Last Thursday evening, October 13, 2022, Wycliffe College welcomed 124 alumni and friends to our annual Principal’s Dinner.
“The Principal’s Dinner is a particularly special event in the Wycliffe College calendar, and we were especially pleased to be together again in person after two long years,” said Director of Development Shelley McLagan, who organized the event. “The dinner brings together friends, donors, alumni, and students—who are both old and new to Wycliffe—and provides an opportunity to fellowship together while considering a topic relevant to our mission.”
After a three-course candlelit meal in Wycliffe’s Great Hall, attendees listened to an address from Dr. Alan Fung, Professorial Fellow at Wycliffe College, on “Invisible Brokenness: Understanding Mental Health as Christians.”
A physician who is board-certified in the specialities of psychiatry, sleep medicine, and behavioural neurology and neuropsychiatry, Dr. Fung is currently teaching a course for Wycliffe’s pastoral studies students entitled, “Understanding Mental Health and Mental Illness as Faith Leaders.”
Dr. Fung provided statistics on the ways in which the pandemic negatively impacted mental health in Canada, and pointed out that according to one study, 45 percent of church leaders are approached for mental health help. Dr. Fung’s class is among the ways in which Wycliffe is working to help prepare its students to respond to both their own and their congregation’s mental health challenges.
Attendees also heard briefly from MDiv student Ryan Deyo, who explained how the bursary support he received from Wycliffe donors made it possible for him to quit his job, sell his house, and move with his family in response to God’s call to prepare for church ministry. “I knew Jesus was leading me here not just to get a job, but to learn what it means to be a pastor,” he said. “I’m not the person that I was three years ago. I’ve been changed by my fellow Wycliffe students, the faculty, and staff. Thank you for enabling and empowering me in my pursuit to serve Jesus in vocational ministry through your generosity."
