Urban Sanctuary Staff

Len Thompson

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Director

Currently Len provides spiritual direction for a number of pastors, members of the community and people interested in spiritual formation. He is the founder and Director of Urban Sanctuary.  As Director he has several roles.  He teaches in the Urban Institute, courses at Taylor Seminary, in the Spiritual Direction Training Program, and several other courses throughout the year.  He also leads the small groups in the Urban Institute.  And he leads in setting new directions and establishing priorities for the Urban Sanctuary.

Len was the Director of Northern Christian Counselling Services in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario for 12 years 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.

Len enjoys writing.  He has written the curriculum for the Urban Institute, several articles on Spiritual Formation, and he is currently writing a workbook for Gary Thomas' book Spiritual Pathways.

Mark Elvin

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Associate Director

As Associate Director, Mark facilitates the Spiritual Direction Training program at the Urban Sanctuary.  He provides spiritual direction for several people, and he takes care of the bookkeeping and other administrative tasks.  Mark works half-time at the Urban Sanctuary.

Mark is an ordained Anglican Priest with the United Anglican Church of Canada, and he works as a counselor with Living Waters Canada the other half of his time.  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.  He enjoys decorating, including providing specialty decorations for weddings and other celebrations through his business, Design Lab.

Sam Drew

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General Manager

Sam works half-time at the Urban Sanctuary as the General Manager -- organizing events, volunteers, and overseeing administrative tasks.  He also teaches in the Urban Institute and in other Urban Sanctuary courses.  The other half of his time Sam works with his wife Julie in their website business, Trinity Web Hosting.

Sam is an ordained minister with the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada and has degrees in both ministry and computer science.  Before coming to the Urban Sanctuary he served for nine years at Edmonton Covenant Church and two years as a youth counselor with the Youth Emergency Shelter Society.  Sam and Julie have four children -- Tadd, Nathaniel, Talia, and Reena.