EDITORS
Len Hjalmarson is a writer, pastor, and software developer living among the orchards and vineyards of Kelowna, BC. He is a regional representative for Resonate and blogs at NextReformation.com. He was a contributor and editor of Voices of the Virtual World (Volume One of The Wikiklesia Project). Len is finishing a DMin in Leadership and Spirituality at ACTS seminaries in Langley, BC. He is the father of two young ladies, is harried by a Siamese cat, and is married to Betty, an RN who works with women in transition.
Brent Toderash is a thinker and writer living in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was a contributor to the award winning Volume I of the Wikiklesia Project. Since earning a degree at Providence College & Seminary, Brent has been an entrepreneur, an ISP owner, a technology and marketing consultant, and publisher of a Linux advocacy website. In addition to his business blog, he maintains a well-known psedonymous emerging/missional blog and is one of seven founding “instigators” at MissionalTribe.org. Currently he is a freelance writer and consultant attempting to live his life and share his faith as best he can in Winnipeg, where he lives with his wife Luanne and their two daughters.
CONTRIBUTORS — FRESH
(In the order of their contributed chapters)
David Fitch is the founding pastor of Life on the Vine Christian Community — an emerging / missional church of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. He is also Lindner Professor of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary, Lombard IL. He grew up in Hamilton, Ontario and has spent much time in Canada listening and ministering to missional church pastors / leaders / friends / denominational leaders. He is the author of numerous articles on church, culture and theological ethics in various journals. He is the author of Great Giveaway, The: Reclaiming the Mission of the Church from Big Business, Parachurch Organizations, Psychotherapy, Consumer Capitalism, and Other Modern Maladies (Baker Books, 2005). David blogs at Reclaiming the Mission and is a frequent contributor to the Leadership blog at Christianity Today.
Rob Scott has been the Community Director of King’s Bridge since its inception in 1999. He has ministered in a diversity of settings including small Chipewyan villages in the North West Territories and migrant worker camps on the Baja Peninsula. Most of his work has been among the varied communities and personalities that make up inner city Calgary. Rob is an ordained minister in the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches and is a provincially registered clergy person in Alberta. He currently lives in Calgary with his wife and twin daughters.
Kim Reid has been involved in youth work and ministry for 30 years. From 1978 to 1992, Kim worked professionally with Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents. Kim has been in full time ministry for 16 years. He began The Vault, a drop-in center for teens, under YFC. In 1996 he started On Rock Ministries, under whose umbrella The Vault continues to grow and thrive. On Rock has expanded into community services, and as such is operating a food bank and a lunch program for under privileged elementary school kids. Kim has has been involved in the Canadian Music scene since 1982, most notably with the band Innocent Blood from 1985 to 1995. Kim continues to be involved in the music scene, mentoring musicians and promoting Hard-Core shows. Kim and Sylvia have been married for 22 years and have three amazing kids. Kirstyn is 17, Kayla is 15 and Josh is 12. Their family also includes many other people, too numerous and shy to mention
Kim and some friends planted The Open Door community Church in 2004. Kim blogs at lifecycleproject.org
Scott Cripps is a restless 31-year-old. He loves venturing out into the great unknown and being a part of new things. Currently this involves Awaken, and FAME, a new, cutting-edge company. He is married to a beautiful hippie – Leanne – who fosters an organic, environmental, alternative existence for Scott and their three girls. Their daughters are Hannah (7), Ella (4) and Lily (3). The Cripps live in a beautiful neighbourhood in Calgary called Bowness where they try to love their neighbours and contribute to community life. Scott’s restlessness contributes to his involvement with sports in football, and coaching soccer for his girls. Scott blogs at publicpondering.typepad.com.
Phil Harbridge was a Youth Pastor for 25 years and is currently teaching Biblical Studies and Faith & Culture at Richmond Christian Secondary School in Richmond BC. Phil received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History (and Minor in Communications) from Crown College, Minnesota. Following that, Phil completed his Master of Divinity at Denver Seminary, Colorado. Phil has pastored in Denver, Kitchener/Waterloo, and Vancouver. Most recently he completed his Doctor of Ministry from Carey Theological College. ‘Dr. Phil’ is an avid runner, marathoner, and triathlete. He and his wife Kay, have two (grown) daughters. (Phil’s website /Breathe)
CONTRIBUTORS — RE:FRESH
Jim Loepp Thiessen has been in full time ministry for seventeen years, twelve of those in a traditional rural church outside of Baden, Ontario. He spent almost two years teaching about the missional church with his denomination, Mennonite Church Canada. He loves to cook, tease his three children, read, and tell flying stories about the days when he had a pilots license. He is married to Ingrid, also a pastor at The Gathering.
