Emily Cramer Rudy Eikelboom Curt Gesch David T. Koyzis

Lloyd Rang Derek Schuurman Cathy Smith Julia Stronks

Meindert van der Galien Arlene Van Hove Brent van Staalduinen Marian Van Til

Heidi VanderSlikke Kenny Warkentin Emily Wierenga Tom Wolthuis

Emily Cramer grew up in the Toronto area and spent most of her twenties living  as a nomad. She completed her English B.A. in New Brunswick (1999), burned through some existential angst in eastern Ontario and in Scotland, and finally  wrapped up a Master’s in Christianity & the Arts in British Columbia (2008). She now lives in Barrie, Ontario with her husband, James, where she works as a  college Communications teacher and hopes to stay put, at least for awhile. She has been privileged with a number of writing opportunities over the years, from a summer newspaper column on the natural environment to a novella for her graduating thesis, and is now feeling honoured to be able to explore the next leg of her travels - parenting and family life - with the CC.
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Rudy Eikelboom, a Professor of Psychology, has recently gone to the dark side being elected as Chair of the Psychology Department at Wilfrid Laurier University.  He is a proud of his two children and three grandchildren. A member of the Waterloo Christian Reformed Church he is chair of the Council. Despite all these activities he still enjoys working with rats.
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Curt Gesch is a retired school teacher who lives in Quick, British Columbia.  He and his wife, Betsey, live on a farm and moose pasture; the farm's name is Eskerhazy.  Their children presently are living in Calgary; St. John's, Newfoundland; and Hamilton, Ontario. Curt enjoys music - psalms, hymns, classical, jazz, and blues - playing the piano, gardening, reading about farming, preaching, and reading.  Betsey and Curt also enjoy visiting the sick and seniors even older than themselves (both are presently deacons in Telkwa Christian Reformed Church) and working with children. They also love spending quiet days and nights are home with each other.
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David T. Koyzis was born and grew up near Chicago in a large family, where he was nurtured in the Christian faith from an early age. He now lives in Hamilton, Ontario, where he has taught political science at Redeemer University College since 1987. He is the author of the award-winning book, Political Visions and Illusions, which grew out of one of the courses he teaches. He is currently writing a second book on authority. He is an amateur poet and musician and has been working for 25 years on a project devoted to the Genevan Psalter. He knows the basics of several languages, but is fluent in only one (guess which?). He is married to Dr. Nancy Calvert Koyzis and together they have a daughter Theresa, who is an amateur artist, violinist and ornithologist. The family also includes a bilingual pet budgie named Ollie. They (except for Ollie) are members of Central Presbyterian Church in Hamilton, a dynamic 170-year-old congregation worshipping in a century-old building.David blogs at Notes from a Byzantine-Rite Calvinist  and at First Things: Evangel. He has written a column for Christian Courier since 1990.
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Lloyd Rang works in communications and is a member of Rehoboth CRC in Bowmanville. 
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Derek Schuurman studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Waterloo and completed a Ph.D at MacMaster University. He worked for several years in industry before returning to teach in academia where he is currently an associate professor of Computer Science at Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ontario. Besides his technical work he has also thought and taught about faith and computer technology. He is author of the recent book Shaping a Digital World.He along with his wife and four children live in Hamilton, Ontario. His website: http://cs.redeemer.ca/derek/
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Cathy Smith is an involved member of the Wyoming Christian Reformed Church where she is the bulletin editor, mentor to the pastor, church education teacher, and jack-of-all-trades volunteer on a few too many lists.As a retired Christian schoolteacher, she thinks she should have time to indulge in extensive reading, blogging and writing, daily walks in her small town, choir, gardening, DIY projects around the house, family get-togethers and occasional travel.  She does not, in fact, have the time to do all these things, but keeps trying anyway. She is both energized and humbled by Christ’s call to apply his name to all these facets of everyday life.Cathy is married to Mark, a carpenter, and together they have raised three children. Presently they are empty-nesters and dotty grandparents to two little munchkins. Mark does not attend church or call himself a Christian. Cathy regards their unusual marriage, tried and tested for over thirty years, as a living and practical metaphor for the challenge of Christian discipleship in a world not yet fully redeemed. She feels privileged to be part of the CC team, participating in this unique community dialogue about following Jesus today in this advent time between the cross and the crown.Cathy blogs at Cathy's Blog - Peripheral Vision (cathysmith001.wordpress.com) and can be contacted at cathysmith001@hotmail.com
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“I’m a mother, a daughter, a lawyer, a professor, a wife, a sister, a neighbour and a political scientist. My name is Julia Stronks and for the last 10 years I have been writing and speaking on what it means to be a citizen who considers that all of life is religion. This column will examine different aspects of culture, through the eyes of faith. I’ll write about business practices, the church, gender, education, technology, crime, the law and families.“I am an American, teaching political science at Whitworth University, a Presbyterian school in Spokane, Washington. My husband, Charles Zandbergen, is Canadian and my extended family lives in British Columbia and Ontario. My father, Bill, has taught me to appreciate all things Dutch. My mother, Gloria, has taught me to collaborate as we worked together to write three books. My son, Matt, has taught me to love sports and my students have taught me how to shoot a rifle and how to tweet. Experiences change our perspective and I look forward to challenging and being challenged by Christian Courier readers in the coming months.”
