People

Ross is a graduate of The University of Winnipeg, The University of Toronto, and McCormick Theological Seminary at The University of Chicago.  Prior to becoming Dean of St. Andrew’s Hall, Ross served as the Director of Presbyterian Formation and the founding Director of The Centre for Missional Leadership. Ross is the author of Beyond Snakes and Shamrocks: St. Patrick’s Missional Leadership Lessons for Today and Lessons from Laodicea: Missional Leadership in a Culture of Affluence.

Ross has served congregations from Halifax to Vancouver as well as multiple exchanges with The Presbyterian Church in Ireland.  He is a weekly guest preacher in local churches and Minister in Association at St. Andrew’s/St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church in North Vancouver.  He is honoured to lead such a wonderful staff team at St. Andrew’s Hall

Richard Topping received his BA in Religious Studies from University of Waterloo, an MA and Ph.D in Theology from St. Michael’s, University of Toronto, where his thesis Director was Professor John Webster.

Richard was Minister in Muskoka, Ontario from 1993-1996; at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul in Montreal, Quebec, where he was Assistant Minister from 1997-1999 and Senior Minister from 2000-2009. He has (co)written a number of documents for the Presbyterian Church in Canada, including a Catechism for Today (2008) and Together in Ministry (2006) and served on the Church Doctrine Committee.

Richard taught at Presbyterian College (2001-2009) Montreal in the areas of Preaching, Pastoral Theology, Introduction to Ministry and Church, Ministry and Sacraments. He supervised many students in their in-ministry year.

Richard became the Principal of Vancouver School of Theology in July of 2013. In 2013 Richard was the first VST recipient of the Just Desserts Awards of the UBC Alma Matter Society, a student initiated and directed award.
Richard continues to hold the St. Andrew’s Hall Chair in Studies in the Reformed Tradition. He teaches in the areas of Contemporary and Historical Theology. He has also lectured at Regent College in the areas of Proclamation and Reformed Theology.

Richard has published in the areas of theological hermeneutics – Revelation, Scripture and Church (Ashgate, 2007) – homiletics, philosophy of religion, systematic theology and the theologies of John Calvin and Karl Barth. He edited, with John Vissers, a collection of essays entitled Calvin @500 (Pickwick, 2011). He is also working on a book which examines the role of imagination in postmodern Christian theology.

Richard initiated a Karl Barth reading group at St. Andrew’s Hall. He is a regular preacher in the Vancouver area and lecturer across the country.

The Rev. Dr. Stephen Farris retired in 2016 after serving for over a decade as Dean of St. Andrew’s Hall and Professor of Homiletics at The Vancouver School of Theology.  Dr. Farris has served the church in many roles, including as Moderator of the 140th General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, President of the Academy of Homiletics, and as a member of the Executive Committee of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.  Stephen is the author of several books and articles on preaching, theology and biblical studies including Preaching That Matters:  The Bible and Our Lives as well as his latest Tell Me a Story that explores the role of narrative in preaching.  He is married to Patty, a retired school Principal, and has two sons and three grandchildren.

Rebecca is a graduate of Simon Fraser University where she earned a Bachelor of Education with a focus on educational psychology and a major in biology.  Her early teaching years were spent in secondary science labs in Maple Ridge, BC and an adult education program in Swan River, Manitoba.  Rebecca continued her studies at Vancouver School of Theology and subsequently served as Camp Douglas Director for the Presbytery of Westminster.  She is now the Minister of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Mission, BC, where she lives with her husband and three nearly grown children.  With a wide variety of experiences within the Presbyterian Church in Canada, she is poised to share in the spiritual formation of future Ministers of Word and Sacrament.

Rebecca is passionate about teaching and learning and looks forward to working with students at Vancouver School of Theology as the Presbyterian Director of Denominational Formation.

Andy the Bear joined the staff at St. Andrew’s Hall a few years ago, and has lived fully into his role of Public Relations Officer and chief Mascot for SAH.  Andy is always ready to offer a listening ear to any student and loves to discuss deep questions of Reformed theology with a particular fascination regarding election, sovereignty of God and total human depravity.  Andy can be found at many of the SAH gatherings from soup nights to Thanksgiving Dinners.

