Western Canadian Leadership Summit

Kelly Carter is well known in Western Canadian Churches of Christ circles. A native Oregonian, he attended the University of Oregon before transferring to Abilene Christian University, where he completed a BSc in Psychology with a minor in Bible/Theology in 1980. He received his MA in Systematic Theology/Doctrinal Studies, also from ACU, in 1982. His thesis centred on the theology of Jürgen Moltmann.

In 1982, Kelly and Robin moved to Southern California, where he worked in youth ministry and began MDiv studies at Fuller Seminary. In 1986, Kelly became Senior Minister of the Shelbourne Street Church of Christ in Victoria, BC, which allowed him to complete his MDiv at Regent College (Vancouver). While in Victoria, Kelly coached his three children in baseball, working with two teams that competed in national and international championships.

After fifteen wonderful years at Shelbourne Street, Kelly, Robin, and their family moved to Dallas, Texas, in 2001, where Kelly began doctoral studies at Southern Methodist University. While at SMU, Kelly and Robin attended the Greenville Oaks Church of Christ (Allen, TX), where Kelly served as an elder. Those with whom Kelly worked at SMU included Bruce Marshall, William Abraham, William Babcock, and Charles Wood. His emphasis in Systematic Theology was Trinitarian theology, out of which came his dissertation, later published as The Trinity in the Stone-Campbell Movement. While in Dallas, Kelly served as an adjunct lecturer in Theology and Religion at SMU, Dallas Christian College, Northland College, and Richland College.

In 2006, Kelly and Robin returned to Canada, where Kelly served as Senior Minister of the Calgary Church of Christ. Concurrently, he served as an adjunct lecturer at Alberta Bible College and Ambrose University.

After seventeen years in Calgary, in 2023, Kelly and Robin returned to Victoria, BC, where he again serves as Senior Minister of the Shelbourne Street congregation. He also serves as a founding board member of the Vancouver Island School of Theology and the Arts.

Kelly’s theological interests include Trinitarian theology, Barth studies, Jürgen Moltmann, biblical theology, hermeneutics, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Trinitarian debates, and theological interpretation.

For over 50 years, Kelly has been an avid runner. He also enjoys hiking, fishing, and hunting.

Steve Hewko is the Director of the Canadian Institute for Empirical Church Research at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto. He works at the intersection of theology, social science, data science, and institutional practice, helping organizations understand the changing religious landscape in Canada. With backgrounds in the natural sciences and theology, he is particularly interested in how quantitative methods, including machine learning and geospatial analysis, can illuminate the contours and dynamics of religious communities across regions, traditions, and social settings.

Steve studies religion in Canada with particular attention to congregations, diaspora movements, and migration. His research and institute work support data-informed decision-making for denominations, local communities, and partner organizations responding to social and demographic change. This includes the use of large administrative and survey datasets, spatial mapping of religious presence and participation, and exploratory statistical and machine learning models to identify patterns over time.

He holds a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Alberta, a Master of Theological Studies from Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Theology from the University of St. Michael’s College. Before his academic and research work, he served in campus ministry in Canada and as a missionary in West Africa.

He is married and has three children, two of whom are currently in university. Outside of work, he is an avid chess player, enjoys a variety of team sports, and has a longstanding appreciation for heavy metal.

Mike is the Executive Director of Vision Ministries Canada (VMC), a partnering church network that plants new churches, revitalizes existing ones, and cultivates fresh missional and ecclesial imagination among those who lead them.

Vision Ministries exists to see more churches on mission and more people following Jesus, pursuing virtue, justice, and the reconciliation of all things in Christ.

Mike is a graduate of Tyndale Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary. He served as a youth pastor in Sarnia, ON; an associate pastor in Simcoe, ON; and then as lead pastor of Forestview Church in Oakville, ON, for two decades before coming to VMC in 2016.

Mike currently serves as the co-chair of Church Planting Canada, an umbrella association that fosters collaborative church planting among more than two dozen partner networks, denominations, and mission agencies.

Mike and Sharon will celebrate their fortieth wedding anniversary in May 2026. God has blessed them with three children and four grandchildren—and a few more little ones wouldn’t hurt.

When he is not at his desk, Mike enjoys the outdoors, fitness, film, fishing, architecture, theological reflection, grilling, hospitality, and travel—but mostly spending time with family.

Rev. Arch Wong, DMin, PhD, is Professor of Practical Theology at Ambrose University and Associate Director of the Flourishing Congregations Institute. He also holds a cross-appointment with the School of Education at Ambrose University.

Before coming to Ambrose, Arch pastored a thriving Chinese Alliance church for 10 years. His current research focuses on discipleship and spiritual formation, pastoral care, religious transmission, flourishing congregations, pastoral and teacher well-being, qualitative and quantitative research methodologies for practical theology and education, and Western, Indigenous, and Asian epistemologies.

He is an enthusiastic sports fan of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, as well as an avid road cyclist.

5:00 pm - Registration Opens

6:30 pm - Welcome

7:00 pm - Restoration: Meanings for Canadians Today | Dr. Kelly Carter (Senior Pastor, Shelbourne Street Church of Christ)

8:00 pm - THE CHURCH THE WORLD NEEDS: FOUR ECCLESIAL SHIFTS
I. An Empowered Church - From Comfort to Courage | Mike Stone (Executive Director, Vision Ministries Canada)

        Worship — Pete Justine & Jonathan Straker

9:00 pm - Coffee 

8:00 am - Breakfast 

9:00 am - THE CHURCH THE WORLD NEEDS: FOUR ECCLESIAL SHIFTS
II. A Humble Church - From Competition to Collaboration | Mike Stone, (Executive Director, Vision Ministries Canada)

        Worship — Pete Justine & Jonathan Straker

10:15 am - Coffee 

10:45 am - Dynamics of Growth and Decline in the Canadian Church | Dr. Stephen Hewko (Director, Canadian Institute for Empirical Church Research, Wycliffe College)

12:00 pm - Lunch

1:00 pm - Flourishing Church: Characteristics and the Stories They Tell | Rev. Arch Wong (Associate Director, Flourishing Congregations Institute, Professor of Practical Theology, Ambrose University)

2:15 pm - Coffee 

2:45 pm - Flourishing Church: Developing the Next Generation of Leaders | Rev. Arch Wong (Associate Director, Flourishing Congregations Institute, Professor of Practical Theology, Ambrose University)

4:00 pm - Free Time

6:00 pm - Dinner

        Good News of New Things | Cal Hultgren, Associate Pastor, Bow Valley Christian

7:15 pm - THE CHURCH THE WORLD NEEDS: FOUR ECCLESIAL SHIFTS
III. A Discerning Church - From Religion to Renewal | Mike Stone (Executive Director, Vision Ministries Canada)

        Worship — Pete Justine & Jonathan Straker

8:15 pm - Dessert & Voices of Experience Panel | Moderator: Rick Scruggs (Vice President, Lifeline)

8:00 am - Continental Breakfast

        Good News of Good Things | Rick Scruggs

8:45 am - THE CHURCH THE WORLD NEEDS: FOUR ECCLESIAL SHIFTS
IV. A Relevant Church - From Power to Priesthood | Mike Stone (Executive Director, Vision Ministries Canada)

        Worship — Pete Justine & Jonathan Straker

10:00 am - Flourishing Church Prays | Cory Pytlarz (Academic Dean, Alberta Bible College)

11:15 am - Brunch