Emmanuel Faculty

Education

• PhD, Curriculum, Teaching & Learning, University of Toronto, 2024
• MEd, Adult Education & Community Development, University of Toronto, 2020
• BEd, Adult Education, Brock University, 2017

Contact

Email: laurena.brown@utoronto.ca

Lauren Brown is a scholar-practitioner working in the field of post-secondary student mental health and well-being. Her scholarly interests include narrative research, contemplative pedagogy and teaching mental health literacy in the university classroom. Brown has been recognized by the University of Toronto for excellence in research through the Inlight Student Mental Health Research Fellowship and for her contributions to the institution through the Exemplary University of Toronto Ambassador Award.

Brown began her work at the University of Toronto's Multi-Faith Centre, where she led Canada's most comprehensive campus mindfulness and yoga programming. She has led full-day retreats on campus, worked with the varsity football and soccer teams and taught mindfulness and meditation within and beyond the classroom.

Brown also developed several student training programs, including MindFIT, a mindfulness facilitator-in-training program, and the Mental Health Foundations Certificate. Before joining the University of Toronto, she taught mental health literacy in public schools, health-care settings and the private sector. Brown currently works in Health & Wellness and teaches at both Emmanuel College and Victoria College.

Courses Taught

• EMP3547: Mindfulness-Based Modalities for Spiritual Care and Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy

Education

• PhD, Theology, St. Mary's University, London, U.K.
• Doctor of Ministry, Homiletics, McCormick Seminary, University of Chicago
• MTh, St. Stephen's College, University of Alberta
• MDiv, McGill University
• BTh (Honours), McGill University
• BA, Laurentian University

Contact

Email: jeff.crittenden@utoronto.ca

Jeffrey Crittenden is assistant professor of homiletics at Huron University. A scholar, pastor and author, his teaching and research explore preaching, pilgrimage and lived expressions of faith. Drawing on decades of experience in pastoral ministry, theological education and leadership within The United Church of Canada, Crittenden brings a practical perspective to theology and spiritual formation.

Crittenden is a founding director of the Centre for Practical Theology, where he serves as director of pilgrimage studies. He also serves St. Andrew's United Church in Toronto, and teaches and lectures internationally. His ministry and scholarship have been recognized through numerous leadership appointments, awards and publications.

Teaching and Research Interests

• Homiletics
• Pilgrimage studies
• Missional theology
• First- and second-century Christian communities
• Monastic studies
• Leisure studies

Selected Publications

• Leisure Bound and Free: Communities of the Pilgrim. Cascade, 2026.
• Leisure Resurrected: Rekindling the Fire of Early Christian Communities. Pickwick, 2023.
• "On the Road Again (Homiletics)," Touchstone, 2024.

Professional Leadership and Service

• Director of pilgrimage studies, Centre for Practical Theology (2025–present)
• Co-founder, Crittenden Pilgrimage Bursary, UCC Foundation (2025–present)
• Educational supervisor, The United Church of Canada (2021–present)
• Graduate thesis supervisor, Western University (2019–present)
• Director, Centre for Practical Theology (2015–present)
• Executive member, Leisure Studies Association, U.K. (2023–present)
• Full member, Leisure Studies Association, U.K. (2019–present)
• Full member, Academy of Homiletics (2013–present)
• Member and chair, Board of Directors, UCC Foundation (2013–2019)
• President, London Conference (2014–2015)
• President, Hamilton Conference (2009–2010)

Awards

• Davidson Award for Research and Teaching in Theology (2020)

Courses Taught

Huron University

• HOMILET 5204A-550: Theory and Practice of Preaching
• HOMILET 5305B-550: Advanced Homiletics
• PASTORAL THEOLOGY 5236A: Independent Study: Missional Preaching

Licentiate in Theology Diploma Program

• Sacred Texts 270 / Worship 270: Preaching the Parables of Jesus
• Sacred Texts 370 / Worship 370: Preaching the Parables of Jesus
• Sacred Texts 300 / Worship 300: Jesus and Paul: The Gospel's Power in the Roman Empire
• Spiritual Formation 310: The History of Christian Pilgrimage
• Spiritual Formation 320: Christian Pilgrimage Practicum
• Worship 125: The Preacher's Handbook: An Introduction to Homiletics
• Worship 402: United Church of Canada Worship, Presiding I
• Worship 403: United Church of Canada Preaching
• Worship 404: United Church of Canada Worship, Presiding Part II (Training for Sacramental Elders)

St. Stephen's College

• SS345: Theology and Church History
• SS335: Worship and the Art of Preaching

Education

• Doctor of Ministry, St. Stephen's Theological College
• Master of Divinity, Queen's Theological College

Rev. Dr. Kathy Edmison is a CASC Certified Specialist in Pastoral Care and a Teaching Supervisor. She is ordained with The United Church of Canada and serves as a member of the CASC Professional Practice Commission.

Edmison has extensive experience in pastoral care, having served as a military chaplain, hospital chaplain at Sunnybrook and Bridgepoint Health and in United Church congregations in Saskatchewan and Ontario. Her work reflects a commitment to spiritual care, education and supporting individuals through times of transition and challenge.