Darryl Dash has been a pastor at Richview for almost ten years. He also served as pastor of Park Lawn Baptist Church, a small and colorful church in southwest Toronto, for seven years. Darryl is a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and writes a column at Christian Week. He lives in Toronto with his wife, Charlene, two children, and a destructive dog. Darryl blogs at DashHouse.com.
Jamie Howison is a priest of the Anglican Church of Canada, and the founding pastor of saint benedict’s table in Winnipeg. He has worked in full-time ministry in a variety of contexts for over 20 years, but is just now beginning to realize that his knees are too old to play soccer and his taste in music has made a definitive shift, as is evidenced in his move from a subscription to Rolling Stone to now reading Downbeat. The original vision for saint benedict’s table was dreamed up in a conversation with his wife, Catherine Pate, while riding the Long Island Railway on the way back from spending two days doing theology with Robert Farrar Capon.
CONTRIBUTORS — MENTORING
Paul Martinson is a career missionary trainer and a member of the leadership of Youth With A Mission, Canada. Currently, he is the chair of the YWAM Canada Leadership Team, the Director of the YWAM Western Canada District, and council member of the YWAM North American Leadership Council. Paul is a graduate of Bethany Missionary Training School with a BTh and ordination as both a missionary and pastor. His post graduate work was through ACTS Seminary, Langley, BC with MMin 1997; MACS 1999. Paul and Sandra have been married 37 years, and she is a registered clinical counselor and Therapeutic Coordinator for the Okanagan Metis. They have two adult children that are married with two grandchildren. When not traveling, Paul blogs occasionally.
George Werner serves in Mission Canada, a team of leaders who facilitate missional work across Canada though the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada His passion and conviction for the nation comes from over 20 years of pastoral ministry in Ontario and British Columbia. George and Eileen currently live in rural Ontario with their young adult children. They are involved in ministry at The Embassy and Elevation in Waterloo, a new thriving community of believers who seek to be salt and light in the midst of Canada’s emerging culture. He enjoys running, golf and hockey, and finds great pleasure in music and the arts.
Jared Siebert grew up in a traditional evangelical home which formed the foundation of his character. His family’s openness to having “strangers” live with them sparked a desire to see his faith provide both practical and spiritual help to the community. Ten years ago he and his wife, Katherine, moved to Kingston to help in planting the “Next Church”. Today he works in the Free Methodist Church as the National Director of Church Development. His main responsibility is to build for the future through the planting of new kinds of churches. Jared writes random notes to himself at jaredsiebert.com.
Ray Levesque (”She-nex-kaw”) is Tlingit and Cherokee and serves an indigenous church network with over 200 gatherings located in the Canada, the US, Brazil and Guyana. He focuses on leadership, and integrating the principles of sustainable community & economic development. He edits the Talking Circle Journal, the Red Road Journal, and founded the national native pastoral fellowship called Round Dance, with almost 200 leaders. Ray has a BA from Northwest University in Biblical Literature and Theology, Graduate Studies at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, an MA in Organizational Development from City University, and a DMin (cand) from Bakke Graduate University in Transformational Leadership and First Nations Studies. He is martyred to Elizabeth Levesque (MA, Fuller) with 3 grown children and 2 grandchildren. He teaches in Portuguese and Spanish, and for fun, is a soloist in a black gospel choir.
CONTRIBUTORS — CONCLUSIONS & APPLICATIONS
Frank Emanuel is a Vineyard Pastor in Ottawa. He has served in various pastoral roles since 1991. Frank’s love for the Church and theology has led him to doctoral studies at Saint Paul University (Ottawa) where he researches political theology emerging from new evangelical movements. He is married with two wonderfully creative little girls. Frank writes, reflects and blogs at freedompastor.blogspot.com.
Alan Roxburgh serves as the Vice President for Allelon Canada. He is the Director of Educational Resources throughout North America and serves as the coordinating team leader for the Mission in Western Culture project. He has over twenty-seven years of experience in church leadership as a pastor of congregations in small towns, urban centers and the suburbs and in denominational leadership. As seminary faculty he was responsible for teaching in the areas of leadership development and domestic missiology. Alan is ordained in the Baptist Federation of Canada. He and Jane, a school principal in Vancouver, Canada, have been married for thirty-seven years and have three grown children whose occupations vary from lawyer, plumber and theologian. He also maintains The Roxburgh Journal at the Allelon website.
