Knox College thanks Peterborough K.M. Hunter Foundation for contribution to re:forming Tomorrow campaign
Elizabeth Giesbrecht
“I hope that having people with spiritual care skills can become widespread in the social services and health sectors as well as within congregations,” said Elizabeth Giesbrecht, President of the Peterborough K.M. Hunter Charitable Foundation. The Foundation recently donated to Knox College’s re:forming Tomorrow campaign in support of the new Master of Pastoral Studies (MPS) program.
The Foundation’s donation will provide scholarship opportunities for internships within the MPS, giving students hands-on, experience-based learning and leadership development opportunities. “I strongly support experiential learning,” said Giesbrecht. “I also recognize that the kinds of places where an MPS student could do an internship would often not have funds to be able to pay them. Knox’s plan to help with scholarships will encourage both students and organizations to take part in the experiential learning.”
The MPS program resonates with Giesbrecht, particularly as she says that her home congregation (St. Andrew’s, Brampton) has focused on extending spiritual care in their community in recent years. Knox’s MPS equips students for leadership in specialized areas of pastoral ministries and spiritual care/therapy. Graduates of the MPS program are prepared to serve as ordained and lay ministry leaders, institutional chaplains, spiritual care practitioners, psycho-spiritual therapists, and community workers. The first cohort began in September 2016.
Giesbrecht’s grandfather, Kenneth Martin Hunter, established the K. M. Hunter Charitable Foundation in 1967, which has donated to the work of The Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC) every year since then. Giesbrecht began to serve on the board in the 1990s after his death. In 2004, the foundation divided into two and she went with the newly-formed Peterborough organization. As well as donating to Presbyterians Sharing and other projects within the PCC, the foundation also supports medical research, aboriginal causes within Canada, and international relief and development.
Knox College’s Director of Development, Seta Ghougassian, says, “For the MPS program to be effective, experiential learning is essential. With the first cohort of MPS students finishing their first full year of studies, Knox College welcomes the Foundation’s timely and generous support for internship scholarships. Our donors have a very important role in students’ success.”
Re:forming Tomorrow is a comprehensive capital campaign, seeking to raise $15 million to keep Knox at the forefront of theological education. Learn more at www.knox.utoronto.ca/campaign.