2020 LEADERSHIP AWARD Dr. Gary V. Nelson
Gary Nelson is a proud western Canadian who is passionate about the big sky and prairie life. His roots to the Maritimes are deep, however. He is the grandson of Gordon S. Vincent Nelson, former Pastor of West End Baptist Church in Halifax, NS and Woodstock Baptist Church in New Bruswick. Over the years he served in pastoral roles in California, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Alberta. In 2000, Dr. Nelson assumed the role of General Secretary of Canadian Baptist Ministries, an organization that leads the national and global work of Canadian Baptists. During those years, CBM experienced a striking capacity of growth, expanding the organization’s global impact in the areas of leadership development, theological education, sustainable community development, and the development of key educational resources for congregations across Canada. It furthered its influence in the Baptist World Alliance as well, where he served as Vice President from 2005-2010. In 2010, Dr. Nelson took up the role as President of Tyndale University and served in that capacity for 10 years. It was a time of expansion and growth for Tyndale as the institution moved to university status as legislated by the Province of Ontario and expanded programs both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. During his time at Tyndale, Gary Nelson navigated the development of a multi-million dollar renovation project that positioned the university for the future. The seminary alone grew to over 900 students with a variety of graduate programs including a reshaped Counselling program recognized by the College of Psychotherapists of Ontario. He stepped down from that role in June 2020. His heart has always been for the church and in particular in the revitalization and renewal of urban congregations. As Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Edmonton in the 1990’s he was involved in the revitalizing and renewing of this historic downtown congregation into a creative and dynamic contemporary congregation. Dr. Nelson received the Bachelor of Education degree from the University of British Columbia and graduated with doctoral and master’s degrees from Fuller
2020 Leadership Award Recipient Dr. Gary V. Nelson
Theological Seminary. As an educator, Dr. Nelson has been involved in numerous creative approaches to theological and ministerial training. Most significant was as founding director of a post-seminary urban leadership training initiative called BUILD (Baptist Urban Involvement in Leadership Development) in the city of Toronto that shaped pastors and international workers to work in urban settings. He has lectured and taught at universities and seminaries across Canada, the United States, and on three continents on topics and themes that focus on missional living as the church, contemporary ministry, urban missiology as well as leadership and governance for Christian organizations. A recognized urban missiologist, he has authored and presented numerous papers that focus on theological and missiological ecclesiology. Gary is married to Carla, a former public school teacher who served as the founding Director and Associate Professor of the Bachelor of Education program at Tyndale. She is also a previous Leadership Award recipient of Crandall University in 2007. They have one married daughter (Stacy) who lives in Edmonton where they now are located so that they can enjoy their four wonderful grandchildren.
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