About
Mardi Tindal is Executive Director of Five Oaks, a beautiful and sacred retreat centre near Paris, Ontario, Canada. You can find out more about Five Oaks at: www.fiveoaks.on.ca
Mardi Tindal has served as a lay leader in the United Church of Canada for many years, including involvement in 8 of the last 13 meetings of the General Council, from coordinating Youth Forum to representing the work of the General Council Standing Committee on Sexism, to broadcasting to, most recently, offering theme presentations at the 38th General Council in Wolfville in 2003. She has represented the United Church in forums such as the 11th General Assembly of the Association of Christian Lay Centres in Africa held in Ghana in 2000. Her international church experiences include continuing education in Jamaica; leading pilgrimages to Iona, Scotland, and representing North American retreat centres in international meetings world-wide. She currently serves as Executive Director of Five Oaks Centre and as President of Oikosnet North America (the regional organization of the world-wide network of lay movements and centres.)
Mardi has served as a staff person in various capacities, to both General Council and the Hamilton Conference region, as Director of United Church Camp Big Canoe, and, for the past five years as Director of Five Oaks. For nine years Mardi was story producer and co-host of Spirit Connection, the United Church’s weekly program on Vision TV and worked as well on ecumenical and interfaith television projects beyond the realm of United Church projects. She has served on the board of The United Church Observer and continues her active involvement in the life of The United Church as a member of Sydenham St. United Church, Brantford and Erie Presbytery.
Mardi is particularly committed to ministry with youth and young adults; partnership with aboriginal colleagues in church and community; and seeing the church strengthen its commitment to the environmental movement as we seek to better live with respect in creation. One of Mardi’s first experiences in the national church was to serve on the General Council Task Group on the Environment which reported to the 27th General Council in 1977. She still remembers words from their report:
“In order to love each other, we have to love the garden;
In order to love the garden, we have to love each other.”
Last summer she was recognized with the honour of Companion of the Francis Sandy Theological Centre, a theological school serving First Nations students. She enjoys empowering, mutual relationship with young adult staff and program participants at Five Oaks as with native colleagues and neighbours.
Mardi’s involvement with Parker Palmer’s Center for Courage & Renewal and its Courage to Lead movement, has helped her gain greater clarity and passion for her work – work of modeling, nurturing and supporting the kind of leadership that deepens trust and that really does help us to care for one another and for God’s garden.
Mardi’s educational background is that of an adult educator with a Master’s degree in educational psychology from the University of Toronto. One of her recent sabbatical pleasures was in being a student in a Regis College course on The Theological Significance of the Work of Wendell Berry, taught by Mary Jo Leddy.
Mardi Tindal said,
January 5, 2007 @ 11:29 pm
Bob Cramer said,
August 18, 2009 @ 6:05 pm
You sure had a great time at Kelowna! I look forward to a great time under your leadership for UCCan. I’m an Ancient, one of founders of Ecunet. Bob.
Jo Jamieson said,
August 19, 2009 @ 12:35 am
Hello Mardi: I want to add my heartfelt congratulations on your election as our new moderator. Your joyful wisdom, deep faith and blessed assurance of God’s abundance for our church was resoundingly clear in every word you said, in every smile you projected during these days in Kelowna. God grant you grace to share these blessings in the days ahead – we need you so badly and we know you will lead us as a people of God to deepen our faith, to respect creation, to overcome global poverty and to work for justice in this broken world. I was with JGER and now with Oikocredit – the churches microcredit bank. Jo (Victoria, BC)