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Regional Minister: Rev. Jean-Daniel Ó Donncada | rm@canadadisciples.org
Rev. Jean-Daniel Ó Donncada (zhawn-danyell oh dunn uh) is the intentional interim regional minister for Canada. The regional minister supports churches and ministers across Canada and builds relationships with the rest of our denomination in the United States and with other religious communities in Canada.
Pastor Jean-Daniel studied at Harvard, Yale, and Université de Montréal. His academic work has focused on how religious communities can best support children, leading to his writings being published in an anthology of essays, Child Honouring, edited by Raffi and with a foreword by the Dalai Lama, and to him being a workshop leader and featured speaker on children’s and youth ministry and pastoral care of neurodiverse children across North America. Most recently, he has been an ecumenical chaplain at McGill University and an interfaith hospital chaplain. He has served churches from California to Connecticut to Québec for the last 20 years. Jean-Daniel is particularly passionate about children’s and youth ministry, ecumenical cooperation, and multilingual ministry.
Outside of church life, Jean-Daniel is an avid swimmer and photographer who loves musical theatre and would be far too eager for an Anne of Green Gables trivia competition. His favourite sports teams are the Nordiques and the Expos, and he knows that is sad. Jean-Daniel grew up in Massachusetts and New Brunswick. He lives in Montréal with his twin daughters, dog, and cats.
Pastor Jean-Daniel is excited to visit your churches and meet you all, and explore what God is calling Jesus’ disciples in Canada to do together next.
Connect with Jean-Daniel
Canine Assistant to the Regional Minister: Rilla Blythe
Bertha Marilla Blythe-Ford, better known as Rilla, is the canine assistant to the regional minister. A service dog who is always with Pastor Jean-Daniel, she also offers her snuggles and hugs with those who request her assistance. Rilla is a border collie, a sheep herding dog by breeding, so well suited to be assistant to a pastor. She is named after the youngest daughter of Anne of Green Gables, the protaganist of Lucy Maud Montgomery's book Rilla of Ingleside. Some descriptions of Rilla that fit both the fictional human and very real dog include:
- "Wherever Rilla Blythe was, there was laughter."
- "She had great, dreamy, hazel eyes."
- "She had been much petted and was a wee bit spoiled, but still the general opinion was that Rilla Blythe was a very sweet girl."
Professionally, Rilla is an expert on hearing dangers and alarms. In her free time, she loves running, swimming, fetching, and obstacle courses.
Connect with Rilla