Mundle Fund
Pursuing Possibilities: An Annual Community Education Event in Honour of Garth Mundle and Colleagues
About the Fund:
This fund establishes an annual community education event at St. Stephen’s College to explore one or more of the following themes: justice, equity, and inclusion; culture and diversity; contemporary theology; and/or a topic that furthers the mission and values of the College. The annual event will consist of a workshop, public lecture, or some other form of continuing education together with a time of hospitality. The Mundle fund was established to honour the contributions of Garth Mundle to the development and practice of the mandate of the College, and the faculty, staff, and lay leaders with whom he worked.
About the Fund’s Namesake:
Garth Mundle described Garth Mundle described St. Stephen's College as a “place of possibilities.”
Serving as principal from 1979–1994, he was a visionary in the history of St. Stephen's. With his leadership, and with the faculty at that time, the College hired its first female faculty member; it branched out into the then innovative areas of feminist and liberation theologies; it established new programs offering theological education to lay people; it promoted global exposure through the ever- popular Study Tours to places such as Israel, Palestine and Egypt, India, and Africa. In addition, two national initiatives looking for a home and staffing were applied for and accepted: a research project in New Church Development and an experimental program in field-based education for diaconal ministry. One of his longest standing legacies at St. Stephen’s is the culture of openness, embrace, and hospitality that was established through communal meals and gatherings. At the core of his work, Garth further shaped St. Stephen’s into a safe place to explore, and to do things differently: a “place of possibilities.” On the whole, the Mundle years at St. Stephen's were marked by vibrancy, ambition, and community.
Conditions of the Fund:
The Mundle fund was initiated by Dorothy Naylor in 2021. Her gift to the College was in memory of her spouse Garth Mundle and to honour those with whom he worked during the years he served as principal of St. Stephen’s College (1979–1994). It also acknowledges the gratitude Garth often expressed for the experiences, relationships, and learnings through his ministry with the College, including its educational partners. Contributions to this fund will be invested according to the investment policy of the College. By direction of the donor, the Mundle annual community education event will be paid out of the income generated from this fund. The annual amount given to the Possibilities event will be dependent on the total value of the fund and will normally be determined by the St. Stephen’s College Board of Governors.