Albert is the Director of the Centre for Missional Leadership at St. Andrews Hall.  He is also the Lead Pastor of the Tapestry Church, a multi-campus church in the Lower Mainland.

Albert is passionate about creating space, not only physical space, but designing a safe environment and a hospitable culture that allows people the room to discover and grow as disciples of Jesus.  It was this passion that led Albert to plant the Tapestry Church back in 2004 and continues to fuel his desire to start new missional activities and plant more churches.  As the Director of the CML, and in alignment to this passion, Albert strives to equip, resource, and release leaders for God’s mission in this corner of the world we affectionately call Cascadia.

Albert is a graduate of The University of Alberta where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Political Science as well as a Master of Arts in Sociology. He is also a graduate of Regent College with a Master of Divinity.  Recognized as a leader within the church planting movement in Canada, Albert has served with Resonate Global Missions, Engage Vancouver and as a Church Planter Developer with the Christian Reformed Church.

Albert is married to Frieda and is blessed with two lovely daughters. They love to travel, cycle, cook, and wander with their backpacks within the 117,900 acres of bliss called Mt. Baker Wilderness.

Rev. Dr. Tim Dickau serves as CML Associate for the Missional Leadership Certificate Program, as well as Director of City Gate Leadership Forum.

Prior to joining CML, Tim served for thirty years as Pastor of Grandview Church in East Vancouver. Widely recognized as a highly effective missional leader, Tim’s congregational work helped established a deep connection in the neighbourhood, birthed economic development through social enterprises, built a 28 unit community housing project and nurtured a “thick community” of disciples who shared life together and deepened their faith in Jesus through confession and repentance.

Tim’s work with CML is to design and lead monthly equipping sessions for congregational teams in the Certificate program, that helps local congregations engage their neighbourhoods in mission, evangelism and seeking justice through prophetic ministries.  Tim holds a Master of Divinity from Regent College and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Carey Theological College. He is author of Plunging into the Kingdom Way. His forthcoming book, Humility and Hope: Forming Christian Communities in a Secular Age, is due out in the fall of 2020.

Tim lives with his wife Mary, one of three sons and a daughter-in-law, a beautiful grandson and many mealtime guests.  He is passionate about widening our imagination for how we can be the church in a way that brings hope and transformation among both persons and societal structures in particular neighborhoods.

Sumarme serves as the Chaplain and Community Life Director at St. Andrews Hall.

Her work at the Hall focuses on creating a hospitable environment for people to connect with one another and build authentic community. She is eager to help people grow in love for God and others through the spiritual practices of prayer, scripture reflection, worship, and intentional caring for their neighbors on campus and beyond.

Sumarme especially enjoys encouraging students to deepen their views of calling and vocation. “When I was a university student, my emphasis was on achieving, performing, and positioning myself for a good career. After facing failures of various kinds, I discovered my education was also about weathering the storms of life in healthy ways and living a whole-life kind of faith in God. Campus life and academic work are demanding, so we need caring friends to have fun with, to engage us in conversations about things that truly matter to us, and to remind us that we are not alone.”

Sumarme earned her B.A. in Christian Education and Psychology from Seattle Pacific University and her M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary. She served two years at Ban Vinai refugee camp in Thailand and fourteen years in Family Ministry in two churches in Seattle, Washington, before moving to Canada.

Sumarme lives near UBC with her husband Scott, their two wonderful teen-aged daughters, and a puppy named Koda. She enjoys being active outdoors, eating food from every culture, and visiting with neighbors when walking Koda.

Mavis is Executive Assistant to the Dean, Secretary to the Board of Management, as well as Administrative Assistant for the Centre for Missional Leadership.

Jean is the Finance Assistant at St Andrew’s Hall, this means she sorts out the financial paperwork. At SAH,  Jean can usually be found in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Jean has a love of numbers that have seen her in the classroom of secondary schools in the UK as well as tutoring individual students. Jean’s life outside of work has seen her volunteering for many years in conservation including drystone walling and teaching teenagers practical conservation skills. Jean is married to Rob and they have been in Canada for just over two years. They love exploring the outdoors both on foot and in kayaks.

Mihye is the  housing dynamo who drives all aspects of housing at SAH, ranging from room assignments, dealing with complaints, disciplining unruly types and a million other things. Her mission is to make sure that all who stay at St. Andrew’s Hall feel safe and comfortable! She is always open to new ideas for improvement at the residences and you can find her “steering the housing wheel” in her office on the main floor.

