2003 Companions of the Centre

(Marion Pope, Cyril Powles, Marjorie Powels)

The 2003 Companions of the Centre award recipients:

Marion Pope (Graduate 1955)
Marion served as United Church of Canada overseas personnel with the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK) from 1957-1993. Her service was formally as a nursing professional and as a diaconal minister. Informally, however, Marion served as an advocate for women and the poor, an educator in the church and universities, a political activist and as a friend to countless people in Korea.

Marion worked in the field of public health nursing at a time when this was a pioneering area of work in Korea. She served in three different locations and for the last several years in Korea, was a professor of nursing at Ewha Woman=s University in Seoul. Marion offered a model of ministry that empowered the people of PROK to seek justice in their country and champion human rights. Marion is a talented musician and constantly encouraged the Korean people to find ways to integrate traditional Korean music into the western services that the Korean people had adopted from the first missionaries.

Marion's nomination was accompanied by several letters of support that demonstrated how she has used her passion for caring and social justice to offer hope and comfort to the people of Korea and in Canada. In these letters she is described as a peace and justice maker, an advocate in solidarity with marginal people, a liturgist and a friend. One letter stated, "In a wonderful way, Marion embodies the ministry of women in the life of the church - strong, courageous, persistent and always focussed on the good of the whole."

Since her retirement in Canada, Marion has worked tirelessly with the congregation of Trinity - St. Paul's United Church to encourage them to be advocates for marginalized people in their own community. She serves in the "Out of the Cold" program, serving and nursing to all the folks who come for meals and conversation. Marion has also held positions in the Division of World Outreach of the United Church and was a consultant on the Voices United committee, translating several Korean hymns to be included in the hymn book.

In recent years Marion has been an active volunteer in the Centre's program. She has played an instrumental role in supporting two Korean born students both formally as a Diaconal Mentor and less formally with their English. Marion has also provided pastoral care to students and their families in difficult times.

Marion graduated from the United Church Training School (a forerunner of the Centre for Christian Studies) in 1955, and has degrees from University of Toronto, Yale, and Yonsei University in Korea where she wrote her doctoral thesis in Korean.

Marjorie (Graduate 1943) and Cyril Powles
Marjorie and Cyril Powles are deeply committed to ecumenism, to global mission, to social justice, to the ministry of the laity and to theological education that integrates academic learning with the realities of the world. Both are gentle persons who listen well, but who speak out for the issues about which they are passionate. They have a deep commitment to the Centre for Christian Studies.

After graduation from the United Church Training School, Marjorie became the Student Christian Movement Secretary at McGill, where she and Cyril met. After marrying, Marjorie and Cyril served in Japan, Cyril's birthplace, for the Anglican Church of Canada. Ministering first among rural parishes and then at the Anglican Theological College in Tokyo, they made a significant contribution to the development of the Japanese church between 1949 and 1970. Returning to Canada, Cyril joined the faculty at Trinity College, Toronto. His research interests encompassed broad disciplines, and include religious aspects of movements of social protest as well as Asian culture and religion. Marjorie became a key leader in the women=s movement in church and society. Many women church leaders are indebted to Marjorie for her mentorship and keen political analysis and strategizing during a time of great change for women. They have each lived out a commitment to life long learning. They have a high capacity to learn from experience, reformulate their positions in light of new thinking and context, and radically critique the past.

Their nomination was accompanied by several letters of support. In these letters Marjorie and Cyril's work as individuals and as partners is honoured and praised. One letter said of Marjorie, "Her insights, vision and constant loving support were invaluable to me as I struggled to serve women in a male dominated institution." Another letter says of Cyril, "I was greatly taken by his wisdom and perceptiveness, his kindly gentleness and yet his challenge for ministry." In their work together they are described as, "excellent role models for us in living a theology of justice; they have supported justice, peace and feminist issues through times of depression, and injustice, through war and its aftermath."

Both Cyril and Marjorie have played a very active role in the life and work of the Centre over the past 30 years. Both have sat on the Central Council, sharing their wealth of experience and insight. They have been directly involved with the students of the Centre through formal and informal mentorship, particularly with Anglican students. They provided language support for Japanese students and a home away from home. Now retired to Vancouver, they continue their connection with the Centre, most recently interviewing applicants to the program.

As active workers and commentators in many areas of social justice work, the Powles have been justly honoured by many institutions throughout Canada and abroad.