Registrations

Bishop Carla Blakley is the Bishop of the Eastern Synod of the ELCIC. Bishop Blakley (she/her) is passionate about listening leadership and ecumenical action expressed most recently in her work with Lutheran United Partnership. Prior to election as Bishop, Blakley was active across the ELCIC as the Director of Community Engagement, Fundraising and Communication for Canadian Lutheran World Relief (2017-2021) as well as an Assistant to the National Bishop of the ELCIC in Global Relations (2010– 2013). Blakley is accomplished in intersectional service having worked with ELCIC and CLWR international partners in many countries with diversely Lutheran, multi-faith and civil sector complexities. Blakley has served on many Boards and advocacy projects at federal, provincial and local levels. She has done extensive work in inclusion of the 2SLGBTIQ+ community. In addition to completing an MDIV, Bishop Blakley earned a BA and an MA in Religious Studies. She has advanced study certifications in Grief Education and Counselling from Canadian universities. Bishop Carla has served as sole pastor and in team ministry in congregations in Saskatchewan where she was also a Board of Regents Director for Luther College, University of Regina. 

Karin Achtelstetter is the CEO of Canadian Lutheran World Relief and was until recently the General Secretary, of the World Association of Christian Communication (shown here moderating the UNWomen Panel on Equality in Media, hosted by UNESCO. UN Women/Ryan Brown). 

Achtelstetter was the Deputy General Secretary and Director of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Office for Communication Services. She earned an MA in Women’s Studies (Kent) an MTh (Friedrich-Alexander University) and a certificate in Humanitarian International Strategy from Fordham University (USA). Achtelstetter was granted an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from the Academy of Ecumenical Indian Theology and Church Administration (India).

Amanda Oliver is the Head of Laurier Archives and Special Collections at Wilfrid Laurier University. Oliver holds a Master of Library and Information Science, with a concentration in archives, from McGill University, and a Master of Arts in Preventive Conservation from Northumbria University. Oliver is the recipient of the Society of American Archivists’ Preservation Publication Award - Special Commendation and the Archives Association of Ontario’s 2021 Emerging Leader Award. Laurier Archives and Special Collections holds many records documenting Lutheranism in Canada, including the records of the ELCIC National Church, its predecessors, and its Eastern Synod; Martin Luther University College and its predecessors; and the Canadian Lutheran World Relief. Oliver and the team at Laurier Archives and Special Collections acquires, preserves, and makes accessible these records for present and future researchers. 

Lisa Thiessen is the Executive Director of ELCIC Group Services and has served in this position for 22 years. Thiessen is a Member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada. Her excellence in leadership and service can be seen in publications such as the 2023 ELCIC Pension Plan Annual Report..  as well as the monthly Plan Notes: https://elcicgsi.ca/?page_id=29. Thiessen oversees the ELCIC Pension Plan Net Assets of more than $85,181,950 with complex services to 428 active members across the five ELCIC Synods. This includes responsibly sourcing socially justified,

environmentally aware and ethically sound funds. Thiessen works with a national Board of 8 members and 9 additional Financial Advisory and Consultative Boards. Through COVID Thiessen and team led a ten session virtual conference series on financial wellness. 

Kristina Kuhnert is a dedicated advocate for young adult engagement in the church, bringing a wealth of experience in community leadership and faith-based initiatives. As a panelist and moderator, she aims to amplify young voices and foster meaningful dialogue around their experiences and visions for the future of the church. A co-founder of Young Canadian Lutherans, a young adult-focused ministry initiative, Kristina is passionate about inclusivity and innovation. With a background in education, she seeks to uplift, encourage and inspire today’s generation of young leaders within the ELCIC. See  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS4LsVeiCVsQdmpPiUrgr8A and bios https://esyouth-elcic.ca/ . 

Freddy Sourial has been heavily involved in the Lutheran community ever since he moved to Canada in 2009. With just a few words, "Hi I'm Freddy from Ottawa!" on a simple shirt-sticker at national CLAY events, Sourial made it clear that he was a person anyone among the 800 registrants at the national Canadian Lutheran Anglican Youth Gatherings could talk to. JOWAEM (Jesus the Only Way Arabic Evangelical Mission) is a church that came into being for an emerging community of Arabic speaking Christians founded in 2014. Freddy and his sister Monica have been a part of the ministry since the start. They spend a lot of their time leading young adult and youth meetings alongside their involvement within the overall church. JOWAEM Christians are from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq and they worship together in the Ottawa area. JOWAEM partnered with ELCIC in 2022 where the Eastern Synod welcomed its first synodically recognized ministry.

