People

Ross cheerfully serves as the Dean of St. Andrew’s Hall and holds a PhD from Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, as well as degrees from the University of Winnipeg, University of Toronto and McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago.  Ross delights in providing leadership for St. Andrew’s Hall, continually developing what it means to be a thriving Christian community, college and residence in the heart of one of Canada’s premier research universities.  Ross is author of West Coast Mission: the Changing Nature of Christianity in Vancouver; Lessons from Laodicea: Missional Leadership in a Culture of Affluence; Beyond Snakes and Shamrocks: St. Patrick’s Missional Leadership Lessons for Today; co-author of Better Than Brunch: Missional Churches in Cascadia as well as Christianity: An Asian Religion in Vancouver and editor of Christian Witness in Cascadian Soil.  An Ordained Minister in The Presbyterian Church in Canada, Ross has served congregations across Canada, as well as several shorter terms with The Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Ross is honoured to lead such a wonderful staff team at St. Andrew’s Hall and looks forward to meeting you in the near future.

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

Dr. Mark Glanville is the Director of the Centre for Missional Leadership at St. Andrews Hall. Mark trains church leaders for post-Christian contexts using biblical scholarship and jazz piano.

He is the author of five books, and has pastored in creative, justice-seeking churches for 14 years in both Canada and Australia. Through a variety of lenses, Mark shows how the Bible is forming churches that extend the tenderness of Jesus in their particular neighbourhood. Mark’s life goal is to research, teach, write, speak, and play music to nourish Christian leaders to creatively reimagine what the church can be and do in post-Christian societies, with the Bible in our hands.

Mark has authored: Preaching in a New Key: Crafting Expository Sermons in Post-Christian Communities (IVP Academic, March 2025); Improvising Church: Scripture as the Source of Harmony, Rhythm, and Soul (IVP Academic, 2024); Refuge Reimagined: Biblical Kinship in Global Politics (IVP Academic, 2020; co-written with Luke J. Glanville); Freed to be God’s Family: The Book of Exodus (Lexham, 2020); Adopting the Stranger as Kindred in Deuteronomy (SBL, 2018).

Mark has also written numerous refereed articles (including for: Journal of Biblical Literature, 2018; Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2019; Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2021; Refuge Journal, 2013), and book chapters.

In combining vocations of scholarship, teaching, pastoring, and jazz, Mark has followed an uncommon path, but it is the synergy of these four things—pastoring, researching, teaching, and creating—that has shaped him to write and teach for the church with clarity and beauty. It is this synergy that equips him to train leaders with both theological depth and practical wisdom.

Before pastoring, Mark worked full-time as a jazz pianist, and he currently plays on the Vancouver jazz scene. He seeks to integrate music with his teaching and scholarship, for example through “jazz homilies” and his podcast, Blue Note Theology.

Mark is available to speak, to offer jazz-homilies, and to perform with his jazz trio. His personal website is: https://www.markglanville.org

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.

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.

Amanda Mina serves as the Communications specialist for the Centre for Missional Leadership.  With a background in communications in both private industry and congregations, Amanda helps connect the programs and personnel of CML with the wider, ecumenical church across North America.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Karen Dylla was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and came with her family to Canada as a child, first living in Calgary, Alberta when her father was called to ministry in a Presbyterian congregation there. The family moved to Vancouver when she was fifteen and she has remained in the lower mainland since then. She and her husband and two young adult children serve at Fairview Presbyterian Church. In her professional life, Karen is a lawyer, focussing on the area of Wills and Estates. Karen believes that St. Andrew’s Hall has a vital role in the preparation of empowered leaders for the Presbyterian Church and beyond and is privileged to be a part of this process by serving on the Board.

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.

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.