People of the Network — New Leaf Network

Katelyn Siggelkow

Katelyn Siggelkow

Katelyn Siggelkow is a full-time lover of neighbours, who settled into Saskatoon’s Westside five years ago to begin a Servant Partners site in this low-income neighbourhood. She is currently on a sabbatical and is enjoying a new routine of enjoying slow coffees, writing, practicing Spanish, and getting super fit as she prepares for the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. She has enjoyed the tangible parallels between Lent and sabbatical this month, as she practices hallowing out and letting go in the hopes of finding God deep within.

Writing Collective AuthorGuest PostMarch 21, 2023Katelyn Siggelkow

Matte Downey

Martha (Matte) Elias Downey is a writer, theologian, educator, chai-drinker, and life-long learner living in Montreal. She holds a PhD in dramatic theology and seeks to combine her love of a good story with all things theological. She has taught theology in university and ministry settings and also served on the pastoral team of an urban church for nearly 20 years. You can find her various projects and latest musings at www.mattedowney.wordpress.com.

Writing Collective AuthorGuest PostMarch 17, 2023Matte Downey

Lea Wilkening

Lea Wilkening

Lea Wilkening is the pastor of The Cottage, a church plant in Oakville, Ontario. Some of her "sacred side hustles" involve performing and teaching improv, serving on charity boards, and parenting her two teens with her husband, John. Mutli-vocational ministry is a great fit for her and she loves supporting and learning from other multi-vocational leaders.

Writing Collective AuthorGuest PostFebruary 28, 2023Lea Wilkening

Elizabeth Guillaume-Koene

Elizabeth Guillaume-Koene

Elizabeth Guillaume-Koene is Interim Pastor at Hebron Church in Whitby, Ontario. She is a Spiritual Director and is working toward becoming a Specialized Transitional Pastor. Elizabeth lives in Bowmanville with her husband, three boys and various pets. She finds joy in journeying with others to bring about reconciliation and right relationships with God, people and the land.

Writing Collective AuthorGuest PostAugust 25, 2022Elizabeth Guillaume-Koene

Angela Reitsma Bick

Angela Reitsma Bick

Angela Reitsma Bick is a writer from Newcastle, Ontario, where she lives with her husband and three kids. She’s Editor-in-Chief of Christian Courier, an independent Canadian news publication, and co-author with Peter Schuurman of a forthcoming book on faith deconstruction. Find her on Instagram at rogue_librarian.

Writing Collective AuthorGuest PostApril 15, 2022Angela Reitsma Bick

Susie Colby

Susie Colby

Susie Colby currently serves as a Ministries Specialist for InterVarsity Canada. Steve and Susie worked together in student ministry for over 30 years. At the time of Steve’s death Susie was Vice President for Campus and Steve was Director of Missions. They have three adult children who have accompanied them around the world, to places like Bulgaria, Sierra Leone, East Asia, Guatemala, and Mexico.

Writing Collective AuthorGuest PostApril 14, 2022Susie Colby

scraps and wine

scraps and wine

The poetry duo, scraps and wine, is comprised of two individuals whose friendship grew out of their love for literature, the scriptures, and yearning to live in Jesus’ abundance.

Alan Thorimbert is a poet and writer currently living in Victoria, British Columbia. He has been published within a few smaller magazines in the past and is currently working on several large collections of poetry. Alan works with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship where he enjoys helping students see their lives and the world around them through the lenses of parables and stories.

Xenia Chan is pastor of Selah Community Church, a FMCiC church plant that came together at the start of the pandemic lockdown. She is also a doctoral student at Wycliffe College (Toronto School of Theology), working on Jeremiah’s Confessions from a Pacific Rim perspective, which takes up most of her writing energy. Xenia is also one of four co-hosts of the Canadian Asian Missional Podcast.

Writing Collective AuthorGuest PostMarch 21, 2022scraps and wine

Rochelle Vander Munnik

Rochelle Vander Munnik

Rochelle Vander Munnik is the CEO/Founder of Seize Your Development Inc. that specializes in creating uplifting and psychologically safe environments for both individuals and organizations through optimizing people engagement and process efficiency. She also has recently started a YouTube page named RochelleCamile where she encourages people and reminds them that they are loved by God. Rochelle lives in Hamilton, Ontario with her husband Thomas and dog Izik.

