Edvance Annual Gathering 2025
The Edvance Annual Gathering brings together over 1,400 Christian educators, leaders, and staff every October for inspiration, professional development, and connection with your colleagues in Christian education.
Plan to join us at Redeemer University on Thursday, October 30 for a full day of keynotes, breakouts, and networking with your peers, as well as on Friday, October 31 for all-day specialist conference workshops on a variety of topics.
Registration will open in the Fall. Scroll down for all the details!
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Imago & AI
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them” Genesis 1:27
Few pairings evoke as much curiosity and tension as this year’s theme—Imago & AI.
First, we have the word Imago, which points us to the foundational truth at the heart of Christian education: we are made in the image of God, Imago Dei. This identity, revealed in Genesis 1:27 quoted above, gives us the privilege and responsibility to care for, cultivate, and contribute to God’s good creation.
And then the theme “Imago & AI” abruptly shifts to our complex present, where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping the world around us. How do we stay grounded in our unchanging identity as God’s image-bearers while navigating the accelerating and disruptive force of technology in today’s culture?
Enter our keynote speakers. Dr. Deani Van Pelt, Edvance President, will urge you as educators to recognize the vital role you play in bestowing gifts on your students as persons in relationships, in a way that no AI could ever do. And Dr. Derek Schuurman, a leading voice on the intersection of faith and technology, will help us locate ourselves in the grand narrative of the biblical story—Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. While some claim that AI will be humanity’s saviour and others claim it will lead to our doom, Derek will ground us in the hope of our God-given identity as Imago Dei to help us live faithfully in an AI-shaped world.
Join us at the 2025 Edvance Annual Gathering: Imago & AI!
Opening
Plenary
Bestowal: Education as Blessing
Education is an act of bestowal—blessing, conferring, and nurturing students toward kingdom formation. Educators profoundly shape lives by offering attentive presence and inviting students into deeper relationships with God and the world. Through powerful examples of teachers who transformed a struggling student’s trajectory, educators are revealed as bestowers who stir moral imagination and spiritual vision. Education involves mutual blessing, revealing glimpses of the kingdom through childlike faith and wonder. Ultimately, educators in Christian schools are called to intentionally bless, inspire kingdom virtues, and foster eternal impacts, affirming their unique role as stewards of a divine, transformative inheritance.
Opening Plenary Speaker: Dr. Deani Van Pelt
Deani Van Pelt, PhD, President of Edvance since it’s founding seven years ago, was formerly a secondary school teacher in public and Christian schools, a homeschool parent, and an Associate Professor of Education and Director of Teacher Education at Redeemer University. Deani’s passion for good education policy and the renewal and innovation it can bring to education in our time, is rooted in her love and curiosity for excellence in educational philosophy, pedagogy, and practice. She is delighted to be involved in collaborations as a Senior Fellow at the think tanks Cardus and the Fraser Institute, a Visiting Research Fellow in Charlotte Mason Studies at the University of Cumbria, UK, a Non-Resident Scholar in Baylor University’s Center for School Leadership, and Chair of the Standards of Practice and Education Committee at the Ontario College of Teachers. She is also the co-author of the book Students as Persons. She and her husband Michael raised three children in Ancaster, ON and are now grandparents to two littles, reminding them anew that the kingdom of heaven is made of such as these.
Keynote
Sessions
Keynote #1: Artificial Intelligence and the Biblical Story
Many believe that artificial intelligence (AI) could lead us toward some sort of paradise. A rival story suggests that the future doesn't need us and that AI will ultimately threaten humanity. In this keynote session, Dr. Derek Schuurman contends that a Biblical worldview has implications for AI in today's digital age. This keynote session will explore a vision for AI informed by the Biblical story leading to some recommendations for how it might guide us toward more responsible AI use in education.
Keynote #2: AI and Education: Personhood and the Perception of Truth
Recent developments in Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) enable the creation of chatbots that can mimic human-like interactions. In this keynote session, Dr. Derek Schuurman will demonstrate a chatbot that takes on the persona of C.S. Lewis followed by a reflection on whether this, in fact, is a good thing. Using chatbots as personal tutors, teachers, and companions is intriguing, but could there be potential pitfalls for the notion of personhood? Furthermore, how might chatbots impact the perception of truth? Should schools use chatbots to generate lesson plans and to grade student work? We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us, and AI has implications for pedagogical formation. This keynote will conclude with some guidelines to discern appropriate use of AI in order to "test everything" and "hold fast to what is good."
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Derek Schuurman
Derek C. Schuurman worked as an electrical engineer for several years and later completed a Ph.D. at McMaster University in the area of robotics and computer vision using machine learning. He is currently professor of computer science at Calvin University, a fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation, a fellow of the International Society for Science and Religion, and an advisor for AI&Faith. He has written about faith and technology issues in a variety of publications including monthly columns in Christian Courier and contributions to the Christian Scholars Review blog. He is the author of the book Shaping a Digital World: Faith, Culture and Computer Technology and co-author of A Christian Field Guide to Technology for Engineers and Designers, both published by InterVarsity Academic Press. His late wife, Carina, was a Christian educator who taught in southern Ontario for many years.
Agenda for Thursday
Once again this year, attendees will follow a dual-schedule model that offers the full Annual Gathering experience at Redeemer, while adjusting for capacity constraints.
You will follow either the BLUE, GREEN, or PURPLE schedule, which are explained in more detail below. You'll spend half of the day attending worship and keynote sessions, and the other half in expert breakout sessions of your choosing.
Please carefully read the section below that best fits your role.
See all the BLUE
Breakout Sessions
See all the GREEN
Breakout Sessions
See all the PURPLE Breakout Sessions
Research reveals that the best professional learning opportunities are active, collaborative, role-specific, and build in time for ongoing support during implementation. With this aim, day two of the Edvance Annual Gathering provides interactive, role-specific, full-day workshops led by experts in a variety of topics.
Browse through the catalogue for the 2025 Specialist Conference offerings:
VIEW THE FRIDAY SPECIALIST CONFERENCE LINEUP
Registration for the specialist conferences will be on a per person basis, and individuals will be invited to sign up when they confirm their registration details.
Friday specialist conferences are IN PERSON ONLY. Registration includes: a full-day workshop from 9am - 2pm, morning refreshments, and lunch