Andrea Perrett is an Associate in New Witnessing Communities and the leader of Cultivate: Missional Church Planting Collective. Andrea’s work with the Centre for Missional Leadership gathers and equips leaders to help them navigate the challenges of planting sustainable new witnessing communities.

As a multi-vocational leader, Andrea also works as a dietitian at a mental health care facility and is a church planter with Transform, an outdoor-based witnessing community. She has previously been the Director of Cyclical Vancouver, the leader of a dinner church, St. Andy’s Community Table, and served at West Point Grey Presbyterian Church in Vancouver.

Andrea is passionate about supporting leaders who are experimenting with new ways of gathering Christian communities. She also loves exploring the connection between physical health and spiritual health and currently leads an online bread baking circle, where the group of amateur bakers share about life and faith while mixing and kneading their dough. Andrea has a MDiv from Vancouver School of Theology, where she is working on a ThM in Missional Theology.

Andrea and her husband, Jordan are originally from the prairies, but have called the West Coast home for over a decade. They live on the North Shore where they enjoy exploring the mountains with their goofy black lab and toddler.

Helen, the Finance Manager at St. Andrew’s Hall, obtained her CPA, CGA over 25 years ago and has a passion for utilizing her financial and accounting skills in the not-for-profit sector. Helen also attended UBC “many years ago”, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language, and she is delighted to be back on campus overseeing the Finance Department at SAH.

Helen lives in the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver with her husband John, their two young adult children, and Casey their Australian Shepherd. She loves hiking, travelling, socializing with family and friends, reading books, and watching movies.

Kerry Baisley has been serving as the Missioner for Indigenous Justice for the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster since 2020.

Previously Kerry worked for over 35 years in public service in positions have included Emergency Child Welfare, Regional Social Worker in the Yukon, and Medical Social Work in Residential Care.  He was Manager for Health Care Decisions with the Public Guardian and Trustee of BC and retired as Director of Client Relations and Risk Management in Richmond Hospital with Vancouver Coastal Health.

He is a past Board Member of the 127 Society for Housing and a member of the Métis Nation of British Columbia.

Gwen is a graduate of the Toronto School of Theology who served as a Presbyterian minister for over 30 years in pastoral charges and Youth & Camping ministries.  She retired in 2020 to the Okanagan community of Vernon where she enjoys the arts community .

Throughout her career, Gwen has served on numerous National church committees, organized Synod and Presbyterian educational retreats and been involved with projects in her local communities.  For the last four years Gwen has served on the St. Andrew’s Hall Board and now also serves as one of the PCC’s representatives on the VST Board.

Mary Lil Rozsa de Coquet became an Elder at Grace Presbyterian Church in Calgary in 1997, where she continues to serve on session and as the Representative Elder to the Presbytery of Calgary Macleod. Her grandfather was a Presbyterian preacher and church planter in Texas, Oklahoma, and Illinois.

Mary Lil is the long-time Chair of the Rozsa Foundation, a philanthropic family foundation founded in 1990 which is known for building arts sector capacity through innovative arts leadership programs, contribution to public arts policies and cutting-edge arts research. She is an acknowledged leader in the arts community and a creative philanthropist in her own right. She has served on several government and not-for-profit boards, most recently named as the Chair of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Mary Lil received a Bachelor of Arts Cum Laude from Trinity University in Texas, an Education Degree, and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Calgary. In 2012, she was a recipient of the Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal and in 2015 was named to the Order of Canada.

Tim comes to St. Andrews Hall with a wealth of board experience, financial industry roles and governance training.  He is currently the chair of the Investment Committee of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, the chair of STEM Fellowship organization, past board member of the GTA Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) and the treasurer for St. Andrews Hall board.

Tim and his wife Linda are long standing members at Trinity Presbyterian Church York Mills in Toronto.

Bishop David Lehmann was born in Toronto, ON and raised in Fort Smith, NT. He completed his BA in History at Camrose Lutheran College in 1990. While working on his MDiv at Wycliffe, he enlisted in the Naval Reserves. Upon completion of seminary, he was ordained and served in Fort Simpson, NT. Throughout his parish ministry in the Northwest Territories and Alberta, he would actively engage in community initiatives, heritage projects, and Fresh Expressions of ministry.

