St. Andrew’s Day 2024
Dear friends of St. Andrew’s Hall,
I hope this letter from the Dean’s Office finds you well as we approach Advent and Christmas. Each year, St. Andrew’s Day offers an opportunity to reflect on the life of the saint for whom our college is named and to give thanks for what God has accomplished in and through our ministry the past year.
St. Andrew’s Hall is a vibrant community of faith and learning in the heart of one of Canada’s major research universities. This past year, we hosted over 200 students and their families, providing a meaningful and compassionate space to nourish the next generation of Christian leaders in education, arts, science and law. Our chaplaincy ministry supports residents through weekly chapel services, Wednesday soup nights, the Sanctuary Mental Health Program, the Alpha Marriage Course, and other opportunities to share the love of Jesus and live out the gospel.
“Jesus said to Simon and Andrew, ‘Come follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.’”
Our Centre for Missional Leadership (CML) continues to thrive in equipping Christian leaders. This past spring, we hosted a major conference featuring Dr. Stefan Paas (Vrije Universiteit), which brought together pastors, elders, and church planters. Over the summer, the Guder Scholars program equipped a select group of ministers under the theme of “Missional Leadership and Preaching.” This fall, CML’s certificate program is accompanying fourteen congregational cohorts as they discern God’s calling in their local communities and implement new initiatives. Additionally, through the Sacramental Elder program, CML trained over forty ruling elders to provide baptism and communion in their churches. In partnership with the Vancouver School of Theology (VST), St. Andrew’s Hall also contributes to the training of future ministers in the Presbyterian Church in Canada through degree programs.
I am humbled when I consider the ways God’s transformative Spirit is impacting our intentional Christian community here at St. Andrew’s Hall. With your help, are living into our vision, responding to the call to discern and equip the future church that God is bringing. We engage this vision through our mission to educate and equip missional leaders through teaching, hospitality, and witness for Christ’s church of tomorrow, today.
This is only possible by your generous and ongoing support of St. Andrew’s Hall. I invite you to click the ‘Give to St. Andrew’s Hall’ button and join me in giving to St. Andrew’s Day. There are many ways to give—a one-time donation is greatly appreciated, for example, or you could join my family in making a monthly donation to the Hall. I would also love to speak with you about much-needed legacy gifts for the ongoing ministry of St. Andrew’s Hall as you make plans to honour God with your financial assets in the future. However you choose to support this vibrant and transformative ministry, I thank you with deep and sincere appreciation. I am truly honoured to serve as dean of this community of scholars, staff, and students as we discern, participate, and celebrate what God is doing in our midst for the sake of the church and the world.
Grace and peace in the name of Jesus,
The Reverend Ross A. Lockhart, PhD
Dean of St. Andrew’s Hall
