News

Funding building and infrastructure upgrades in buildings that are more than 60 years old isn’t always exciting. However, Grebel alumni and donors have helped to embrace this challenge. With a late summer pledge of $500,000 from John Marshall (BES 85), we have eclipsed our $4M minimum fundraising goal! With this strong support, we are also able to upgrade the lounge furniture and internet infrastructure in the residence. 

Professors often step into leadership positions in scholarly associations, a demonstration of their commitment to service. When Jeremy Bergen began attending Canadian Theological Society (CTS) annual meetings during his doctoral studies, he didn’t expect that he would end up as its president. “It was a supportive environment for me to present work, test ideas, and meet other scholars,” he shared.

Other Grebel professors also serve in their respective scholarly organizations, reflecting Grebel’s mission to seek wisdom in service to church and society. “Serving on a music board is important for making connections and for supporting others,” said Karen Sunabacka, Associate Professor of Music at Grebel. “It fosters creativity and excitement and allows me to support others in their own creative work.”  

Grebel faculty are experts in Music, Church Music and Worship, Peace and Conflict Studies, History, Theological Studies, Mennonite Studies and Religion, Culture, and Spirituality. Not only are they dedicated professors, but they are esteemed scholars in their respective fields, working on a wide variety of research projects. 

Research is an important way we can better understand—and take action on—the growing number of challenges our world faces in building peace. As the Centre for Peace Advancement’s dynamic community of participants continues to evolve, we look forward to growing our research capacity and impact. 

E. Paul Penner, a pillar of Grebel, retired in March 2024, leaving a 36-year legacy of commitment, care, and hospitality, as well as memories of pranks, laughter, and classic movie nights. After living at Grebel as a student, he returned in 1988 as Business Manager, then transitioned to Operations Manager in 1995, and finally to Director of Operations. His primary responsibilities were managing the staff, operations, and buildings of the College, but to Paul, the job was a mission of hospitality, service, and community-building.

At Grebel, excellence in research and creativity is central to our mission and identity. Our support for research reflects the vision of founding president Winfield Fretz that Grebel students and faculty would be fully embedded in the university and “compete in intellectual discourse and research with any person on the university faculty or other colleges.” This vision continues to guide us today. Our faculty are not only educators but also active researchers, composers, performers, and advocates who contribute to multiple scholarly disciplines and take those conversations beyond the College into the community.

At Grebel, we remember Walter Klaassen as one of the foundational figures in our college’s history. Walter was not only the first chaplain, but also the first dean of students, a founder of the University of Waterloo’s Religious Studies department, and (with Winfield Fretz) one of the first two faculty members at Grebel. He was a scholar of the Radical Reformation, an articulate pacifist, a public intellectual, and a kind but deeply principled man.

When Marina Gallagher was sitting in Professor Laura Gray’s Music and Landscapes class in 2013, she didn’t imagine that the connections she was making between pastoral music, landscapes, and Classical literature would lead her back to Grebel a decade later, teaching a special topics course on Video Game Music.  

Peace is not just a theory for Maria Lucia Zapata Cancelado (DPCS 2001); it is a daily mission. As a Colombian lawyer and peace scholar, Maria is the Director of the Institute for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Javeriana University in Bogotá. Her work at the Jesuit school focuses on restorative justice and post-conflict peacebuilding. Maria earned her PACS diploma from Conrad Grebel University College in 2000, where she developed an interdisciplinary approach that reshaped her perspectives on law and peacebuilding. 

Think about a time when you attended a worship service in a community that was new to you. What stood out as different? What is most important about worship for you? Now imagine you’re 13-29 years old. Would you answer differently? 

Two Grebel alumni, Sarah Kathleen Johnson (BA 2007, MTS 2008) and Mykayla Turner (BSC 2020, MTS 2024), are asking these very questions through a collaboration on the Young People and Christian Worship study. This research project aims to shape better conversations about teenagers, emerging adults, and Christian worship by valuing their experiences as an important theological voice.