He is the Bishop of Caledonia, Chair of the Council of the North for the Anglican Church of Canada, and Chair of the Board of Governors for the Vancouver School of Theology.

Dr. Ling’s parents emigrated to Canada from Hong Kong in 1950 when he was a child. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto in 1966, his PhD from the University of British Columbia in 1969, and subsequently undertook post-doctoral studies at Cambridge University under Nobel Laureate Fred Sanger.

Dr. Ling has received numerous awards and honours for his scientific contributions, most notably for his ground-breaking discoveries in fighting drug-resistant cancers. His Christian faith was formed by the influence of his parents who were devout followers of Christ.

He currently serves a President and Scientific Director of the Canada-wide Terry Fox Research Institute, is a distinguished scientist of the BC Cancer Agency, and the Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia.

Neil Singh is a husband, father, and professional engineer. An elder of City Centre Church in North Vancouver, Neil currently chairs their building committee and is their chief Zoom and Facebook Live broadcast operator.  Married for nearly thirty years to Elaine, they have three (adult) children: two daughters and a son; one a registered nurse, and the others are studying to be a chemist and an engineer. They also raise two cats, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie Singh.

Neil chairs the Vancouver Board of UrbanPromise Ministries which operates as Promise Vancouver – a children’s outreach program on the downtown eastside.  He is also the vice-chair for UrbanPromise International (UPI) which operates nearly 30 sites in 10 countries. UPI operations include schools, safe homes for street kids, girls empowerment programs, farms, vocational training and afterschool programs.  A key part of Neil’s role is training young leaders in sustainable business planning and management.

Neil is a (semi-retired) Professional Engineer, working primarily with clients in the mining sector, to develop and manage tailings facilities to reduce and contain mining wastes and environmental impacts caused by mining. Throughout his career, Neil focused on training, developing and mentoring young engineers. He continues mentoring in his role as Chief Warden of Camp 5 – of the Corporation of the Seven Wardens – the uniquely Canadian organization that obligates young engineers and provides iron rings to Canadian engineers.

A resident of Surrey, BC, Neil recently (after he turned 50) took up road cycling and ice hockey.

Elaine is a graduate of St. Andrew’s Hall/ Vancouver School of Theology. She also studied at Regent College and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of British Columbia. She has a passion for preaching, integrating faith and life, and finding the sacred in the ordinary. 

As a lay person and theological student, Elaine served in many of Presbyterian churches within the Lower Mainland. She currently serves as co-lead pastor alongside her husband, Curtis, at St. Giles’ Presbyterian Church in Prince George, BC. 

Elaine and her family enjoy seeking God in the every day in Northern BC.

Larry is an elder at Vancouver Taiwanese Presbyterian Church.  Having lived in Taipei, Taiwan until age of 14, Larry attended school in Houston, TX, Boston, MA and Seattle, WA before permanently moving to Vancouver, BC.

Larry is a business lawyer and has practiced law for over 22 years focusing on corporate finance & securities and on advising venture capital start-ups.  He advises early stage start-up companies to large publicly listed corporations on acquisitions, mergers, and reverse takeover transactions.

Because Larry grew up in Asia and frequently travels around the world, Larry often brings a unique perspective and cultural understanding to a situation.  His passion is to promote Christian education to the youth and to help make Christian teachings germane in the contemporary, multicultural world.

He received his bachelor’s degree from Boston College majoring in mathematics and biology and his J.D. from Seattle University.

Ron was born in British Columbia, an Elder of the Coquitlam Presbyterian Church, husband of Jeannette for 48 years, and has three children and four grand-children.

Ron had a public service career of 35 years.  The first 15 years focused in Human Resource Management, with positions in labour relations and as the Director of Personnel Administration for the BC ministry of Health.  The last 20 years of his career he was the Provincial Executive Director of the BC Centre for Disease Control. He has also been involved in several community and provincial agencies concerned with health care, elders concerns, and mental health, including the United Way.

In addition to his service to his local congregation and professional accomplishments, he serves as President of the Presbyterian Senior Citizens’ Housing Society. Ron earned his B.A. in Psychology & Commerce and his Masters in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University.

He loves spending time with his family, travel, biking, hiking, skiing, golf and tennis.