Writing Collective AuthorGuest PostMarch 10, 2022Rochelle Vander Munnik

Dr. Timothy Harvie

Dr. Timothy Harvie

Timothy Harvie completed his PhD in Scotland and postdoctoral work in Wales, returned to Calgary and began teaching at St. Mary’s. He now lives, along with his wife and daughter, and their two dogs and two cats, in the far south of Calgary. Dr. Harvie has published on diverse figures such as the German political theologian, Jürgen Moltmann, and the medieval scholar Thomas Aquinas. Recently, his research and writing has focused on critical animal studies and environmental theologies and philosophies.

Learning CentreGuest PostMarch 4, 2022Timothy Harvie

Monetta Bailey, PhD

Monetta Bailey, PhD

Monetta Bailey is an Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Behavioural Science Department at Ambrose University, Calgary, Alberta. She has served there as a faculty member since 2014, prior to which she was a sessional instructor. Her teaching load covers fundamental sociological courses as well as courses related to race, crime and deviance.

My research focuses on the intersection of race, ethnicity, immigration and the justice system where I investigate the factors that are related to youth becoming involved in the justice system, as well as the experiences of these youth once they are in the youth justice system. My interest in the justice system was sparked during my undergraduate degree pursuit at the University of Calgary where I studied Political Science. Through gaining both my MA and PhD in Sociology from the University of Calgary, I have been able to expand my interest in the justice system to look to the social institutions that interact with the justice system. I recently completed my doctorate where I explored the ideas of restorative justice among racialized immigrant youth who are referred to the Extra-Judicial Sanctions Program in Calgary. Once a month, Monetta appears as a crime panelist on a local television news program Alberta Primetime to discuss current issues in criminal justice.

Learning CentreGuest PostMarch 4, 2022Monetta Bailey

Dr. Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair

Dr. Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair

Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair is Anishinaabe (St. Peter's/Little Peguis) and an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba. He is a regular commentator on Indigenous issues on CTV, CBC, and APTN, and his written work can be found in the pages of The Exile Edition of Native Canadian Fiction and Drama, newspapers like The Guardian, and online with CBC Books: Canada Writes. Niigaan is the co-editor of the award-winning Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from the Land of Water (Highwater Press, 2011) and Centering Anishinaabeg Studies: Understanding the World Through Stories (Michigan State University Press, 2013), and is the Editorial Director of The Debwe Series with Portage and Main Press.

Niigan obtained his BA in Education at the University of Winnipeg, before completing an MA in Native- and African-American literatures at the University of Oklahoma, and a PhD in First Nations and American Literatures from the University of British Columbia.

Learning CentreGuest PostMarch 4, 2022Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair

Dr. Jane Barter

Dr. Jane Barter

Dr. Jane Barter (she/her) is Professor of Religion and Culture at the University of Winnipeg. She earned her BA in English at Dalhousie (1991), her Master’s degree from the Atlantic School of Theology (1994), and her PhD from the University of St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto (2004). Her research interests include Christian political thought and feminist theory.

She has published two monographs of Christian theology: Lord, Giver of Life (Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2006) and Thinking Christ: Christology and Contemporary Critics (Fortress Press, 2011). Barter has written extensively on sex, gender, and gendered violence. Her current project includes writing a book on witnessing to contemporary atrocities. She is also editing a major volume on Christology for T &T Clark

Learning CentreGuest PostMarch 4, 2022Jane Barter

Marion Ann Taylor

Marion Ann Taylor

Dr. Marion Ann Taylor, an expert and pioneer in the field of the history of women's biblical interpretation, is professor of Old Testament at Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto. Her publications include the award-winning Handbook of Women Biblical Interpreters: A Historical and Biographical Guide.

