News

Marv Franz & Toni Kim | Committee Co-Chairs; Board Members

We affirm Paul’s call to Regent and his vision for Regent to provide theological education that equips the people of God for the opportunities and challenges of our times. The world needs what Regent offers more than ever, and we see Paul’s leadership as the right fit for leading the College in the years ahead.

We are impressed with Paul’s love for Christ and the church, his personal faith commitment and integrity, and his relational approach to leadership. We see a strong track record of success and effectiveness in his role as Academic Dean, through which he has contributed to an atmosphere of stability, unity, and focus. Paul has academic depth and credibility as a scholar combined with a deep affection for students, consistently demonstrating interest in both their intellectual growth and spiritual formation. In him, we see a leader who will help Regent College to shape the next generation of students for service globally in God’s kingdom.

Mika Keats | Director of Human Resources

I fully support the candidacy of Dr. Paul Spilsbury for the President of Regent College, and I am very pleased to have been part of the search committee that recommended him. It has been my sincere honour to work with Paul for over nine years in his role as Academic Dean, and I truly believe God has called him to lead in the role of President.

Paul has all of the competencies required to lead Regent College, and these have been demonstrated throughout the search process. He is a humble, collaborative, and prayerful leader who inspires faculty and staff. He has a heart for students and is strongly aligned with the mission, vision, and values of Regent. He is an eloquent speaker, but is also very warm and relational, with an established rapport with students, staff, faculty, and Board. He is a thought leader and a mentor, a respected academic and a strong pastoral presence in our community. He is winsome and joyful, with the ability to remain calm during challenging times. It is obvious that Paul has a vibrant life with God and that he wants to share that with others. Paul has prayerfully journeyed with Regent over the decades since his time as a student here, and he has continued to do this throughout this process.

Dr. Ross Hastings | Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology

Throughout the search process, Paul’s interview responses were convincing and winsome, life-giving and characterized by a sense of joy.

Paul’s final interview led the search committee to the conclusion that Paul has both visionary ideas and the ability to operationalize and bring vision to fruition. Paul will hit the ground running with his existing insight into student enrollment and College finances. He has a good rapport with the Board, who know him well, and we believe his personality and character will commend him to Regent’s donors and supporters.

Paul is a person of undoubted virtue and character, and also courage. He entered his role as Academic Dean at a time when the College was experiencing profound challenges, and he offered remarkable leadership throughout the recovery process.

Paul has academic credibility in intertestamental and New Testament studies and showed theological depth in his theological interview. Paul has a great deal of experience in multicultural, multi-ethnic contexts, not least as an international student, and has good cultural sensitivity. Paul is engaged strongly at Tenth Church, which is part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. He regularly leads a weekly Bible study attended by up to 60 people. The pastoral aspects of the presidency will be strong in Paul. With respect to educational philosophy, Paul “values the gold of embodied, communal learning.”

Paul has, throughout this process, shown a steady and growing sense of a call to this role. Paul has a vibrant life with God, including being under spiritual direction.

Dr. Brittany N. Melton | Associate Professor of Old Testament

Paul’s nuanced and insightful thought, eloquence of speech, and love for God and Regent make him an excellent presidential candidate. His steady and caring demeanour set the tone well for the College. His academic work models the rigour for which Regent has been known, and his service of the church echoes the historic heart of the College for the global church. I firmly believe Paul will lead us into a fresh season of focused and joyful commitment to equipping students for holistic service to Christ throughout the world.

Eunice Sunmie Derksen | MATS Student; former Regent College Student Association President (2023–24)

Paul exemplifies both tenacity and humility. With conviction, faith, and wisdom, Paul has stepped into leadership opportunities in challenging situations because of his deep commitment to the gospel and the shaping power of theological education for God’s people. In all his work (including his scholarship) he brings a tenacity, while being anchored in the life of Christ, knowing he is dependent upon the Lord and that all his work is for the Lord.

