Tyndale Intercultural Leadership Conference (TILC) 2025

October 16, 2025

Tyndale Intercultural Leadership Conference (TILC) 2025

Join visionary leaders from diverse cultural backgrounds for an experience where groundbreaking ideas collide!

Event Details

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Meet Our Conversation Partners

At TILC 2025, the heart of our gathering is the shared table of conversation. We’ve invited a diverse group of thoughtful conversation partners to share their stories of belonging/unbelonging in church spaces.
These partners include Corey Parish, an autistic pastor and support professional advocating for disabled communities; Lorraine Lam, educated in sociology and social work, currently journeying with people who are incarcerated and unhoused; Paige Abuharoon, an Indigenous leader exploring how implicit bias shapes the perspectives and decisions of leaders—both in churches and beyond; Joseph Wong, a Hong Kong–born spiritual director walking with newcomers processing political trauma as part of discipleship; and Shadia Qubti, a Palestinian theologian fostering intercultural bridge-building in Vancouver.

This is a full day conference being held October 16, 2025, from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm 

View → Cost | Workshops | Schedule

Cost

Early Bird - $99 (lunch included) - Until October 2
Regular rate - $125 (lunch included)
Student rate* - $50 (lunch included)

*Bring student ID with you

Register Online

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Workshops

Diving into the deep end: a real time case study on becoming an intercultural church community

Dorothy Pang and Deborah Wong

How does a community become intercultural? Is there a real life example that is contextualized to Canada? What ideas can I take and try out in my own contexts? Join a conversation with Deb Wong and Dorothy Pang as they explore the journey Deep Water Church has been on as they work out a calling to become a multiethnic, multicultural, and intercultural community.

Change Your Story, Change Your Culture

Rev. Traci-Lynn Burt and Dr. Mark Chapman

This interactive workshop explores how your congregation's narratives shape its identity and how shifting them can lead to lasting transformation.

Vocabulary, Identity, and Lived Experience: The Struggle of Defining Ourselves

Yanie Pierre-Jérôme

This interactive workshop explores how our lived experiences shape the language we use to express our cultural identities, including how we choose descriptors related to nationality, culture, race, and other aspects of who we are. The goal isn’t to rank or correct the terms people choose, but to foster understanding and empathy for diverse lived experiences as God calls us to love His children.

Living as Bridge-Builders: Learning the Art of Belonging in Exclusive Worlds

Shadia Qubti

This workshop examines the firsthand experience of fostering belonging that doesn't exclude others—creating spaces where difficult conversations can flourish while maintaining the integrity of faith and the urgency of advocacy. Through her lived experiences from Israeli-Palestinian bridge building work to Palestinian-North American Indigenous dialogue on understandings of land, Shadia will share her strategies for navigating belonging across cultural boundaries. 

Setting a Table of Belonging

Kerri McIntosh

We always want TIM Centre's workshops to be highly engaging and interactive! Try out our new game for teams who are searching for meaningful ways to create spaces of equity and belonging. It starts with ensuring everyone has a spot at the table.

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Schedule

  • 9:00-9:30 AM - Doors Open - Registration & Networking
  • 9:30-10:55 AM - Stories of Belonging/Un-Belonging: Moving from Distance to Encounter
  • 10:55-11:15 AM - Coffee Break
  • 11:15 AM-12:15 PM - Workshops - Time Slot A (choose 1 of 5 options)
  • 12:15-1:15 PM - Lunch
  • 1:15-2:40 PM - Reading from the Margins: How Location Shapes Our Life with Scripture
  • 2:40-3:00 PM - Coffee Break
  • 3:00-4:00 PM - Workshops - Time Slot B (same 5 options as AM)
  • 4:00-4:30 PM - Praise & Closing

 

Biographies

Cory

Corey Parish

Corey Parish serves as a local church pastor and Direct Support Professional with Community Living in Fergus, ON. Parish studies and writes in practical theology, focusing on disability and community structure. Parish completed his Doctor of Ministry at Tyndale University (Toronto) in 2024 and is currently pursuing a PhD at McMaster Divinity College (Hamilton), researching themes of 'place' and belonging in disability theology.

Lorraine

Lorraine Lam 

Website

Lorraine is passionate about people’s stories and the relationships that shape us. For over a decade, she has worked on the frontlines, walking alongside community members navigating homelessness, drug use, incarceration, poverty, racism, and systemic injustice. Her work is rooted in harm reduction, anti-oppression, and trauma-informed practices, and is continually shaped by the communities I am part of. Currently, she is a caseworker at Amadeusz, supporting youth with firearms charges during and after incarceration, serves on the board of Building Roots and organizes with Christians for a Free Palestine: Toronto, Shelter & Housing Justice Network, and Toronto Overdose Prevention Society. Lorraine also co-authored a chapter in Displacement City (University of Toronto Press, 2022) and was recently nominated for the City of Toronto's Access, Equity and Human Rights Awards. Guided by her faith, she is committed to the long-haul work of systemic change and collective liberation, building bridges through storytelling, consultation, and community.

Paige

Paige Abuharoon

 
Abuharoon is an Indigenous leader exploring how implicit bias shapes the perspectives and decisions of leaders—both in churches and beyond.

 

 

 

Jospeh

Joseph Wong

Website

Joseph Wong is a Hong Kong–born spiritual director walking with newcomers processing political trauma as part of discipleship

 

 

Shadia

Shadia Qubti

Website

Shadia Qubti is a Palestinian Christian from Nazareth, currently an arrivant on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, known as Vancouver, Canada. She worked in faith-based peacebuilding in Palestine/Israel for 15 years, focusing on amplifying women's voices through initiatives like the Women Behind the Wall podcast. Her writing is inspired by her completed research into Palestinian and North American Indigenous understandings of land, informing her approach to contextual theology. Her forthcoming publications include "Noticing Sumac in Unexpected Places: Theological Engagement" in The Cross and the Olive Tree: Cultivation Palestinian Theology Amid Gaza (2025) and "The Significance of Peacebuilding in Theological Education." Shadia currently serves as Community Engagement Animator at Trinity Grace United Church in Vancouver and as a Commissioner to the General Council of the United Church of Canada.

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