Education

• PhD, History, University of Saskatchewan
• MDiv, Emmanuel College, Victoria University in the University of Toronto
• MA, St. Michael's University
• BA, University of Toronto

Contact

Email: david.kimcragg@utoronto.ca

David Kim-Cragg is a historian, educator and ordained minister whose research explores intercultural encounters within Christianity, particularly the relationship between Canadian and Korean churches. He completed his PhD in history at the University of Saskatchewan, specializing in modern East Asian history with additional research in Indigenous and Canadian history.

Kim-Cragg is the author of Water from Dragon's Well: The History of a Korean-Canadian Church Relationship (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2022), which received the Book Prize from the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion for an outstanding first monograph in religious studies published in the previous three years. His research examines the Canadian church's early mission to Korea and the influence of Korean Christian leadership on The United Church of Canada.

His other research interests include historical intercultural encounters involving The United Church of Canada and its predecessors. Kim-Cragg has published articles in Touchstone, Historical Papers and the Journal of World Christianity, as well as book chapters for a variety of projects. He is a contributor to Broadview Magazine and a member of the Canadian Society for Church History and the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion.

Kim-Cragg serves as an ordained minister at St. Matthew's United Church in Richmond Hill. He is passionate about teaching that draws on the diverse expertise and experiences of learners and encourages shared exploration of faith and discovery.

Teaching and Research Interests

• Modern East Asian history
• Canadian religious history
• Intercultural encounters in Christianity
• Korean-Canadian church history
• The United Church of Canada and its predecessors
• Faith, history and community engagement

Education

• PhD, Religious Studies, McMaster University, 2024
• MA, Archaeology, Peking University, 2010

Lan Li is a scholar of Buddhism and East Asian religions whose research explores Buddhist material culture, patronage and religious practices in medieval China. She received her PhD in religious studies from McMaster University, specializing in Buddhism and East Asian religions. Trained in both religious studies and archaeology, Li examines the intersections of funerary practices, gender and family in Chinese religions through the study of donative epigraphy and Buddhist sites.

Li's current research project focuses on stone inscriptions and archaeological sites in Luoyang, using material evidence to reconstruct the religious and social lives of Buddhist practitioners and trace the development of Chinese Buddhism during the Tang dynasty.

Since 2024, Li has been a sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto, teaching courses on Buddhism and material religion at the Mississauga and Scarborough campuses. She previously worked as an archaeologist for eight years, conducting research and excavations at Buddhist sites in China and studying Buddhist funerary practices. From 2023 to 2024, she was a BDK-funded visiting student at Kyoto University.

Li has published peer-reviewed articles and presented her research at international conferences and workshops. She is co-editor of the Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies and a research affiliate with the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Toronto.

Teaching and Research Interests

• Buddhism and East Asian religions
• Buddhist material culture
• Medieval Chinese Buddhism
• Religious archaeology
• Donative epigraphy
• Gender, family and funerary practices in Chinese religions

Sparrow (Amy) Panton (they/them) is a practical theologian working at the intersections of theology, Mad Studies and disability justice. They are the author of Soul Care for Self-Injury: Theological Reflection and Spiritual Care Strategies (Mad & Crip Theology Press, 2024) and Mad Practical Theology: Unearthing Voices from Psychiatric Archives (SCM Press, forthcoming 2026).

Panton's recent work includes "Radical Re-Visioning through Mad Studies: Advancing Mad-Justice in Faith Communities" in Disrupting Stories and Images of the Church: Honoring Voices with Lived Experience of Disability (Bloomsbury Academic, 2026) and "Palimpsestic Theology: A Method for Engaging Psychiatric Archives in Practical Theology" in the International Journal of Practical Theology (2026).

At Emmanuel College, Panton teaches in the areas of spiritual care, Mad Studies and disability studies.

Teaching and Research Interests

• Practical theology
• Mad Studies
• Disability studies
• Spiritual care

Education

• Doctorate in Worship, Drew University
• Master of Divinity, Atlantic School of Theology
• Bachelor's in Music, Western University

The Rev. Dr. Alydia Smith is a Jamaican-Canadian from Scarborough, Ont. She is a network coordinator at the General Council Office of The United Church of Canada, where she supports Worship, Music and Spirituality ministries.

Smith is a worship leader, educator, caregiver and mother. She completed her doctorate in worship at Drew University under the mentorship of Donald Hilliard and Leonard Sweet. Her vocational calling is to "equip the saints for the work of ministry" (Ephesians 4:12) by empowering individuals to use their unique gifts in service of Christ's ministry and by building anti-oppressive worship environments.

In 2019, Smith was a guest panellist at the United Nations on the topic of "Addressing the negative racial stereotypes and stereotyping of people of African descent." An article she co-wrote, "Black Jesus Matters," received an Associated Church Press Award in 2021. She has also written numerous popular curricula and serves as managing editor for multiple United Church Publishing House publications, including Bless, Break, Share: Recipes for Faithful Living (2025) and the United Church of Canada's hymnal supplement Then Let Us Sing!.