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AN NU AL R EP ORT 201 4
COVER IMAGE Kingsmill pottery panels at St. Andrew’s Hall.
In this issue: Called to Shape Leaders: A message from Rev. Dr. Stephen Farris, Dean of St. Andrew’s Hall p. 2
People@SAH Introducing Ross Lockhart as new Programme Leader and Stephen Farris elected as the Moderator of the 140th General Assembly p. 3
Bob Kingsmill was born in Vancouver, grew up in Winnipeg and earned is B.A. at University of Manitoba. He has operated his own pottery studio since 1967, with shows in many locations in British Columbia. Bob compiled and published a catalogue of British Columbian Potters in 1978 and has taught at various community and arts schools, including the Emily Carr College of Art and Design, since 1977. For more information about the Kingsmill Panels visit the St. Andrew’s Hall website. www.standrews.edu
CONGRATULATIONS! The Graduates of 2014
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Effective Elders A new team and a new approach from the Elders Institute. p. 6
Ministry 101 A report from the Campus Ministry based at St. Andrew’s Hall. p. 6
LIFE@SAH The hustle and bustle around St. Andrew’s Hall. p. 7
Called to Shape Leaders… St. Andrew’s Hall is called to create quality leaders to serve a church that serves the world in Christ’s name. A Message from the Dean St. Andrew’s Hall is a college of the Presbyterian Church in Canada on the campus of the University of British Columbia. That is what we are in legal terms. Who we are, however, is a community of Christians committed to shaping effective leaders for Christ’s Church in a changing world.. We do not know what God’s future holds for the church or for the world. But we at St. Andrew’s Hall believe that a church that serves the world will need effective leaders with deep spiritual commitment, the flexibility to adapt to a changing situation and the skills to initiate and sustain positive change. Over the years, I have noticed that there are three kinds of ministers. Far too common are ministers of mischief who cause trouble wherever they go. We can only do our best to weed them out. Next are ministers of maintenance, good people who can keep things puttering along. That’s good, but not good enough. And then there are ministers of mission, who can help churches see and join God’s good work in the world. Those are the kind of leaders we aim to shape. St. Andrew’s Hall is creating a new programme of enhanced leadership education. We aim to graduate a core group of effective leaders who have been prepared to the highest standard possible. These students will take the excellent MDiv provided by our partner school, VST, but we intend to offer, in addition, an enriched and extended programme that focuses on effective leadership. To help create and shape that programme, the Board of St. Andrew’s Hall has just made a key appointment, the first Director of the programme, Ross Lockhart. St. Andrew’s Hall continues to strengthen the ministry of the elders of the church through the Elders’ Institute. We also provide a home in the heart of the campus for a diverse community of more than 250 people and try to reach out with the gospel to our community and the wider campus. We ask for your interest, your prayers and, if you are so led, your support.
Stephen Farris 2
Ross Lockhart Appointed to Lead New Programme
Ross has a particular passion for shaping disciples for Christ whose leadership creates "scholarly evangelists" in both pew and pulpit. Ross is the author of Gen X, Y Faith?, co-editor of Three Ways of Grace a collection of essays on the Trinity, has published many articles and manages a blog called Creedal and Loving It: Good Theology for Regular People. He is presently minister of West Vancouver United Church and has a record of highly effective congregational ministry. Ross has taught as an adjunct lecturer at VST and is a frequent guest speaker and workshop leaders at both Presbyterian and United Church events. Ross is married to Laura (also a pastor) and they delight in raising their three children on the North Shore of Vancouver. Alongside his calling to ministry, Ross is also an avid reader, occasional runner and a golfer who does not expect to approach par in the foreseeable future. Ross looks forward to greeting you soon at St. Andrew's Hall! Ross tells us that: "It's exciting to participate in the urgent and compelling vision that St. Andrew's Hall has developed for preparing servant leaders for Christ's church of the future." Stephen Farris, Dean of St. Andrew's Hall, commented, "Ross Lockhart will play a key role in preparing leaders able to respond effectively to what God will do in a church and world beyond our capacity to anticipate. We can think of no minister who is likely to be more helpful in producing effective leaders ready to serve a church that serves the world in Christ's name."
