James Ellis:  

Teachers who inspired: Kevin Masterson, Ernie Monteith, Mr. Gillies, and a teacher from Kingsville who taught English. Cannot remember his name. Maybe Furgal? Sure I would do it all over again. Enjoyed playing hockey for Essex Junior Bombers, and the rivalry with Cottam especially. Although we never won the ECCL championship, playing well and being a leader on that team, was an important part of building my self-esteem, and I am grateful to Uncle Cliff Cox who made it possible by sponsoring the team, and giving the league the energy it needed to survive those early years. Gaye Queen was part of that team and a good friend who, sadly, died at a much too early age. I am still skating regularly and vigorously at age 77. Workplace During summers I worked for the Ontario Hydro, painting towers near Windsor, a job which paid well ($2.25 an hour in the late 50's/early 60's!) although had some inherent risks in working high in the air. I shared this experience with Gary Gurbin and Paul Steeles. When I left Essex High to go to Western U in London, I took Zoology 20 from professor Ken Bourns, whose speciality was parasites. Eventually I did graduate work with him, including an M. Sc. and a Ph.D., working on a small blood fluke which lives in the circulatory system of ducks. It was challenging and growth-inducing, including writing theses and publishing papers, and included some histology and electron microscopy. Ken became a trusted friend as well as a mentor, from whom I learned a lot. Unfortunately, He died in 1998. I was privileged to speak at his funeral in London. In the meantime I met Sheila McClure, who was studying zoology at Western as well. We were married in 1966. She had been a lab tech working on the kidney transplant team at Victoria Hospital, and then taught school at Bishop Townsend PS for two years. During those early years we shopped around for a church and ended up at The Salvation Army where we were welcomed, embraced, and given a meaningful role in the congregation. This association proved to be pivotal since, in 1971, having felt called to full time ministry, we left our teaching and research careers and entered the SA's seminary in Toronto. We were ordained in 1973. We have had an intriguing and rewarding career. After serving as pastors of congregations in Alberta and Ontario for nine years, as well as a year in alcoholic rehab work in BC, we transitioned into Hospital Chaplaincy in 1983 - where we served until 2006. In 1985 we were privileged to establish the Spiritual Care Dept at a brand new hospital, Scarborough Grace, where I also taught Clinical Pastoral Education, as an adjunct faculty member of the Pastoral Dept of the Toronto School of Theology. This involved certification as a Teaching Supervisor with what is now the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care, a ten year process which included an M.Div. from U of T, a lot of personal growth, and theological development. Teaching spiritual care skills to ordinands from various faith groups and gender identities, was a great challenge and privilege. Some of my students remain friends and in some cases, colleagues. Today my theological mentors include a lot of lived experience, some U of T profs and CPE Educators (e.g. Ovey Mohammed and Colin MacKinnon) and scholars like John Spong, Marcus Borg, Dominic Crossan, Henri No...Expand for more