Born in Toronto, I have lived across Canada but call New Brunswick home. It is in the Maritimes where I pursued my formal education graduating from Mount Alison University with a BA Honours in Religious Studies (2006), and from Atlantic School of Theology (AST) twice, with an MTS (2009) and an MDiv (2021). My faith journey, like my living experience, has taken me to many locations. Name a denomination and I have probably attended one of its worship services. I grew up with a strong personal faith in and relationship with God and Christ, however, it was not until my undergraduate experience that I first began to attend church regularly. It is because of the chapel program at Mount Allison University and the community of Sackville United Church that I began to trust in the church and the power of the church to have a positive impact on my life.
As I continued to pursue my academic studies through AST and then later the Toronto School of Theology, I found myself at a crossroads. It is in Toronto I discovered my eventual home church, Glebe Road United. It is their welcome, along with the former Youth at Toronto Conference program that helped me hear God’s call to ordained ministry. For me, youth ministry is ministry.
One of my other passions is creating art and in particular welding my art to my ministry and theology. If there are any constants in my life, it is art and my faith. I was always the child that had the box of 64 crayons – and still do as an adult. Creating art is a deeply spiritual and theological practice for me. For art to be art it requires a relationship, it requires another person to view the art. Just as the God I believe in is deeply relational, three distinct persons yet one, drawing the scriptures invites me into a relationship with the Bible and God in a new way. You can check out my website godflinger.com and my blog #DrawingTheWord where I share my original art inspired by scripture along with a short commentary.
You can also follow me on Instagram @rev_cyn where I post all of my original art.