Dean of St. Andrew's Hall to Become Moderator of Presbyterian General Assembly
As a result of a national vote among elders and ministers of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, the Dean of St. Andrew's Hall, Vancouver, Dr. Stephen Farris, will be the sole nominee for the position of Moderator of the 140th General Assembly of the Church. Stephen was educated at the University of Toronto, Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, and Cambridge University, England, from which he received the PhD. He has taught Homiletics, the art and craft of preaching, since 1986. Since 2003, he has served as Dean of St. Andrew's Hall. He is the authour of three books, numerous academic and popular articles and a murder mystery short story. He has served as President of the Academy of Homiletics, the international society of teachers of preaching, and on the Executive Committee of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. In that role, he helped negotiate the repudiation of apartheid by the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa. Stephen has preached and taught throughout Canada and in several foreign countries. He is married to Patty, a school principal in New Westminster, BC and has two sons, two daughters in law and two grandchildren. …In Christ’s Name
… To serve a church that serves the world 3
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GRADUATES OF 2014! Atty Baransano, Diploma in Theological Studies, West Papua, New Guinea, Indonesia. Atty came to VST after finishing her undergraduate degree at a theological school in West Papua. She has felt graced by the opportunity to study at VST, learning many new things in both an academic and non-academic way. She will shortly complete her Master of Arts in Indigenous and Inter-Religious Studies in this next year. Andrew Campbell, Master of Divinity, Wellspring Presbyterian Church, formerly, Murray Harbour North Pastoral Charge, PEI. Andrew Campbell grew up in Prince Edward Island and came to VST with a B. A. in Religious Studies. Following graduation, Andrew is seeking ordination in the Presbyterian Church of Canada, to serve in congregational ministry somewhere in the Maritime Provinces. Margaret Evans, Master of Divinity, St. Andrew’s Church, Guelph, Ontario. Margaret was a graduate of the University of Western Ontario in International Comparative Studies. Before VST, Margaret worked abroad for human rights and HIV/AIDS campaigns. During her time at VST, Margaret felt a call to the global church, in the hopes of facilitating mutually empowering relationships within God’s people. Margaret hopes to work in social justice within the church. Germaine Lovelace, Diploma in Denominational Studies, Jamaica. Germaine Lovelace came to VST having earned a M.Div. and a B.A in Theology in Jamaica where he served as a minister with the Moravian Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. At VST he engaged in historical and denominational studies with direct focus on the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Germaine now serves as Minister of First Presbyterian Church, Kenora, Ontario.
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Tuveyc Mordag, Master of Arts in Theological Studies, Fairview Church, Vancouver. A native of Turkey, Tuveyc came to VST with a degree in Business Administration and a career in Marketing and Advertising. The highlight of her time at VST has been connecting her passion for God with theology and recognizing a calling for the ministry. Tuveyc will continue her studies in the Master of Divinity, focusing on pastoral care.
Warya Awersendi Sampari, Diploma in Theological Studies, West Papua, New Guinea, Indonesia. The community at VST has given Sandhy great hope and strength to continue his ministry in the church, in the community, and in schools. He will shortly complete his Master of Arts in Indigenous and Inter-Religious Studies in this next year. Sandhy plans to teach Christian education and inter-religious studies at a Christian university in Toraja, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Elaine Wilson, Master of Divinity, Fairview Church, Vancouver, Elaine came to VST with a BSc in Microbiology and a graduate diploma from Regent College. Highlights from her time at VST include unveiling a deeper sense of God’s calling, and learning about theology and ministry from amazing mentors. Elaine is seeking ordination within The Presbyterian Church in Canada and plans to do ministry together with her husband, Curtis, who is expected to graduate from VST next year.
