Simon Lasair

Simon Lasair is a nationally recognized expert in spirituality and spiritual care, the practice of professional chaplaincy. He holds a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Manchester, UK, and is employed in a research role investigating how best to integrate spiritual care and fine arts-based interventions into health care. He is an experienced workshop and retreat facilitator, often using storytelling and humour to invite participants to reflect deeply on their experiences. When not working, Simon enjoys spending time with his wife and two young children, taking time outdoors, watching superhero movies, reading while listening to jazz, and baking gourmet sourdough breads.

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Jon Coutts

Jon Coutts lives in Calgary where he is Assistant Professor of Theology at Ambrose University. Prior to this he pastored churches in the Christian and Missionary Alliance and most recently taught ethics in England. He is the author of the SCM Studyguide to Church Leadership and of A Shared Mercy, a book on forgiveness in the church published with IVP.

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Cathleen Getchell

Cathleen Getchell resides in Kitchener-Waterloo on the Haldimand Tract, within the territory of Neutral, Anishnaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Grounded in the belief that every person is created in God's image, Cathleen seeks to contribute to a world where justice, mercy, and humility form the foundation for inclusive and compassionate communities that contribute to the blessing and flourishing of all people. 

She finds balance by going on boondocking and hiking adventures, capturing the beauty of creation with her camera, dancing like nobody's watching, cooking meals for friends, and pursuing artistic endeavours.

Through all her work and hobbies, Cathleen is driven by a deep sense of purpose and a desire to bring blessing and flourishing to all people.

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Preston Pouteaux

Preston Pouteaux is a beekeeper, neighbourhood enthusiast, pastor at Lake Ridge Community Church and the director of Plesion Studio. He is the award-winning author of The Bees of Rainbow Falls: Finding Faith, Imagination, and Delight in Your Neighbourhood, and of The Neighbours Are Real and Other Beautiful Things. Preston lives in Chestermere, Alberta, with his wife Kelly, their daughters Scotia and Ivy, and a few thousand honeybees.


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John Bowen

John Bowen taught evangelism, church planting, and C.S.Lewis at Wycliffe College in Toronto for nearly twenty years. In retirement, he is writing, teaching, mentoring young leaders, and enjoying his grandchildren. He has two new books coming out in 2021, and is beginning research into why people in Canada are becoming Christians.

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Tabitha Mui

Tabitha Mui resides in Treaty 13A, on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinabewaki, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Mississauga, and Attiwonderonk. As a child of immigrants, she identifies as ethnically Chinese, and credits her love for food to this beautiful culture. In this season of life, she is learning to pay attention to rhythms of rest and play. Tabitha serves on the New Leaf Advisory Team and New Leaf Financial Team.

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Andrew Benson

Follower of Jesus, lover of his local neighbourhood, and nacho connoisseur. With a passion for social justice and building community, he has travelled to and lived in cities all across Canada. Most recently Yellowknife is home, for now. Andrew enjoys outdoor adventures and partying with both friends and strangers which has resulted in him being the founder of two social enterprises; The Joyful Project and Concert for Socks.

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David Pereyra

David H Pereyra is an architect, doctor in Theology, researcher at the OCAD University in Toronto, and seasonal Professor at the University of St Michael’s College in the University of Toronto, Canada. For over two decades Pereyra’s personal interests and academic focus centres on interdisciplinary aspects of our multicultural society, as expressed through art, music, film, worship, multimedia, technology and sacred spaces. He is particularly interested in sacred spaces as iconic points of reference that provide unique meanings to the collective memory of a culture, and how creative experiences of transmitting information and communication can reach users and vice-versa. His Latin American, European and North American multi-cultural background greatly enrich his experience of the world and his scholarly work. His area of expertise is the trans-disciplinary study and comparison of phenomenological and theological aspects in architecture and ritual, in a multidimensional perspective, across art forms, place and space.

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Brian Yu

Brian Yu is the New Canadian Church Planters Coordinator with the Tyndale Intercultural Ministries (TIM) Centre at Tyndale University. Brian has been serving in pastoral ministry for over 12 years. He was a youth pastor at Greenhills Christian Fellowship in the Philippines, a pastor at Chinese Gospel Church in Scarborough, and he currently serves as a church planter in the diverse city of Toronto, Canada.

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Diane Clifford

Diane Clifford currently resides in Fort Frances, Ontario, a small town in Northwestern Ontario surrounded by lakes, streams, rocks and trees to the east and fields to the west. The family in faith where she pastors is a group of people who believe that the Holy Spirit has called them into the world to share the love of Jesus in their everyday lives. Diane has always intentionally functioned in a bi-vocational capacity which provides plenty of opportunity to be active in the community, to meet people and to be engaged in the neighbourhood. Diane serves as a member of the New Leaf Network Board.

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Heather Morgan

Heather lives in Barrie with lots of disabilities shared between herself, her husband and her two incredible young adult kids. She is a disability advocate and life coach with a focus on supporting families and individuals with disabilities. In September, Heather started her Master’s of Divinity at Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto, where she hopes to focus on Disability Theology.

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Dustin Schellenberg

Dustin spends his time exploring the far reaches of space, understand the ancient ways of might and magic, and wandering the post-apocalyptic wastes. If it has a reasonably open world, a crafting system and some way to sneak around he'll be there. When not gaming he's probably planning his next D&D character (because his DM keeps killing off the old ones). He is a competent bass player and guitarist, mediocre mid laner and outright awful FPS player. He is the father of 2, husband of 1, a sometimes theologian, and all-times pastor of Crestview Park Free Methodist church in Winnipeg, MB.

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Steve MacDouell

When Steve's not teaching history at Fanshawe College or pastoring with The Meeting House, he's instigating place-based projects, hosting workshops, and inviting everyday citizens to leverage their time, their ideas, and their creativity for the sake of their neighbourhoods. He's the co-founder of Good City Co., a civic organization that creates projects, platforms, and activations to help citizens take greater ownership over the places that they call home. He also writes on the intersection of place, community, and praxis for Strong Towns. He lives, dreams, and conspires in Little Portugal—a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario.

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