Learning CentreGuest PostFebruary 25, 2022Marion Ann Taylor

Joy Schroeder

Joy Schroeder

Dr. Joy A. Schroeder, a Lutheran pastor, specializes in the history of biblical interpretation. She is professor of church history at Trinity Lutheran Seminary and the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Capital University, Columbus, Ohio. She is the author of Deborah's Daughters: Gender Politics and Biblical Interpretation and several other books on the history of interpretation of scripture.

Learning CentreGuest PostFebruary 25, 2022Joy Schroeder

Greg Langman

Greg Langman

Hi there, my name is Greg Langman. I live in Cochrane Alberta with my wife Linda. We have been married since 1991 and have three daughters, Alisha, Cara and Jenaya and two wonderful son-in laws.

I currently serve as the Pastor of Missional Discipling with RockPointe Church in Calgary, Alberta and love the team of people I get to work with. Over the last 26 years of ministry I have served in large churches and house church networks, planted two churches, served in denominational leadership with the Alliance Canada and helped start a number of new organizations. These different opportunities led me to live in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and now Alberta. I'm also a Sr. Certified Coach with Leadership Coaching Canada, a Birkman Certified Professional and a Grip-Birkman Trainer. I love Transformational Coaching because I get to partner with people and God's Spirit in ways that bring about personal and community transformation.

Transformational CoachingGuest PostDecember 20, 2021Greg Langman TC

Traci-Lynn Burt

Traci-Lynn Burt

Traci-Lynn Burt is passionate about helping others discover who God has called them to be while pursuing the purposes they were created for. She is blessed to be married to Russ and mother to Nick, Matthew, Leah, and Katie. She is the Director of Leader Health & Development with the Central Canadian District of the C&MA and the founder of Cornerstone Consulting Canada. TL, as most people call her, loves coming alongside individuals and non-profit organizations and empowering them with a deeper sense of their identity in Christ so that they can live out of that identity on mission with the Spirit. She enjoys coaching others to live from their significance in Christ and helps them discover how that looks in their lives. TL desires to partner with the Spirit to equip Yahweh's children to live from a Kingdom perspective, embracing and delighting in the journey together.

Advent AuthorGuest PostDecember 20, 2021Traci-Lynn Burt

Matthew Church

Matthew Church

Matthew Church, a Ukrainian/Scottish settler from Treaty 6 homelands, has lived as a guest within the beautiful traditional territories of the WSÁNEĆ and lək̓ʷəŋən peoples, and has called Victoria, BC home for the past 11 years. He loves his small family, good coffee, and everything driftwood.

This poem is from a broader work called, Strange Imaginations: Advent Poetics 2021 - and it is meant for sharing! The booklet is helping to raise support for Water First who partner to create water security and sustainability with indigenous communities in Ontario, please consider giving generously. Always interested in hearing from you at matthewondering@outlook.com

Advent AuthorGuest PostDecember 16, 2021Matthew Church

Randy Hein

Randy Hein

For nearly 30 years, Randy has been planting churches and engaging with grassroots initiatives in Victoria, BC. He has also worked at the local street church/food bank, taught as a sessional instructor, and has recently taken on a regional position with Vision Ministries Canada. Randy is passionate about revitalizing communities around restorative justice, the local Victoria arts scene, and has a longsuffering relationship with his beloved Canucks.

Advent Author, Writing Collective AuthorGuest PostDecember 16, 2021Randy Hein

Brandon Shillington

Brandon Shillington

Brandon Shillington is Pastor at the Madoc Wesleyan & Free Methodist Church. He and his wife Karen are learning and loving alongside their four children from their home in Belleville, Ontario.

Advent AuthorGuest PostDecember 10, 2021Brandon Shillington

Sharon Schultz

Sharon Schultz

Sharon Schultz is a long-time pastor at Eyebrow Mennonite Church, a small, rural church in Eyebrow, Saskatchewan. She is married to Duane, who is a truck driver, and they have 3 adult children and a son-in-law; and a Siamese cat, Louis! Her hobbies include singing, playing the piano and reading. Sharon’s passion is for people to know and grow in the hope and joy of new life in Jesus Christ.

Advent AuthorGuest PostDecember 10, 2021Sharon Schultz