For more information on theological education please visit our website. www.standrews.edu 5
Effective Elders to Serve a Church that Serves the World
Elders are leaders too and they also profit from education for leadership. The Elder’s Institute of St. Andrew’s Hall, under the direction of Dr. Roberta Clare, aims to provide that education. A new Elders’ Institute team has been created with the arrival of John Li and Janette McIntosh. John and Janette are multi-lingual; John brings extensive experience in computer technology to the team while Janette’s church background and passion for social justice flows into her work in constituency relations. Our first task as a new team was to develop hybrid courses. After piloting onehour webinars with ruling elders across the country, Rev. Dr. Patricia Dutcher-Walls was our first online course instructor to introduce webinars into a four-week online course, “Engaging the Old Testament.” Dr. Dutcher-Walls reported that “being able to see the faces of one another and engage in lively discussion of course materials in our weekly webinars enhanced the teaching and learning experience.” While webinars are not intended to replace in-person workshops or online courses, they do offer a new option for tech-savvy ruling elders with busy schedules who can spare an hour to study and reflect on the many aspects of living the life of faith. Other webinars offered addressed preaching, Christian community, prayer and pastoral visiting. Other Elders’ Institute online course mainstays included Rev. Dr. Jean Morris’ very popular Pastoral Visiting for Presbyterian Ruling Elders, Rev. Dr. Stephen Farris’ Table Manners: Presiding at Communion, and Rev. Dr. Ted Siverns Clerks 1 course. Special thanks to Rev. Dr. Cheol Soon Park for writing and teaching a new online course for Korean-speaking ruling elders. (Pic L-R Janette McIntosh, Roberta Clare and John Li)
Campus Ministries A Christian institution on a large, secular campus has a mission field all around it. To reach out gently and respectfully with the gospel to a secular campus community is part of the mission of St. Andrew’s Hall. Our Campus Ministry Team, Student Chaplains, Andrew Campbell and Margaret Evans and Sumarme Goble, Director of Campus Ministries, have taken up this task this year. The team has provided opportunities for residents to gather during meal and conversation nights, Bible studies, community worship services, guitar classes, in-home potlucks, a pancake breakfast, children’s events, and coffee break times with students. The team also helped St. Andrew’s residents to serve the community and to become more aware of the struggles of the wider world. Residents gathered twice to make 150 sandwiches for people in need in the Downtown Eastside. In September some of our residents participated in the Walk for Reconciliation, part of the healing process related to Canada’s Residential school system. In December, we previewed Jay and Michelle Brock’s documentary called Red Light Green Light. They spoke of the situation of sex trafficking in ten countries they visited. SAH Campus Ministry joined the United Church Campus Ministry in hosting four workshops on Christian faith practices: Reading & Teaching the Bible in Community, The Practice of Listening Prayer, Evangelism for the Shy Christian; and Hospitality: Opening Our Lives to People on the Margins (Beth Malena). We also hosted two series of Yoga Chapel led by Rev. Bethel Lee. One yoga and meditating session was centred on the parables of Jesus and the other focused on the life of Jesus during the season of Lent.
(L-R: Margaret Evans, Sumarme Goble and Andrew Campbell) 6
Life@SAH From Twelve to Eighty In 2012 Director of Campus Ministries Sumarme Goble hosted a Thanksgiving Dinner for students and residents. Twelve guests attended the meal in her home. Later that year our new building, the Centre, was completed. In 2013 we held a Thanksgiving Dinner in the Centre that drew eighty guests! Many thanks are due to Sumarme, to our student chaplains and the residence community coordinators. But thanks are also due to our neighbours at Kerrisdale Presbyterian Church who provided vegetables at the last minute to feed the influx of hungry students. St. Andrew’s Hall provides a home in the heart of the campus for diverse community of students and visiting scholars and their families, of all ages and of many religions and of none. Director of Operations and Housing Helen Anderson and her staff work hard to make the Hall a comfortable home. We try not merely to be landlords but hosts. It seems to work since the house is always full.
Richard Topping Becomes Principal of VST Richard Topping, St. Andrew’s Hall Professor of Studies in the Reformed Tradition, was inducted as Principal of VST in a moving service, on October 13, 2013. The St. Andrew’s Hall community congratulates Richard and prays God’s blessing on him as he takes up this key role. We are confident that he will be an effective leader of our partner school. Richard will continue to hold his position as Professor and intends to continue to teach courses in his subject. He is convinced that a good administrator and leader of a theological school must also take part in the main task of a school, the teaching of its students. The student body is grateful that Richard, a much loved professor, will continue to teach.
St. Andrew’s Hall to Host VST in 2014-15 Our partner school has agreed to sell its iconic Iona Building to UBC. The sale will make possible for the foreseeable future a programme of theological education to serve the church of the future. Under the leadership of Principal Richard Topping, VST will rebuild another of its properties, Somerville House, as the home for its teaching and administration. Until that construction is completed, VST will be hosted by St. Andrew’s Hall. Our house will indeed be full next year. St. Andrew’s Hall 6040 Iona Drive • Vancouver, BC • V6T 2E8 • Tel. 604.822.9720 www.standrews.edu 7