Paul also brings a steady, resilient, and purposeful spirit. In a culture that overvalues rapid change, Regent needs to focus its efforts while employing wise creativity to interpret and solve for the shifting contexts that impact the institution’s ability to flourish. Paul understands the nuances of the opportunities and challenges for Regent’s near and long-term future. He has demonstrated his ability to be an effective collaborative leader, while also exercising decisiveness to give people clarity of vision and guidance.

Paul understands the heritage and distinctives of Regent, loves the mission of Regent, and is energized by the work that is needed to further the mission of Regent. It is evident that throughout this process, Paul has demonstrated a growing sense of call to this role at Regent College.

Rev. Dr. Raymond C. Aldred | Director of Indigenous Studies Program,
Vancouver School of Theology

I have known Paul as a professor, as a dean, and as a friend. Paul will do a wonderful job as the next president of Regent College. Paul has never been afraid of embracing difficult situations because he cares about people and about Church. Paul always was open to hearing from me as an Indigenous person and was open to let me express Christian theology in Indigenous terms. He has always been an ally of mine, seeking to make room for a diverse set of voices to be heard. I look forward to seeing the difference Paul will continue to make in Christian higher education because he is a person of character and conviction.

Roger Laing | Former Chair, Regent College Board of Governors

Paul Spilsbury is a servant of Jesus Christ. In his tenure as Dean at Regent College, Paul has demonstrated a capacity to listen until it hurts and has acted boldly to strengthen relationships, programs, and faculty so that Regent College continues to prepare men and women to live thoughtful and faithful lives in the many places that God has called them to serve. I am delighted that we will have Paul as our president in the years ahead.

Dan Matheson | Alumnus (MDiv, '09); Site Pastor, Tenth Church West Side

What a delight to hear that Paul Spilsbury will be the next president of Regent College. His passion for theological education and his dedication to fostering Christ-centred community will help lead the school into a bright future. I’m confident that his wisdom and passion will help inspire a generation of faithful and equipped leaders for the church and the world.

Gordon T. Smith | Executive Director, Christian Higher Education Canada

It is a good day for Regent College as we celebrate the appointment of Dr. Paul Spilsbury as the president-elect. He will continue the superb tradition of exceptional leadership that the College has known over the past 50 years. My commendations to the Board who did their due diligence in the search for a successor to President Greenman; and most of all my congratulations to Paul: Joella and I are so very pleased to see him move into this role in an institution that has such a strategic influence in global Christianity.

Shaila Visser | Former Member, Regent College Board of Governors; National Director, Alpha Canada

During my term on the Board, I was always impressed with Paul’s leadership qualities, his commitment to the College, and his genuine appreciation of the College's history while remaining adaptable for the season it finds itself in. Students, alumni, and those that love Regent: be encouraged, the College is in great hands.

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A Conversation with Paul

Tell us a little about your background.

I was born and raised in South Africa and came to Canada as an international student in 1984. After completing my undergraduate and master’s degrees in Alberta and British Columbia, respectively, I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge. After that, I lived and worked in Saskatchewan and Alberta for a combined 21 years before returning to Vancouver. Thanks to sabbaticals, I have also had the opportunity to live in Wales and Israel for extended periods.

Denominationally, I came to faith in a Baptist church in South Africa, and for the last thirty years have been a member of churches in the Christian and Missionary Alliance.

What draws you to the opportunity to lead Regent College?

I love Regent College: its mission, its history, its people, and its potential. Regent has profoundly impacted my life and that of my family—and I have seen the enormous influence for good it has had on so many others as well. It was here in the late ’80s that Bronwyn and I received an expanded view of the relevance of the gospel for all of life and for all spheres of knowledge and human endeavour. And this vision is more important now than ever.

What are your hopes for the future of Regent College?

We live in times of upheaval and disintegration on many fronts. The church is beleaguered on all sides, and God’s people in all vocations are crying out for integrated and holistic training in Scripture and formation in the deep truths of the gospel and the Christian tradition. My deep desire for Regent is that we will flourish and grow in a new season of effective ministry and worldwide impact. The story of Regent College is one of faithfulness to a call to nurture all God’s people in all occupations and from all parts of the world. This vision resonates strongly within me, and I’m excited to be a part of the College at such a pivotal time in its history.

