Inviting multiple engaging adult mentors & teachers who will speak
​on the integration of faith and vocation throughout the summer.
Here is a sampling of the speakers from Summer '22.

​Jon Berends

Jon lives in Hamilton with his wife, Aimee, and their three young kids. He is currently the director of Act Five, a gap year program run out of Redeemer University, has a background in education, and spends a lot of time thinking through intersections of discipleship, education & being faithful where we are. He loves gardening but isn't great at it, loves all things sports but isn't as good at them as he used to be, and he cares deeply about following Jesus and inspiring others to do the same.

Beth Fellinger

Beth Fellinger is a wife, mother, grandmother and foodie (party thrower). She has also been a pastor for over 40 years and has been involved in both urban and rural settings, organized churches and church plants. Beth currently holds the role of Regional Mission Leader for Resonate in Eastern Canada.  She does life at full speed and believes every day is a gift. She is a cancer survivor that lives life and honors those who didn’t get tomorrow. Her daily motto is always about moving people one step closer to Jesus than they were before. 

Lesli vanMilligen

Lesli is celebrating her 25th year in ordained ministry.  20 of those years were spent co-pastoring with her husband.  She currently works for the Christian Reformed Church  as  a Regional Catalyzer for Faith Formation Ministries in Eastern Canada, serving congregations from Winnipeg to Halifax.  She coaches congregations in their cradle to grave discipleship programming through the creation of congregational peer learning cohorts and workshop support.  A great deal of her focus is helping congregations discern how to make every engagement be intentionally faith formative while navigating a time of accelerated cultural change. Lesli has focussed a good portion of her own ministry on youth and emerging adult leadership initiatives that includes helping congregations learn how to support emerging leaders through intentional mentoring. She and Tom live in Georgetown and are the parents of 2 daughters who are teaching them about what it means to parent an emerging adult.

​Amos & Faith Shelley

Amos and Faith have been working alongside each other for nearly 18 years. They have been married for 16 years and are proud parents of three children. Amos is an ordained minister currently in transition, pursuing a career wrapped up in storytelling, writing, curriculum development, and the arts. Faith is a social worker and mental health advocate. Jesus in family is the centre of their ministry life. They are passionate about the generational church and the intersection of imagination and story through the cascade of ages.

Sara DeMoor

Sara DeMoor has been the Campus Minister with the CRC at Guelph Campus Ministry since May 2017, and has a deep appreciation for the University of Guelph and its diverse, fascinating students. Prior to joining GCM, Sara was a campus minister at the University of Toronto for 9 years. Sara enjoys deep conversations with students, extending hospitality at community dinners, collaborating with colleagues on the Multi-Faith Resource Team, and wrestling with big questions. When not on campus, Sara enjoys growing vegetables, cultivating friendships, and--while commuting to campus or washing the dishes--listening to and learning from a variety of podcasts. Sara currently lives with her husband and two children in Brantford, Ontario, and is a member and elder at Meadowlands Fellowship CRC. Her family is excited to be moving to Guelph this summer!

Josiah Bokma

Josiah has been serving as Redeemer’s chaplain since 2016 and as a part-time professor since 2018. Having worked as a missionary in Nicaragua and Uganda, he has been deeply shaped by inter-cultural friendships and experiences, as well as a variety of mentors. With a passion for theological reflection and dynamic discernment, Josiah loves to see students settle into their identity as beloved children of God, embrace a lifestyle of apprenticing to Jesus, and learn to trust the Holy Spirit’s leadership. He lives in east Hamilton with his wife Sarah and three children.  He also enjoys a strong cup of coffee, hikes, road cycling and asking good questions.  He couldn’t imagine his life or leadership without spiritual friendships! 

​Michael Fallon

Michael loves to discuss the challenges, pitfalls, and joys of life. One of the things he relishes the most - meeting students over a cup of coffee and listening to their stories. 
A lover of learning, and the University, Michael believes that all of life is sacred and that the truths that arise out of the university have their origins in the person of Jesus Christ who holds all things together. In addition to loving the Creator and His son, Michael is passionate about the creator’s beautiful but broken creation.  A mountaineer, ORCA Expedition Leader and Wilderness guide, Michael has a passion for the outdoors and enjoys introducing students to some of the beautiful places that he has discovered in his wanderings.
Michael is the Director of ‘All Things’ the CRC Ministry @ McMaster and the mentor to ‘Fully Alive’ a McMaster Men’s group.  Michael has a Ph. D from the University of Guelph and an M.A., from the University of Toronto.

Barb Van Giessen​​

Barb Van Giessen has lived in Kitchener Waterloo for the past 19 years. She is a mother to her three amazing kids, one wonderful daughter in law and 2 of the most beautiful grandkids in the world. Barb works for a not for profit called the Working Centre where she works  in the employment centre with her amazing coworkers. Barb attends The Journey church which she and her husband Adrian had a hand in starting in 2005. In her spare time, Barb loves to spend time with her family and friends, walk, read and puzzles of all sorts.