Tori Smit is a Diaconal Minister with the Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC), presently serving as the Regional Minister for Faith Formation for the Synod of Central, Northeastern Ontario and Bermuda (CNOB). Tori has been a professional Christian Educator for over forty years, serving congregations in Milton, Hamilton and Guelph, Ontario, and in Orlando, Florida. More recently Tori served as the Associate Secretary of The Vine for the PCC.
As an educator, Tori is passionate about our ministry with children, youth and their families and is a strong advocate for an intentional shift toward inter-generational ministry as the primary means through which our faith can be passed from one generation to the next.
She has keynoted at many Christian education events and led many workshops across Canada and the United States on behalf of the PCC, the PCUSA, the Association of Partners in Christian Education (APCE), and LOGOS/GenOn Ministries. She has also written a broad variety of curriculum for the PCC, youth conference curriculum for Canada Youth (PCC) and Montreat Conference Centre (PCUSA), and adult leaders guides on Amos and Hosea, and Matthew for Kerygma Bible Studies.
Tori holds a Doctor of Educational Ministry degree through Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, with her dissertation focus on, “Will Our Faith Have Children? Planting A Fruitful and Sustainable Ministry With Children In Congregations With Ten Or Fewer Children.” A journal length summary of her dissertation can be found in, InterGenerate: Transforming Churches Through Intergenerational Ministry, Holly C. Allen (ed.), (Abilene, TX: Abilene Christian University Press, 2018).
Tori has also served as an adjunct professor of Christian Education at Columbia Theological Seminary (DeCatur, GA), and Emmanuel College (Toronto, ON).
Tori is married to the Rev. Dr. John-Peter Smit, Regional Minister for Congregational Health with CNOB. Together they have two adult children and two very spoiled cats.
