Biography

I am a west coast boy from Chilliwack BC. I was raised in a loving Christian home by parents who have a heart for Jesus. My parents modelled their faith through dedicated service at our church (Christ Lutheran). God used Camp Luther in Mission BC to vitalize my faith and form my heart for ministry. It was there where I started to recognize a call to ministry and was introduced to CLBI.

After attending CLBI (1990-92), I have been privileged to serve as Youth Director at Messiah Lutheran Camrose (1992-95), Program Director at Camp Luther (1996-2002), Director of Communications and Leadership Program at CLBI (2002-2006), and Pastor at Resurrection Lutheran Camrose (2006-2017).

I trained at CLBI (BTS), ACTS Seminary (MA), and at the Lutheran Brethren Seminary through which I received my Ordination.

I have been married for 22 years. My family includes my wife, Kim (also a CLBI alumnus), two sons (Luke and James), two daughters (Sonja and Julia), and two dogs (Duke and Daisy).

My history with CLBI is lengthy and has included my son Luke, graduating from CLBI this past April and includes my wife’s grandmother attending CLBI in 1932 (its first year).

I love outdoor activities such as canoeing, all types of skiing, and cycling. I sold my car a while back and bike year round. There is nothing that makes me feel more alive than biking with studded tires and ski goggles in a -25 snow storm.

Why are you excited to take on the president role at CLBI?

Friends, the body of Christ in Canada is living in very unsettling times. I want it to be clear, that while I am excited (and intimidated) to take on this new role, more importantly, I believe God has called me to continue helping CLBI to equip, mobilize, and send out disciples. The church needs disciples that will help it not to simply survive, but thrive, in this unfamiliar land in which we find ourselves. I am excited to see students be able to use God’s word to disciple others.

What is your dream for CLBI?

In short, my dream is to see CLBI produce disciples that are equipped, commissioned, and supported in creating missional communities in the local church. God has used CLBI in profound ways to deepen my faith and strengthen the church.

I love the methods CLBI is using to make disciples: Christian community led by an incredible staff, week-long intensive classes, one on one/small group mentoring, wilderness experiences, and powerful ministry experiences. I want to build on that foundation by helping the school to be more intentional in engaging the outside world with the gospel. Yes, this will mean a partial popping of the bubble that CLBI is known for. This will be accomplished by discipling the staff to more intentionally embrace the mission fields they currently live in, whether that be internationals living in Camrose, a local sports community, the food bank, an elementary school, or even the people in each of their neighborhoods. The D-group ministry of CLBI (missional communities) will be focused on supporting that mission. This won’t happen overnight. It will take time to create room in the program to enable staff to accomplish this.

Eventually, as students leave CLBI, we will develop a network to support them in creating missional communities that are connected to the local body of Christ.

Down the road I want CLBI to be positioned to help revitalize churches and plant new ones. I love the local church and their pastors, and I want these students to as well.

Thanks for praying with me and our family to this end!

— Dean