Page 33 - Presbyterian Connection, Spring 2024

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SPRING 2024
Recognizing John Peter and Tori Smit
By the Rev. Cherie Inksetter, Morningside-High Park Presbyterian Church in Toronto, Ont.
John Peter (JP) and Tori Smit have been active in many levels of The Presbyterian Church in Canada for over 40 years. On their retire- ment, I’m shining a spotlight on their ministry and giving thanks for their commitment to, and love for, this denomination.
Tori grew up at Hopedale Pres- byterian Church in Oakville, Ont., where she began what would be a Christian Education career by teaching Sunday school as a teenager. She was encouraged to go to Ewart College after high school, so she enrolled for one year. But at the end of that year, she said, “It felt right to stay,” as she experienced a strong sense of call to Christian education. Lat- er in life, her father said he always thought she would be a minister or teacher, and that she got the best of both.
JP attended St. Columba Pres- byterian Church in Belleville, Ont. He was active in PYPS (Presbyte- rian Young Peoples Society) and Camp Iona, but ministry was not what he had in mind. Instead, his sense of call came from others.
“You’re going to be a minister,” someone said, and as he par- ticipated in worship, others would express the idea that this might be something he would do well at. Following high school, his call from Jesus to “Follow me” and his desire to serve God had him enrolling at the University of To- ronto for a bachelor’s degree in religious studies.
Tori and JP met at Camp Glen Mhor. Tori was there as a coun- sellor and JP was at nearby Camp Iona. There was a need for male camp counsellors, so JP was “borrowed”—and that’s when they became friends. It turned out that they were both headed for the University of Toronto, and it was there that their relationship grew into their life-long partnership in marriage and ministry.
After completing two years of his bachelor’s degree, JP decided to take a year off to discern his call to ministry. That year, the PCC sent him to a three-point charge in Northern Saskatchewan, where his sense of call was nurtured. He stayed there for eight months be- fore he returned to university and completed his final year as an undergraduate. He then obtained a Master of Divinity from Knox
College.
In 1982, Tori graduated from
Ewart College and worked with the Women’s Missionary Society and the Board of Congregational Life as an Area Educational Con- sultant until 1984. At the time, the WMS had a policy that every church would have access to a Christian Educator. She helped to produce curriculum and worked with churches in Brampton and Waterloo-Wellington presbyteries before taking a position as the Director of Christian Education at Knox Presbyterian Church in Mil- ton, Ont. It was in 1984 that JP and Tori married.
Following his graduation from Knox, JP was appointed to Chats- worth and Dornoch, where they remained for three years. Tori and JP had the opportunity for team ministry when they were called to Chedoke Presbyterian Church in Hamilton, Ont.
Tori exercised her great gifts for children’s ministry and inter- generational ministry by being involved in LOGOS at Chedoke, First, Maitland and at Knox, Guel- ph. She continued to be involved in LOGOS, as a trainer and also by writing curriculum for the organi- zation. This fed into her firm belief that it is in creating, maintaining and nurturing relationships, inter- generationally, that the church is strengthened.
Their team ministry continued when they went to First Presby- terian Church in Maitland, Florida, before feeling that it was time to come home to Canada after four- and-a-half years.
Both JP and Tori enriched their ministries through continuing education. JP took Interim Minis- try training and then went on to achieve his Doctor of Ministry at Columbia Seminary with his the- sis: “Understanding Congrega- tional Culture as a Point of Entry and Change.” Tori also went to Columbia and received a Doctor of Educational Ministry with her
Tori and John Peter ( JP) Smit.
dissertation: “Will Our Faith Have Children? Planting a Fruitful and Sustainable Ministry with Chil- dren in Congregations with Ten Or Fewer Children.” It focused on the importance of intergenera- tional education and relationships within the church.
Karen DeBoer, the resource de- veloper for Faith Formation Min- istries of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, shared, “The PCC has benefited from [Tori’s] outstanding networking as she connected with people around the globe to learn best practices that could be woven into her work here in Canada. Tori knows faith formation, and her foundational knowledge is evident in all the ways she has supported and equipped ministry leaders in the PCC and beyond.”
Both Tori and JP held posi- tions within the Synod of Central, Northern Eastern Ontario and Bermuda: JP as Regional Min- ister for Congregational Health, and Tori as Regional Minister for Faith Formation. Their participa- tion was invaluable to the synod, but their wisdom and expertise were also shared with ministers and congregations outside their synod. During the Covid years, they supported ministers, Chris- tian education workers and con- gregations to work in new and important ways, notably online. In particular, Tori developed sea- sonal Google Classrooms for the wider church to utilize—and her work was used in Canada, the UK, Australia and the US, across a number of denominations. In 2024, Tori will become president of the Association of Partners in Christian Education (APCE), marking 40 years of her involve-
ment with that organization.
This devoted couple has con- tributed to the wider work of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, with Tori being appointed to work at national office in 2009, and JP offering his expertise in Natural Church Development to congre- gations across the country. They have shared their gifts as pastors to other pastors. They have both served on national committees: JP served on Assembly Council and with the Ministry and Church Vocations Advisory Committee; Tori served on the Life and Minis- try Committee, the Ewart Endow- ment Committee, as Convener on the Committee to Advise the Moderator, and on the Executive Committee for the Order of Diaco- nal Ministers. Both were involved in Triennium, a PC(USA) youth event, as well as Canada Youth. And each has served as clerk of
the Presbytery of West Toronto. In their work, they continued to offer their wisdom to the upcom- ing generations of pastors within the PCC, as JP strove to help graduates find their callings, and Tori took on the role of adjunct professor at Knox College in Hu- man Growth and Faith Develop- ment and Christian Education. Tori also taught at Emmanuel Col- lege in Toronto and at Columbia
Theological Seminary in Atlanta. At the end of 2023, the Smits entered their well-deserved retire- ment, stepping back from all activities and responsibilities, with plans to relax at their new home in Prince Edward County and travel on occasion. They have been a gift to The Presbyterian Church in Canada and we are grateful that they shared their lives and
ministry with the church.
Connection
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The Rev. Cherie Inksetter with JP and Tori.
Learn More about the Nominees for Moderator
presbyterian.ca/nominees-2024