The Tyndale Centre for Pastoral Imagination

The Centre Will Equip and Prepare Ministerial Leaders for an Ever-Changing Cultural Landscape

By Tyndale Communications  /  Friday, July 8, 2022

Front entrance of the Tyndale University campus with surrounding trees

Tyndale University expresses deep gratitude to Lilly Endowment Inc. for their generous grant of more than $1 million (CAD) to support the Tyndale Centre for Pastoral Imagination.

The Centre will host, connect and resource four teaching and learning hubs: Ministry Decolonization, Women in Ministry, New Generations & Multicultural Church and Wellness.

The Ministry Decolonization Hub will provide a foundation for morally credible and prophetic ministry in Canada. Tyndale will build on its partnership with the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies (NAIITS) and will contract a NAIITS community member to speak into our programs, and with students, faculty and constituency pastors. Indigenous content and themes will be developed for required courses, as well as nurturing growth in the NAIITS symposia in Toronto.

The Women in Ministry Hub will create an all-female pastoral ministry internship track at Tyndale, with six female students and female mentors annually. Students and mentors will participate in a study resulting in recommendations for the development of “pastoral imagination” of female leaders. The track will become self-sustaining over the course of the grant, with funding made available for ongoing research and mentorship.

The New Generations & Multicultural Church Hub will connect with the Tyndale Intercultural Ministries (TIM) Centre to provide accessible non-credit ministerial training for new-to-Canada leaders. The Hub will sponsor three larger studies on Diaspora church leaders. The grant would also fund a focused study on second-generation Filipino- and Korean-Canadians and complement an earlier study on Chinese-Canadians to provide a pastoral framework for Asian Canadian ministry. The TIM Centre, which is a self-funding entity, will provide training and support for this hub by using the same financial model.

Finally, the Wellness Hub will work with the Tyndale Wellness Centre and provide supervision for six additional interns who are preparing to minister as psychotherapists to low-income, refugee or Indigenous clients in congregational settings. Partner churches/stakeholders will be sought to grow clientele and provide support beyond the life of the grant. The Hub will also assist a new DMin concentration in Pastoral Thanatology, as well as a Grief and Bereavement Centre. 

The Tyndale Centre for Pastoral Imagination will build on existing Tyndale strengths and will coordinate and accelerate its ability to prepare pastoral leaders for the exciting challenges and opportunities in Canada’s fastest growing and most diverse region.

For more information, please contact:

Arnold Neufeldt-Fast
Vice President, Academic & Dean of the Seminary
neufeldt-fast [at] tyndale [dot] ca
416.226.6620 ext. 2655