theology,” Theology and the Crisis of Engagement: Essays on the Relationship of Theology and the Social Sciences. Nestor Medina and Jeff Nowers, eds. (Pickwick Publications, 2013)
- Exodus 16, Unsettling the Word: Biblical Experiments in Decolonization, Steven Heinrichs, ed. (Common Word, 2018)
- “Spirituality that Stabs Salmon,” Quest for Respect: The Church and Indigenous Spirituality, Steven Heinrichs, ed. (Intotemek Magazine, Common Word, June 2017)
- “To Resist Evil,” Called to Be the Church: Intercultural Visions, Rob Fennel, ed. (United Church Publishing House, 2012)
Current Memberships & Affiliations
- Volunteer Associate Minister, Islington United Church
- Fellow, the Christ Seminar (Westar Institute)
- Member, Church Apologies Project (University of Waterloo)
- Member, International Working Group on Theology in the Capitalocene (Vanderbilt University Divinity School)
- Member, American Academy of Religion (2006 to present)
- Member, International Association of Mission Studies (2025 to present)
- Member, Canadian Theological Society (2022-2023, 2025 to present)
- Member, Academy of Religious Leadership (2025 to present)
- Member, Society of Christian Ethics (2023 to present)
Other: Carmen is a co-editor of the Survivance Series for Fortress Press.