Inaugural Conference on March 21-22, 2011
Purpose: The Asian Mission in Canada Inaugural Conference ventures to look at the church’s struggles and challenges within a post-modern permissive society in the Canadian context. Taking the Chinese Canadian church as an example, we attempt to understand the unique pastoral issues involved and to envision a future for Asian Canadian Christianity. This conference works towards three objectives:
- To establish a platform for ecumenical dialogue, particularly on Asian Canadian pastoral concerns;
- To foster fellowship and trust among Asian and non-Asian churches, such that we create a safe space for speaking and hearing one another in love;
- To develop a wider theological perspective in understanding the unique struggles and pastoral concerns of the Asian Canadian churches, attempting to envision a future for Asian Canadian Christianity.
Topic: Discerning the Contemporary Culture: Challenges and Christian Ministry in a Permissive Age
By Rev. Dr. Brian Stiller
- Discerning Contemporary Culture: Challenges & Christian Ministry in a Permissive Age
- The Battle Between Gospel and Culture – A Canadian Scenario
By Rev. Ken Shigematsu
- Is There a Future for Canadian Churches? Can We Remain Faithful to the Gospel and Engage Our Postmodern Culture?
By Mr. Daniel Komori
- Workshop: Internet Pornography – Coming to Grips with the Epidemic
By Rev. Warren Lai
- Is There a Future for Chinese Canadian Churches? Roadblocks and Challenges
- Is There a Future for Chinese Canadian Churches? Our Response
By Rev. Dr. David Pao
- Culture and Text: The Future of Expository Preaching in the Chinese Churches
- Biblical View of the Family and the Household of God
Bios of the Speakers
Rev. Dr. Brian C. Stiller
Rev. Dr. Brian C. Stiller
President of Tyndale University College & Seminary (1995 to 2009). Founder and former editor-in-chief of Canada’s national magazine, Faith Today. Former president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
Brian Stiller was raised in a minister’s home on the Prairies. Educated at the University of Toronto (BA in History), Wycliffe College (Master of Religion), and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Doctor of Ministry), he has received honorary doctorates from Briercrest College and Trinity Western University.
During the 1960s, Stiller set out to work with youth, first in Montreal as director of Youth for Christ, then Toronto YFC, and finally as national president of Youth for Christ.
From 1983 to 1997 his leadership as president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada gave him national profile as a voice for people of biblical faith. By way of weekly television, publishing a national magazine, authoring a number of books and public speaking, increasingly his opinions and views on issues of moral concern were sought.
Brian served as President of Tyndale University College & Seminary from 1995 to 2009. Tyndale is the oldest standing institution of its kind in Canada, serving some 1200 students.
Stiller is founder and former editor-in-chief of Canada’s national magazine, Faith Today. He hosts a weekly commentary, You’ve Got Mail, on the national television program, 100 Huntley Street. He is the author of ten books. The most recent are Preaching Parables to Postmoderns (2005), published by Fortress Press; Jesus and Caesar: Christians in the Public Square (2003), published by Castle Quay Books Canada; What Happens When I Die? (2001), published by HarperCollins; When Life Hurts: A Three-Fold Path to Healing (1999), and From the Tower of Babel to Parliament Hill (1997).
Warren Lai
Rev. Warren Lai
Senior Pastor, Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church, Ontario, Canada
Adjunct Professor of Pastoral & Chinese Ministry, & the Director of Hudson Taylor Centre for Chinese Ministries, Tyndale University College & Seminary, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Rev. Lai has been a pastor-teacher. He has taught at the Evangel Theological College, OBC – OTS, and McMaster Divinity College. He considers this dual role as both an opportunity to summarize, reflect on, and refine what he has been practicing, and also an opportunity to put theories in the classroom through the crucibles of real-world practice.
Rev. Lai has a broad spectrum of experience in Pastoral ministry: church planting consultant (Mississauga CBC, Tuen Mun EFC, Markham CBC, and Pickering CBC), equipping specialist (Toronto Chinese Alliance Church), and missionary (with the Evangelical Free Church of North America). He has served on the board of many organizations, including the Council of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. Since returning to Canada in 1986, he has been the senior pastor of a multi-congregational church (Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church)—a ‘traditional’ church that can change and adopt quite a few ‘ahead of the curve’ ideas.
Rev. Dr. David W. Pao
Rev. Dr. David W. Pao
Associate Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, USA
David W. Pao (PhD Harvard University) is Chair and Associate of Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. His recent publications include Acts and the Isaianic New Exodus (2000), Thanksgiving: An Investigation of a Pauline Theme (2002), Early Christian Voices: In Texts, Traditions, and Symbols (coeditor, 2003), and Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, 2 vols. (2008, 2009). He is involved in a number of Bible translation projects. He is also the New Testament editor of the Tien Dao Bible Commentary series and the consulting editor of the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary series.
Rev. Ken Shigematsu
Senior Pastor, Tenth Church, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Ken Shigematsu is the senior pastor of Tenth Avenue Church, a large multi-ethnic church in the heart of Vancouver, British Columbia. Drawing on both eastern and western leadership philosophies with a penchant for risk-taking, Ken is a unique figure as a senior pastor. He has participated in teaching missions in North America, Europe, and Asia. A global thinker, he serves as a trustee for World Vision. Prior to entering full-time ministry, Ken worked for the Sony Corporation in Tokyo. He is married to Sakiko and they are parents of a young son, Joe.
Mr. Daniel Komori
Living Waters Canada
A graduate of Regent College, Daniel is Director of Living Waters Calgary. Previously, he served for three years as Director for Living Waters Coastal Region. Daniel has also travelled to the Philippines, Latvia and Hong Kong to train Living Waters leaders, and has spoken at numerous seminars about the nature of sexual addiction and its impact on families, marriages and churches. Daniel and his wife, Tanya, have two children.
Co-Sponsored by: Regent College Anglican Studies Program. Carey Theological College & Carey Institute. Hudson Taylor Center for Chinese Ministries at Tyndale University College & Seminary. Vancouver Chinese Evangelical Ministerial Fellowship
Publications
AMiC Inaugural Conference 2011 Booklet