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Maynard prefers his given name, Meindert. He was born in Holland n 1949, immigrated with his family to Canada in 1953 and settled on a farm in Renfrew County in the Ottawa Valley. He downsized his 420 acres and cattle numbers after cattle prices fell drastically in 2003.Maynard enjoys travel. He's been to most European countries, including Russia. He enjoys gardening and reading -no sports. Last year at age 59 he married Helen Mae Waite - a nurse. Mae works a few days a month at a local nursing home. They enjoy quiet times at their cottage at Colton Lake.Maynard served on a number of boards. He was a director of the Renfrew County Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) for 3l years.He writes weekly and monthly columns, which he has done for 2l years. Maynard and Mae attend Hebron Christian Reformed church in Renfrew, Ont.
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Arlene Van Hove is a therapist, a mother of four adult children and a grandmother to an ever-increasing brood of delightful grandchildren.  She also belongs to the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign, a subsidiary of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which raises funds for grandmothers who are raising the next generation in countries devastated by the Aids epidemic.As a writer Arlene hopes to provide a comforting voice for all those who struggle with the complexity of life. At the same time, she believes one of the roles of a columnist is to unflinchingly challenge 'the map when it no longer fits the ground.' And while she has less advice for others as she herself is aging, she hopes her columns will encourage her readers to develop questions and answers for themselves that continue to be worth asking and answering in the 21st Century. She is a member of the Fleetwood CRC in Surrey, B.
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Brent van Staalduinen spent a number of years teaching literature and writing at international schools in Kuwait and South Korea, experiences which proved instrumental in developing his grounded and truly international worldview. The author of three books, Brent is a graduate of the Humber School for Writers and is working on an MFA in Creative Writing through the University of British Columbia. He lives with his family in the Westdale neighbourhood of Hamilton, Ontario. For more information or to contact Brent about his writing, visit www.brentvanstaalduinen.com and follow him on Twitter @brentvans and Facebook www.facebook.com/brentvanstaalduinen.
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Marian Van Til is a former C.C. editor who lived in Canada from 1975-2000. She now freelances for journals and writes books, the second of which, Confessions of a Cataholic, will be released later this month. Marian is also a classical musician and the music director at a Lutheran Church. She and her husband, Ed Cassidy, live in Youngstown, NY. She blogs at http://reformedrevelry.wordpress.com/
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Heidi VanderSlikke grew up in the Niagara Peninsula with dreams of becoming a writer. But she took a paying job instead. Working as a bookkeeper led to studies in accounting and credit management, all of which proved to be very practical when she married Jack—her Prince Farming—in 1978. They have lived happily ever after (most of the time) on their farm near Harriston, Ontario. They have three grown children and (so far) one incredibly cute grandson.For the last ten years Heidi has been a columnist for Christian Courier, as well as having written short stories, devotionals and articles for other publications. She is a professional member of The Word Guild.She enjoys the outdoors, animals, photography, reading and motorcycles. She and Jack have ridden to Canada’s east coast and through various parts of the US, including the Florida Everglades. They hope to one day take their bikes across Canada to British Columbia. In the meantime, she continues to write about what she loves best—faith, family and farm life.
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Kenny Warkentin is a full time urban missionary in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He works as the resource programs coordinator for Living Waters Canada Central Region. He is also involved as the Exodus International Canadian Regional Representative. Kenny is passionate about issues regarding gender, sexuality and has written numerous columns on those issues as it pertains to the Body of Christ.  He is married to Paula and they have a daughter Phoebe. Paula and Kenny are both avid artists and they have showcased their work in various venues.  Paula is a spoken word poet and Kenny is a photography and painter. They also travel and share their testimony throughout North America.
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Emily Wierenga is a wife, mother, artist and the author of Chasing Silhouettes: How to help a Loved One Battling an Eating Disorder, and Mom in the Mirror: Body Image, Beauty and Life After Pregnancy (releasing Mother’s Day 2013). For more info, please visit www.emilywierenga.com.

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“I am enjoying my new job in Toronto at the Institute for Christian Studies. My wife, Dawn and I  share the position of President. We are learning a lot about Canada and the Canadian churches. I am a churchman as an ordained pastor in the Christian Reformed Church and a teacher. I recently taught Biblical studies and youth ministry at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa for almost a decade while also advising a new church, Living Water in Orange City. I enjoyed spending the summer of 2010 teaching at Northrise University in Ndola, Zambia. I have had two other church pastorates in the Grand Rapids area and have also taught at Calvin College, both in religion and communications.“I will be writing a column called Ambassador to explore the relationship of the Christian community and theological and Biblical Studies with society. I plan to explore with my church, teaching, and academic experience how theology helps us live serving God and our neighbour today.“My wife, Dawn Wolthuis (née Hendriksen), an IT professional, has taught at Dordt and Calvin Colleges in Mathematics and Computer Science, and directed Calvin College’s computer centre in the early 1990s. We do miss our two daughters, a son-in-law, and two adorable grandchildren, Cady (4) and Levi (2), who are living in the States, but technological communication helps.”
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