https://elcic.ca/2022/12/22/eastern-synod-first-synodically-recognized-ministry/

 Rebecca Wong (she/her) is originally from Anishinabe territory (Ottawa). Her parents immigrated to Turtle Island from Malaysia; her mom is Bidayuh (an Indigenous people from the island of Borneo) and her dad is Hakka. Her identity has been an important factor that has shaped her academic and professional paths. She is currently in the world’s only transysstemic Indigenous Legal Orders and Canadian Common Law program  located at the University of Victoria. She previously completed her Masters of Science in Migration Studies at the University of Oxford and her Honours Bachelor of Social Sciences at the University of Ottawa. She grew up at St. Peter’s congregation in Ottawa and is now an active member at Lutheran Church of the Cross in Victoria. In her spare time, she volunteers on the Board of Directors for two non-profits: Indigenous Youth Roots (a national Indigenous youth organization) and Luther Court (a community of care providing long term care and Assisted Living services to older adults). She also loves taking her 11 lb Yorkie, Hank, on beach walks with her husband, Ben. (see https://indigenousyouthroots.ca/staff/rebecca-wong).

 Gordon Jensen is the author of three books and numerous articles, predominantly in the realm of Lutheran historical theology. His current work is The Call to Discipleship: Baptism, Vocation, and Community. In 2023 he published Experiencing Gospel: The History and Creativity of Martin Luther’s 1534 Bible Project, and in 2018 he released The Wittenberg Concord: Making Space for Dialogue. Jensen is the Emeritus William Hordern Chair in Theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary, Saskatoon, where he is currently serving as Acting President. A Festschrift in Jensen's honour was recently completed which included contributions from many Canadian Lutherans and also American colleagues Timothy J. Wengert and Martin J. Lohrmann as well as Robert Kolb who wrote the introduction to Experiencing Gospel.  

Susan Johnson was elected in 2022 to serve on the Executive Committee of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, a globally active organization of 352 Member Churches in 120 countries worldwide that represents almost 600,000 Christians. Johnson brings to this forum experiences 

as one of the first women to serve as Head of a national Church in church history and the longest serving bishop for the ELCIC. having been elected to serve four terms following her time as Vice-President of the ELCIC which began in 2001.  Johnson was nominated in 2003 to serve as President of the Lutheran World Federation.  At the 100th Anniversary of Wilfrid Laurier University, Johnson was distinguished as one of Laurier's 100 Alumni of Achievement. In 2019 Johnson was awarded a Doctor of Divinity Honoris Causa, Ecumenism, from the Atlantic School of Theology. and in 2012 Johnson was awarded an honourary doctorate from Huron University College. 

Karen Kuhnert (she/her) has been the Archivist of the Eastern Synod of the ELCIC since 2009. She is one of four Project Coordinators of the Remembering Today for the Church of Tomorrow Project in Canadian Lutheran History. Kuhnert is co-published with Adrian Jacobs in Yours, Mine, Ours in the 1492 Land Back Lane Faith Action Tool Kit. and was a Principal in the Haldimand Tract Ecumenical Partnership with Six Nations Polytechnic (see video) . Karen served on the KAIROS Indigenous Rights Circle from 2011 to 2017 and participated in Climate Change Statement writing with the WCC/CCC and Indigenous leaders in Sweden (2015) and Iceland (2017). Kuhnert served as Guest Editor to the 2023 (44:2) Consensus: A Canadian Journal of Public Theology, wrote the Tribute to the Festschrift in Honour of Gordon Jensen in 2024 and her 2SLGBTQIA+- Sexuality in Changing Canadian Lutheran Contexts and Identities  has had more than 650 downloads. 

Sherry Coman, is an ordained Deacon in the ELCIC and  an Associate Professional Faculty at Martin Luther University College, Wilfrid Laurier University. Coman serves as the founding Director of the Martin Luther University College (MLUC) Centre for Spirituality and Media and works jointly between MLUC and the Eastern Synod of the ELCIC serving as Deacon for Spirituality and Internet Outreach. To these positions, Coman brings her  experiences in teaching and leadership from Humber College and the University of Toronto. Coman earned an MTS with a focus on the New Testament (MLUC) and an MTh in the Hebrew Bible with a special focus on the Dead Sea Scrolls from Toronto School of Theology, Regis College, University of Toronto. Coman also earned an MFA in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute. Centre for Advanced Film Studies. Coman teaches courses in film, media and spirituality, and in gender justice. I am an ordained deacon in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, which came after a 30 year career in education and development, writing, and story-editing in theatre, film, fiction and digital media..