Workshop Leaders
Del Bannerman
Executive Advisor, the Mustard Seed Street Ministry
www.theseed.ca
Del has been with The Mustard Seed since 1995, when she joined as Housing Manager. As Development Officer (since 1999), Del was responsible for all resources secured for The SEED, including gifts-in-kind. In her current role as Executive Advisor, Del works directly with the Executive Director. Through communication with her many contacts in the business and non-profit sectors, she works to educate and mobilize churches, businesses, and the community-at-large to provide for the needs of the homeless. Del also sits on the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness Board as a representative for the SEED. In 2005, Del was nominated for a Women of Action award, and in 2001, was named one of Calgary’s Women of Vision for Education and Social Action. Most recently, the Leading Women’s Conference recognized Del as one of the Leading Women for 2008, an award for public service as a woman in Christian Ministry in Canada. In May 2008, Del, daughter Paula and husband Doug were honoured with Calgary Child Magazine’s Publisher’s Award of Distinction for their dedication to volunteerism in Calgary. The family was also named Calgary’s Volunteer Family for 2008 for the annual Bannerman Clark Christmas dinner, an initiative they began in 1982 which provides dinners, gifts and necessities to thousands in need each year. Del is a member of StreetLevel: the National Roundtable on Poverty and Homelessness, and Development Chair for the 2009 StreetLevel conference.
Del, along with Irene Pfeiffer, will give a close up session titled “So you want donors? The ministry of development.”
Paula Bannerman
Volunteer Support, the Mustard Seed Street Ministry
www.theseed.ca
Paula Bannerman worked in Health care for 19 years. She has worked relief and volunteered at the Mustard Seed Street Ministry for 10 years. Currently, Paula is working full time at the Mustard Seed supporting the agency’s more than 12,000 volunteers. Paula has dedicated her educational endeavors to management and inspiration of volunteers. She coordinates the Bannerman – Clark Christmas dinner, which has been held for 27 years in memory of her two brothers. In May 2008, Paula’s family was honoured with Calgary Child Magazine’s Publisher’s Award of Distinction for their dedication to volunteerism in Calgary. The family was also named Calgary’s Volunteer Family for 2008 for the annual Bannerman Clark Christmas dinner, which provides dinners, gifts and necessities to thousands in need each year. Paula has a strong passion for street ministry and working with volunteers, and is a highly gifted and sought-after speaker for schools, businesses and churches. She is born and raised in Calgary and the proud mother of 3 children.
Paula, along with Cherie Tetz, will give a close up session titled “The heart and soul of volunteering.”
Gary Best
National Team Leader, Vineyard Churches Canada
http://vineyard.electricurrent.com
Gary, along with his wife Joy, are the National Team Leaders of the Vineyard church family in Canada – a family committed to developing community among the marginalized. Gary speaks out of over twenty years of experience travelling and teaching about the inbreaking Kingdom of God, as well as putting that teaching into practice at a local church level. Gary and Joy have recently moved to one of the most impoverished counties in New Brunswick and are discovering God’s treasures there.
Gary will give a close up session titled “What love does.”
Tim Dickau
Pastor, Grandview Calvary Baptist Church
www.gcbchurch.ca
Tim Dickau has been the pastor of Grandview Calvary Baptist Church in East Vancouver for the last 19 years. Over that period, this once-dying church has become re-rooted in its neighbourhood and has creatively pursued a vision of the kingdom of God which includes the practice of radical hospitality, integrated multicultural living, seeking justice for the least and the pursuit of a deeper life in God. He recently completed his doctoral thesis describing these four movements which this is community of people have taken up. Along with many others living in community in his church, Tim lives in community with his wife Mary, their three teenage sons, two house mates and many meal-time visitors.
Tim will give a close up session titled “From Hospitality to Justice: One community’s pursuit of kingdom practices.”
Sharon Gernon
Counselor
Sharon will give a close up session on the topic of dealing with loss.
Terry LeBlanc
National Director, My People International
www.mypeopleinternational.com
Terry is Mi’kmaq/Acadian, in his 36th year of marriage to wife Bev, and the father of twin daughters, aged 31 and a son age 27. He currently serves as National Director with My People International. Terry has taught as a sessional and guest lecturer at various colleges, seminaries and universities. He is an award winning writer and a contributor to the Faith in Action study Bible sponsored by World Vision International. Terry is one of the founders and current Chair of NAIITS (the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies), a new approach to biblical and theological reflection, writing and education for Native North Americans. Terry is a PhD candidate at Asbury Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky.
