The essential foundation of Christian ministry is one’s “character and call.” Skills, knowledge, ministry practices, and spiritual gifts are built on this essential and personal core, which is the foundation for leadership. The purpose of this course is to assist you in discerning your call to vocational Christian ministry (inside and outside of the church) and to explore the essential spiritual, familial, personality, emotional, and character issues that enable a lifetime of faithfulness and enjoyment of Christian ministry. As such, the course serves to focus and strengthen your ministry/pastoral ethics. Our learning will be highly personal, dialectic and discovery focused; more than academic competency is required.

Character and Call is divided into 2 courses (FORM 500 and FORM 501). There are no prerequisites to the class and students may choose to enroll in FORM 501 without having taken FORM 500. FORM 500 focuses on the shaping of the “Ministry Leader as a Person.” FORM 501 focuses on the shaping of the “Health of the Minister and the Health of the Ministry.”

I am a life-long learner, an educator, and a pastor. These three spheres of my life have shaped what I do and my vision of education. I believe education should be: (1) integrative rather than divisive as it brings together every part of our person and various activities of work, play and service; (2) transformative rather than static as it creates space for self-discover and encountering God and others; (3) participating rather than spectating as it calls our entire being to join in God’s creation and work; and (4) relational and communal rather than self-centered and isolating as people journey (worship, walk, and work) together.

I am married and a father of three. I enjoy reading and playing basketball and volleyball.

Peter Ahn has been in ministry for over 20 years and currently serves as one of the Co-Lead Pastors at Living Hope Fellowship (LHF) in Burnaby, BC. During this time, he has worked with children, youth, college/university and adult ministries, as well as administration, creative projects, and parachurch organizations.

His primary focus at Carey is Family Systems Theory which is a significant component of the classes he teaches with Dr. Kyung Baek, the other Co-Lead Pastor at LHF. Peter is an advocate for team ministry, equipping others, and the importance of culture and ethos setting in the contexts that we are called to. He believes that we cannot serve others with integrity without an honest reflection of our personal story within the greater Story of God.

Peter also is the Executive Director of the grace family network foundation, a non-profit organization that offers scholarships to under-resourced youth as they prepare for post-secondary education.