Pastor & leaders
Pastor Tim Stewart began serving at Parkdale in 2016. The church leadership team also includes a board of elders & deacons that provide spiritual oversight and support of the church’s various ministries.
Pastor’s welcome
Hi, my name is Tim Stewart, and I have served as pastor at Parkdale Evangelical Free Church since September 2016.
That means I’m a newcomer here – though, I was actually born in Victoria and dedicated in this church! After a 31 year hiatus, I’m thrilled to rejoin Parkdale with my family.
I grew up in North Delta, BC, where my dad was pastor of the Evangelical Free Church there. I was blessed to be raised in a loving, supportive family, and came to faith in Christ at a very young age. Since then, I’ve journeyed through various contexts that have been the soil of my growth as a follower of Jesus. Studying in high school, university and seminary; working in warehousing, construction and gardening; broadening in travel, missions and teaching; deepening in marriage, parenthood and pastoring - each new context is a new step of faith.
I met my wife, Emily, through serving in missions overseas. I had studied International Relations at the University of British Columbia, and she studied at Seattle Pacific University. After graduating, we both signed up to teach English in St. Petersburg, Russia for a year, and found ourselves on the same team. After a very formative year there, we returned to North America, married, and began life together. We share a love for God, people, travel, culture, the outdoors, and now our three wonderful children!
As we’ve served together in overseas missions, in youth ministry, in pastoring an urban multicultural congregation, and now at Parkdale, Emily and I share a passion to develop leaders and reach out to the community. I love to mentor and support people to live out the calling that God has given them. I love to build bridges between God’s people and the world into which we’re sent. I love to see people come to rest in God’s love, gather to celebrate this love together, and discover where they can participate in His mission to the world. I am confident that the Gospel is good news to all, and that we are called to be good neighbors to all.
It has been amazing to see who God has brought our way over our years here, as He builds and forms His church. Parkdale has become truly diverse, yet wonderfully united. I am also thankful for the opportunity to continue my Doctoral Studies at ACTS Seminaries, where I have been challenged to broaden and deepen in my faith and ministry practice. My final project involves learning from the stories of people who've recently come to faith - a rewarding topic, for sure! I look forward to what God is going to do in and through us all at Parkdale Evangelical Free Church!