Terry will give a close up session titled “Change your worldview. Change your world!”
Irene Pfeiffer
President, Moorgate Holdings
Irene Pfeiffer is President of Moorgate Holdings, and was a Partner and Co-founder of PWR Search (formerly Russell Reynolds Associates). She joined Russell Reynolds after six years as Vice President, Executive Search for PricewaterhouseCoopers. Prior to that, she had been involved in all facets of human resources, as well as internal communications, with companies such as Mobil Oil Canada Limited, Suncor Resources Inc., and Shell Canada Limited. For 10 years Irene also served Mount Royal College as an administrator and sessional instructor in Business Education. She is a Past President of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and the Alberta Chamber. She is a Director of the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta and a Board Member of the Rural Physicians Action Plan. She is on the Social Sciences Advisory Committee of The University of Calgary and a Board member of The Ranchmen’s Club. Irene co-founded the Pearls of Wisdom Scholarship Fund for Mount Royal College and is on the Advisory Council for Social Sciences, University of Calgary. She was also instrumental in the creation of the Women’s Loan Program for Alberta. Among her most recent awards, Irene is the recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for Community Service in 2003, and the Kay Pringle Memorial Award for Community Service in 2004. She received a Life Membership in recognition of her contribution to the Chamber movement. In 2005, she was awarded the Alberta Centennial Medal for Community Service, the Leading Woman Award – Business and Professions – in 2006, and the Unicef Canada Volunteer Appreciation Award in 2007. Irene was also named to the Order of Canada in December 2007. Irene is a Licensed Lay Minister with the Anglican Church and is active with the Mustard Seed Street Ministry.
Irene, along with Del Bannerman, will lead a close up session titled “So you want donors? The ministry of development.”
Nathan Rieger
Pastor, Winnipeg Centre Vineyard
www.winnipegcentrevineyard.com
Nathan Rieger has been permanently marked by things the world throws away, and as a result, his life seems off-centre in a society that believes in Progress. Caught by the vision of a Jesus who was kind to the poor but spoke truth to power, he envisions a future where the church finds its joy in doing justice, being a true community, and refusing to worship the idols of its generation. He has an M.A. in New Testament; otherwise, his best teachers have been the addicted, sex trade workers, and those who suffer. His wife Kendra and three children live in Winnipeg, where he is a pastor at the Winnipeg Centre Vineyard, an inner city community.
Iona Snair
Director, Lifeteams: School of Urban Youth Outreach
www.lifeteams.ca
Iona has been involved in “caregiving” in a variety of ways over the past 25 years as a group home worker, foster parent, drop-in director, youth probation counselor, young adults pastor, and college instructor. For the past 9 years, she and her husband Rob have mentored young adults toward opening their hearts to “homeless” youth before they become “houseless” youth. They run Lifeteams: School of Urban Youth Outreach, through Vancouver YFC/Youth Unlimited. Iona and Rob live with their two boys in Abbotsford, B.C.
Cherie Tetz
Cherie Tetz lives in Calgary, Alberta. She is a gifted motivational and inspirational speaker and represents The Mustard Seed (Calgary) Street Ministry in the community, churches, schools and businesses. Cherie left a full-time position as Volunteer Coordinator with The SEED in 2007, to pursue a vocation of offering spiritual direction, facilitating retreats/workshops and volunteering. She is part of a Contemplative Community in Calgary, and a “thankful” mother and grandma (mom-mom).
“My personal passion for volunteerism comes from experiencing and witnessing lives changed as we invited the community to be part of the work of The Mustard Seed Street Ministry in Calgary. Over and over again, people came with a need to “contribute”, and most were surprised to discover a deeper reason for being there.”
Brian Walsh
Brian Walsh is a Christian Reformed Campus minister at the University of Toronto and Adjunct Professor of Theology of Culture at Wycliffe College. Converted to Christ in the context of the Yonge Street Mission, Brian has always seen an intimate connection between the gospel and homelessness. His most recent book, with Steve Bouma-Prediger, is “Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement.”