Introducing . . . . .
Menu:
Wanted
We would like to include news and activities from your church too. But, you need to provide us with the material. Items received by Tues. morning will usually get posted by Friday. E-mail messages can often simply be cut and pasted - saving us tons of time and effort.
Introducing the Rev. Dr. Tom Billard, Moderator
The Moderator-Elect will commence his duties as Moderator of the Presbytery of Hamilton on September 13, 2011.
Three and half years ago Tom was ordained in White Oak Presbyterian Church in Mississauga and then two weeks later was inducted as minister of Kirkwall Presbyterian Church. The last four years have seen many changes at Kirkwall beginning with the 2007 amalgamation of Knox PC Sheffield and Kirkwall PC. The past four years have been a time of making the vision behind the amalgamation a reality which included the building of a new church addition. The congregation has a strong commitment to mission, hospitality and pastoral care but it also recognizes that there is work to be done in reaching out to people in the surrounding community who don’t have a church family and inviting them to learn more about Christ with our congregation.
Tom's family roots in the Reformed church go back hundreds of years to Huguenots on his father’s side and Scottish Presbyterians on his mother’s side (Caldwell). He was born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, and, as an “army brat”, he grew up in small communities in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. At the age of ten, he took communicant’s class with Rev. Stanley Self, the Presbyterian padre at Camp Gagetown, and joined St. Andrew’s PC in Fredericton, N.B. As a teenager, he landed on the south shore of Montreal and continued to grow in the faith under the tutelage of Rev. Dr. Art Van Seters, minister at St. Andrew’s PC, St. Lambert.
After finishing his B.Sc. in chemistry at McGill, Tom moved on to the University of Toronto to get a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. His research included the study of the degradation of Egyptian antiquities and included a field trip to the temples and tombs of Luxor.
While in Toronto, Tom was a member of St. James PC part of the Tri-congregations in the east end of Toronto (now Faith PC). He was elected an elder and spent a stint as the representative elder in the Presbytery of East Toronto. It was during this time that Tom married Laura and his two children were born, James and Katie.
Tom worked in the manufacturing industry for about twenty years before accepting God’s call to ordained ministry. During that time he was an elder at White Oak church, an education activist in Mississauga, as well as a school board trustee for Peel Region. He also volunteered with “The Dam Youth Drop-in”, an interdenominational youth ministry in Mississauga.
Tom greatly enjoyed his three years of study at Knox College. During that time, he worked part-time for Rosedale PC as their “Outreach Coordinator”, where he helped initiate outreach work into the St. Jamestown area. He spent three summers as student minister at Knox PC, Stokes Bay, on the Bruce Peninsula.
Because of his experience in mission and outreach, Tom was pleased to join the Mission Committee when he became a member of the Presbytery of Hamilton. He is very excited by the new mission to Arabic speaking Christians as well as by the congregations in our Presbytery that are growing in strength and vitality. He is hopeful that these congregations will inspire others who are struggling with maintaining and growing their ministries.
While at Knox College, Tom wrote his M. Div. thesis on mainline church revitalization. He believes that the Holy Spirit is at work in the mainline churches calling faithful Christians to mature discipleship and to renewed commitment to evangelization, the sharing of God’s word and grace with others. While moderator of the presbytery, Tom hopes to continue to support the on-going work of congregational revitalization and growth.