Ministers
Team Members
Rev. Karen Bridges
ReverendRev. Karen Bridges was called to Robertson-Wesley United Church in 2010. Her ministry focus is community outreach and partnership, children, youth, family, young adult and arts ministry, along with worship and pastoral care.
Her B.A. degree from the University of Alberta, with a Drama major and Religious Studies minor, along with her Master of Theological Studies from St. Stephen’s laid a foundation for her path to Ordination which was completed at the Vancouver School of Theology. The practice of discernment has been vital to her ministry at Robertson-Wesley, as she seeks to find ways to life faithfully in a time of uncertainty, where globalization and mass displacement have resulted in isolation and an ever expanding divide between people.
Karen is guided by the belief that God is calling Christians to practice radical hospitality with strangers where truth is spoken in kindness and, compassion and grace are offered to all people. She believes strongly that the ARTS are the path between the sacred and secular where justice and healing can happen for all.
Team
Elyse Munro
Office AdministratorElyse’s passion for connecting with people and helping those…
Read moreTeam Members
Elyse Munro
Office AdministratorElyse’s passion for connecting with people and helping those in need has driven her career direction for more than ten years, Elyse is thrilled to bring those years of relationship building and administrative experience to the team at Robertson-Wesley United Church.
Her creative spirit is matched only by her drive to champion inclusion in all forms, including supporting the LGBTQIA2S+ community, Black Lives Matter, Communities of Colour, and celebrating cultural diversity.
When she’s not working, Elyse is either finding new ways of expressing her own creativity or exploring the creative expressions of others in her lifelong home city of Edmonton.
Team Members
Dr. Allan Bevan
Music DirectorAllan Bevan comes to Robertson-Wesley with a wealth of musical experience to share. Dr. Bevan is a graduate of the University of Windsor School of Music where he studied organ with David Palmer. He completed a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting at the University of Alberta where he studied conducting with Leonard Ratzlaff and Debra Cairns. Allan served as Leonard Ratzlaff’s research assistant and in that capacity, he arranged music for the U. of A. Madrigal Singers, he was also the choral librarian for the choir and an interim accompanist for the Richard Eaton Singers.
Allan continued with Doctoral studies at the University of Calgary where he studied Composition with William Jordan, Allan Bell, and David Eagle. While at the U. of C. Allan’s choral compositions won numerous awards from the Association of Canadian Choral Conductor’s (now Choral Canada). Allan was the winner of the 2000 Ruth Watson Henderson Choral Composition Award sponsored by Choirs Ontario, and other competitions in the United States and Europe. His main area of doctoral research was in Middle English diction specializing in the sacred poetry of anonymous scholars and preachers from the mid-thirteenth to the mid-sixteenth centuries. He applied this research to what has become one of his best-known compositions Nou Goth Sonne Under Wode. This oratorio for Good Friday was premiered by Pro Coro Canada in 2005 to a sustained standing ovation. Since that time, the piece has been performed in Toronto, San Francisco, Vancouver, Dallas, and at Carnegie Hall in New York.
Allan has composed and arranged music for many of Edmonton’s best-known choirs, including Ariose Women’s Choir, Chorale Saint-Jean, Da Camera Singers, Edmonton Metropolitan Chorus, I Coristi, and the Richard Eaton Singers. Other commissions and performances of his music include works for Cantare Children’s Choir, Chorus Niagara, the Toronto Orpheus Choir, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, and many others. His choral music is published by Cypress Choral Music of Vancouver, and Lorenz Corporation in Ohio.
Allan has served churches previously as Music Director in Calgary, Lethbridge, Thunder Bay, and Toronto. As an instructor, Dr. Bevan has taught for the Departments of Music at the University of Calgary, Lakehead University, and the University of Western Ontario.
Team Members
Brad Campbell
Facilities ManagerBrad Campbell is our Facilities Manager.