Biography of Brian Cornelius
Brian was born on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, East Africa in 1962 as the third-born child of Pentecostal missionaries who left Canada for Kenya in 1955. His early childhood and teenage years were spent in Nairobi, Kenya, which Brian considers his hometown. At 15, he was transplanted back to Canadian soil where he completed high school in Scarborough, Ontario. During this time of upheaval, Brian was active in a racially diverse congregation populated mostly by immigrants from the Caribbean.
After discerning that a vocation in ministry would be a life path, Brian studied at Central Pentecostal College from 1982 to 1985. Once graduating, he began ministry at Kanata Pentecostal Church. In 1988, he was ordained and married. During those years, having only a diploma in theology, Brian began upgrading his education by studying at St. Paul’s University in Ottawa launching an evolution in his theological and spirit understandings, an evolution which began in times of questioning as a boy. In response to this evolution Brian began attending First United Church in Ottawa in the early 1990’s and in 1993 officially transferred his ordination into the United Church.
From 1993 to 2003, he was the minister at Northwestern United in Ottawa where the church welcomed many families and children to the faith community. From 2003 to 2005, following significant changes in family life, Brian was the acting Executive Secretary for Montreal and Ottawa Conference before accepting a call to First United Church in Ottawa in 2005. For the last nineteen years Brian served at First United, grateful for the vibrancy and faith of this community. He was also active on the Executive of The United Church of Canada.
As Brian moves into “staged” retirement, he is excited to join with the Genesis Cooperative while simultaneously deepening his reconnections with the land of his birth. He returns to live the summer months in Kisumu, Kenya, the town of his birth.
Brian was born on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, East Africa in 1962 as the third-born child of Pentecostal missionaries who left Canada for Kenya in 1955. His early childhood and teenage years were spent in Nairobi, Kenya, which Brian considers his hometown. At 15, he was transplanted back to Canadian soil where he completed high school in Scarborough, Ontario. During this time of upheaval, Brian was active in a racially diverse congregation populated mostly by immigrants from the Caribbean.
After discerning that a vocation in ministry would be a life path, Brian studied at Central Pentecostal College from 1982 to 1985. Once graduating, he began ministry at Kanata Pentecostal Church. In 1988, he was ordained and married. During those years, having only a diploma in theology, Brian began upgrading his education by studying at St. Paul’s University in Ottawa launching an evolution in his theological and spirit understandings, an evolution which began in times of questioning as a boy. In response to this evolution Brian began attending First United Church in Ottawa in the early 1990’s and in 1993 officially transferred his ordination into the United Church.
From 1993 to 2003, he was the minister at Northwestern United in Ottawa where the church welcomed many families and children to the faith community. From 2003 to 2005, following significant changes in family life, Brian was the acting Executive Secretary for Montreal and Ottawa Conference before accepting a call to First United Church in Ottawa in 2005. For the last nineteen years Brian served at First United, grateful for the vibrancy and faith of this community. He was also active on the Executive of The United Church of Canada.
As Brian moves into “staged” retirement, he is excited to join with the Genesis Cooperative while simultaneously deepening his reconnections with the land of his birth. He returns to live the summer months in Kisumu, Kenya, the town of his birth.