Biographical sketches of candidates for Moderator for 136th General Assembly
Jonathan Dent (B.A., M.T.S., S.T.M., Ph.D.)
Jonathan Dent has ministered in congregations in Aylmer, Quebec; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Cornwall, Ontario; Nelson and Armstrong, British Columbia; and currently is the minister at St. David’s Church in St. John’s, Newfoundland. He participated as part of the denomination’s leadership with six year terms on the Church Doctrine Committee and the Assembly Council. Jonathan has also served as clerk in the Presbyteries of Kootenay and Kamloops and is currently the clerk of the Presbytery of Newfoundland. He studied at Regent College, Vancouver School of Theology and Presbyterian College. He has served in church leadership since 1981 as an assistant to the minister in Fairview, Vancouver. He was ordained a ruling elder in 1983 in Aylmer and was representative elder to the Presbytery of Ottawa. He was ordained in 1988 to the Ministry of Word and Sacraments in Vancouver. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Ottawa, where he taught Religious Studies in French. His thesis work there was on the dialogue between theology and psychology.
Jonathan enjoys the inter-church prayer group of which he is a part. He has been an officer or president of ministerials in several cities. He has led the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in several venues and believes there is much we can learn from the wider body of Christ. He believes in the power of small groups in both the church and the community.
He has been married to Lynn for 28 years, and they have two daughters, Alexandra and Stacy. He enjoys playing the alto sax and other instruments, particularly in worship.
Patricia Dutcher-Walls (B.A., M.Div., Th.D.)
Patricia Dutcher-Walls serves as Dean of Students and Professor of Hebrew Bible at the Vancouver School of Theology in association with St. Andrew’s Hall. She began her work at VST in 2004, after having taught Old Testament/Hebrew Scripture at Knox College in Toronto from 1995 to 2004. She was originally ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and was accepted as a minister in The Presbyterian Church in Canada in 1995. She holds a M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School and a Th.D. from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.
Pat is a passionate and enthusiastic teacher who is much admired and appreciated by all those who have been in her classes, whether theological students in seminary or lay persons who have attended any of the numerous workshops, conferences or lectures at which she has spoken. Her passion is for intelligent and well-informed study of the Bible, both in the colleges and in the congregations of the church. Her goal is to help people become informed, faithful and passionate interpreters of Scripture. She has written three books, two major Bible study curricula, plus numerous articles, papers and book reviews, both for academic and church publications.
Pat has always been an active participant in her local church, as well as a committed member of boards and committees in the wider church. She currently serves as the convener of the Hummingbird Ministries Council of Presbytery of Westminster, and she formerly served for seven years on the Board of Directors of Evangel Hall in Toronto, and as president of that board from 2002-2004. She was a valued member of the Committee on Church Doctrine for 11 years.
Pat is married to Tim, a Lutheran pastor, and they have two children, Ruthie and Wes.
Herbert Gale (A.B., M.Th., D.Min.)
Herb Gale, born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, was an active member of Myers Park Presbyterian Church. Upon graduating from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, he served his home congregation as youth director before entering Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. After receiving his D.Min. from Union Seminary, Herb was called to Shelby Presbyterian Church in North Carolina as associate minister. From Shelby, Herb attended the Toronto School of Theology where he received a M.Th. in the area of spirituality.
In 1984, Herb was called to St. James Church in Stouffville, Ontario. While there, Herb met his wife, Shirley, who is also a Presbyterian minister. From Stouffville, the Gales were called, in 1993, to serve as co-pastors of Westminster-St. Paul’s Church in Guelph, Ontario, where they still reside. In June 2004, Herb accepted the position of Associate Secretary for Planned Giving for The Presbyterian Church in Canada. In this work, he travels across Canada helping congregations develop vital planned giving ministries that are integrated into their theology of stewardship and their vision of ministry.
Herb has previously served on the Worship Advisory Committee when it produced The Book of Common Worship in 1991 and the Stewardship Advisory Committee when the Stewards by Design Conferences were initiated. He is a frequent retreat leader and conference speaker. He has been the worship leader for three Stewards by Design Conferences, the worship co-ordinator for Canada Youth 2003, and the worship leader and chaplain for three national Clerks’ Consultations. Having deep passion for stewardship and spiritual growth and development, he has a breadth of knowledge in congregational ministry having served congregations from 75 to 3,000 members, both urban and rural, over the past 25 years; and he is well aware of the possibilities and challenges of congregational life. A pastor at heart and a Canadian Presbyterian by conviction, Herb is convinced that an intentional focus on planned giving can help provide an additional source of funding for the church at every level to realize its dreams and to expand its ministry for generations to come.