What’s something you’ve learned from Regent students that has impacted your intellectual or spiritual life?

When I was a student at Regent, I was amazed to find myself learning alongside people of enormously different educational and professional backgrounds, and from many different churches and parts of the world. The richness of that experience is at the heart of God’s call for the College, and I regard it as a profound privilege to lead the College into an even deeper and more far-reaching realization of this call. The thing that has always struck me about Regent students is their deep seriousness about their faith and their joyful determination to bring all of their lives into the sphere of the Lordship of Jesus.

For you, what makes Regent different from other theological graduate schools?

Regent’s integrative curriculum, with the arts, marketplace theology, and interdisciplinary studies being taught and studied alongside the foundational subjects of Bible, theology, and history. It’s a vision that sees all of life as being within the purview of the gospel.

Regent is also set apart by its exceptional faculty comprised of stellar scholars, teachers, and leaders who delight in their vocation to impart rigorous, inspiring learning and rooted spiritual formation.

The dedicated staff team and Regent’s loyal worldwide community of donors and prayer supporters who love and care for the College all combine to keep it vibrant, relevant, and viable. I’m grateful to be a part of such a beautiful fellowship with such an inspiring mission.

What’s something you’ve learned through working in your academic specialty that has shaped your everyday thinking or experience?

My study of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, and the experience of Jews within the Roman empire in antiquity, constantly reminds me of the importance of history. As those who believe in the incarnation and whose faith is tethered to very specific events like the death and resurrection of Jesus, we realize over and over again that historical events matter and that lives lived within ordinary history are deeply important and meaningful.

How do you hope to see Regent grow as a community? 

Regent’s mission is to cultivate commitment to Christ in all spheres of life and in people from all around the world. We are committed to a pedagogy of the formation of persons in Christ—and that takes time. There is no shortcut to a deeply formed life lived in relationship with Jesus and his called people. Theological education is a necessarily slow process that requires deep intentionality and focus. This means that we must continue to offer courses and programs that invite students to come away from their ordinary lives for a while to immerse themselves in life-changing learning.

What’s something you’ve learned from scholars working from a very different perspective from your own?

Each discipline is like a world of its own with its own language and culture. Listening to people who have been formed in different disciplines helps you to see your work in a very different light.

What’s your favourite thing about Vancouver?

I love the beauty of nature on the west coast, which I love to paint in watercolours. You can find examples on my Instagram account!

How do you view the role of theology in engaging contemporary social and cultural issues? 

Theology is the name we give to the way that we think and speak about God’s dealings with the world. Theology is thus fundamentally important for us all if we desire to be thoughtful and maturing followers of Christ. It is the lens through which we view all of life’s challenges and opportunities. Regent is committed to the deep formative impact of person-to-person theological work that goes deeper at every turn. Our approach to theological education is rooted in a rich biblical theology of creation, the incarnation, and the ongoing redemptive presence of God in the world. Such an understanding calls us to a lifetime of exploration of all the ways that God calls us into relationship with himself, whether through the proclamation of the gospel or through the faithful witness of his people in all spheres of life, inquiry, and service.

How do you envision balancing Regent’s history, traditions, and legacy with the need to serve the church and world of today?

Rooted and growing. This simple phrase has taken form in my mind and heart over the last few months. As a community of faith and learning, we must remain rooted: in Scripture, in right theology, in the wonderful legacy and tradition of Regent. Doing so enables us to grow and be fruitful in the new ways that are required of us today. I believe firmly that the people of God need theological education of the kind Regent offers—now more than ever before. We live in a time of change in which many of society’s norms and standards are in flux. Christians are looking for a solid foundation of biblical truth, as well as the tools to integrate a robust theological vision of all of life in an increasingly bewildering world. Regent is well placed to offer this powerful integrative vision of the relevance of the gospel for all of life.

Part of our task is to call learners into ways of thinking and living that they do not yet know about when they come to school, and it is my firm conviction that students who come to Regent will find themselves caught up in an adventure that will change their lives forever.