Leonard Hjalmarson

I am a learner, teacher, writer and lover of God and his world. I've been a student for most of my life, formally and informally. My graduate degree was in theology and counseling, my doctorate in leadership and spiritual formation. But my dominant lens for these things has been culture, and change.

In 2008 I helped to edit and publish the first volume of the Wikiklesia Series: Voices of the Virtual World. About the same time Brother Maynard and I completed a RESONATE project on church planting in Canada, Fresh and ReFresh.

In 2010 I published An Emerging Dictionary for the Gospel and Culture, an anthology that grew out of many conversations, rooted in my blog from 2002-2010.

Also in 2010 Roger Helland and I were hard at work finishing Missional Spirituality, which was written as an exploration of the intersection of missio Dei and spiritual formation. The question I was asking personally was this: what counter-forming disciplines help us to sustain the journey of faith while partnering with God in his work in the world? People like Jamie Smith have recently pointed out how powerfully western consumer culture forms our desires.

About the same time I published The Missional Church Fieldbook, a workbook designed for use in groups journeying together in mission in their neighbourhoods.

2010 saw some major changes in my life, moving to Ontario to pastor a church in transition. Not long after I taught my first graduate level course in Chicago, and then in the summer taught a graduate seminar through Tyndale Seminary at the St. Francis Centre. I am now involved with doctoral students at both Tyndale and Portland seminaries.

Early in 2010 I had begun asking some new questions about the gospel and culture, and the matrix seemed to be around what God is doing in neighbourhoods. The concept of "parish" caught my attention, and I realized that these questions implied a theology of place. I began researching my next book, which was published in 2014 and won the Grace Irwin prize - title "No Home Like Place."

Late in 2013 Text & Context: Church Planting in Post-Christendom in Canada, was published with The Urban Loft. T&C collects stories from church planters across Canada, and includes a great Foreword by Scot Hagley and an Afterword by Bob Roxburgh.

That was followed by The Soul of the City project, gathering writers from all across Canada to reflect on questions of spiritual geography in their urban settings. A month later Broken Futures was released, aimed at leaders and organizations finding themselves lost in transition in this strange post-modern location.

What do I do in between all these strange and wonderful assignments? I love to bake, perfect a new recipe, cycle or paddle when I can, watch a good movie, enjoy great conversations, and spend time with my family.