Meet Our Spiritual Directors

Len Thompson

Currently Len spiritually directs a number of pastors, members of the community and people interested in spiritual formation. He is the founder and Director of Urban Sanctuary.

Len has attended the New Way School for Spiritual Direction as well as the New Way Advanced School for Spiritual Direction, both taught by Dr. Larry Crabb.  Len was the Director of Northern Christian Counselling Services in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario  and served as Pastor of Care ministries at Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton, Alberta before beginning Urban Sanctuary. Len holds a degree in theology and a Masters in Counselling. He is an adjunct professor at Taylor Seminary where he teaches part-time. He is married to Joan and they have three children, Sharleen, Ian and Eric.

Mark Elvin

Mark has completed the spiritual direction equivilency through Urban Sanctuary and currently works with the Urban Sanctuary as Associate Director.

Mark is an ordained Anglican Priest with the United Anglican Church of Canada, and he also serves as a counselor with Living Waters Canada. Living Waters Canada works with men and women who want to address unwanted relational and/or sexual issues. Mark has been with Living Waters for 16 years.

Mark is married to Churyl, they have four children and three grandchildren.

Heather Hayashi

Heather completed her spiritual direction training in 2007 through the Urban Sanctuary. She is currently completing her Master's of Theological Studies degree at Taylor Seminary.  

Heather's heart for spiritual direction comes out of the experiences of her life.  She says, "Living with a chronic illness for the past 20 years has brought me to a new understanding of who I am, who God is and what my purpose in life is really about. It is out of this place of growth that I want to offer encouragement to others."  Heather also shares encouraging thoughts on spiritual growth and more on her blog at http://learningrhythmsofgrace.wordpress.com/.

Heather is married to Randy and they have two teenage sons.

Neil Dargatz

Neil has been trained in spiritual direction by Len Thompson, and he has been involved as a spiritual director since the inception of The Urban Sanctuary. He has a desire to see people mature in Christ, and believes that the one-on-one approach of spiritual direction is an excellent way to achieve this maturity.

Neil is currently employed as a social worker in the health care field. He is married to Cathie and has two step children and two grandchildren.

Dan Westfall

Dan's spiritual heritage comes from the western Canada "Bible Belt" movement, where he graduated from Prairie Bible Institute in 1977. He upgraded to a Bachelor of Religious Education at Winnipeg Bible College, and he received a Master of Divinity from Winnipeg Theological Seminary in 1981. Dan then took a computing diploma from NAIT and has worked in computer programming and management for the past 25 years. He and his wife Pearl and are currently involved in an Anglican church in which they lead a small group. Dan and Pearl are parents to a son and daughter who are both in their twenties.

In 2004, he began a spiritual listening and fathering role to a couple men in his church, and he attended a Soul Stream retreat at Kingsfold Retreat Centre in Cochrane, AB which encouraged him in the ministry of spiritual direction. Dan has completed the Urban Sanctuary Spiritual Direction training. He says, "If you meet me, you will discover that I listen from my heart to your story, I share your journey, and I pray for you."