Santa Ono will be missed by UBC churches and faith groups

Santa Ono will step down as President and Vice Chancellor at the University of British Columbia (UBC) October 13. Following six years at UBC, he will take up his new role as President at the University of Michigan the very next day.

He and his wife Wendy Yip have been very active, and well respected around the campus and city, but also in the church.

They have been particularly involved with Tenth Church UBC Pt Grey. A 2019 article in The Vancouver Sun by VST professor Jason Byassee (sadly also moved on from Vancouver this fall) was titled: ‘Santa Ono helps ‘plant’ church congregation at UBC.

(See farewell comments by Tenth’s Site Pastors Anthony and Michele Yackel, below, along with a response from Santa Ono during the church’s September 11 service).

Anthony told me that Ono and Yip attended other churches on campus as well, from time to time, and “are very supportive of all the faith communities.”

In one very recent example, Ono spoke on the topic ‘Faith Seeking Understanding’ September 28, at the grand opening for The Scriptorium, a study centre hosted by St. Thomas Mission for students at University Chapel. After noting that he was born 60 years ago this November (while his parents lived just across University Boulevard at UBC’s Acadia Camp), he gave a moving testimony of the ways in which the Christian faith he adopted as a young man “saved my life” and offered him a new sense of purpose.

Among Ono’s many other faith-based appearances, both on and off campus:

* the 51st annual BC Leadership Prayer Breakfast at Fairmont Hotel Vancouver;

* his Finding Faith and Recovery podcast with Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries;

* the Sky Gala with climate scientist (and fellow Christian) Katherine Hayhoe at Chandos Pattison Auditorium;

* the Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation conference at Trinity Western University.

Earlier this year, Ono delivered the G. Peter Kaye annual lecture for the Vancouver School of Theology. He said:

The question we face is: can faith help lead us through these multiple crises? As a person of faith, and as the leader of a large, complex institution, I hope so and I believe so. . . .

It is my privilege and responsibility to be a leader. For the past five years, I have had the honour to serve as President and Vice Chancellor of the University of British Columbia.

As I’m sure you know, UBC has two campuses – one in Vancouver and the other in Kelowna. More than that, it comprises 16 faculties, 18 schools and two colleges, 68,000 students from more than 160 countries, and 17,000 faculty and staff.

Leading such a complex institution is demanding even in normal times; during a time of crisis, it is even more challenging. Yet, it is at such times that leadership is most important.

My own leadership philosophy is one called ‘servant leadership,’ which was developed by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1964, and refined by many others over the intervening decades.

Servant-leaders focus first on the growth and well-being of others. They aim to build strong communities and lead by influence, rather than power. They start from a position of humility and respect, and they strive to listen and serve with compassion and empathy.

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Saying goodbye

Tenth Church UBC Pt Grey gave Santa Ono and Wendy Yip a warm farewell during their September 11 service.

Michele Yackel began with these words:

I just want to say to both of you, thank you. Not just on a personal level of the way you have blessed our family, and journeyed with us and encouraged us, but for us as a faith community.

We’re not the only people on campus that you’ve encouraged. Many different faiths, many different churches. So we just want to say thank you for that investment.

I also want to recognize that you have started some conversations on this campus that have been pivotal, and I want you to hear that what you have done here is significant. I know that we can go about our days and we can do our things, but the ripple effect of our lives is important. You both have lived an example of generosity, of kindness, of thoughtfulness and of faith.

Wendy, you have shared at United Chapel from your own story and your journey and I want to say thank you for that. You have advocated for so many amazing things here in our community in Vancouver – with the Chinese community, with so many things that you are a part of. The things you have put your hand to have been a blessing, so I want to thank you for that.

And Santa, you have encouraged us in so many ways. I also want to say to you Santa, thank you, because you have have shared from your own faith journey and even your struggles with mental health. And I want you to hear this today – you have started a conversation on this campus that has opened up the ability for people to get help.

That is significant. I have heard from students because they have heard your story, that have now gotten help in their own lives. I can tell you that there are people here today because you have been faithful with what you have journeyed in your own life, and to not hold it to yourself but to be willing to share that with people. You have shown us that there is a wholistic aspect to leadership, to serving, and that it does involve a spiritual aspect of who we are in our creator God.

So I just want to say thank you for the ways you have served and honoured, the many things that you have done behind the scenes. Leadership is not easy. Leadership carries a cost to it, and in fact leadership can be very, very lonely at times. There are many things that you have done and lived, especially during this pandemic time, that I know have taken a toll. So I just want to say thank you for your steadfastness, your faithfulness and your willingness to lead. You have been a beautiful example to us and we are going to miss you.

Michigan, they have no idea what’s coming their way. They are going to be blessed to have you.

Anthony Yackel has enjoyed a “cellist to cellist” relationship with Santa Ono, and a “never to be shown in public again” TikTok video featured them ‘dancing’ together. He said:

Here’s what I love about it . . . You weren’t afraid to take a risk, and I love that about your leadership. You have fun and, honestly, I think that encapsulates so much of you. You have a father’s heart for the students, for the people around. . . .

Santa Ono responded with these comments, just before the congregation prayed for them:

This isn’t goodbye, because I hope that we can stay in touch in the months and years ahead. . . . I’ll be coming back regularly. . . .

Ken’s words [Tenth Church Senior Pastor Ken Shigematsu had spoken earlier] meant a great deal to me because of the tremendous spiritual transformation that occurred in my life in churches.

Many of you know that I wasn’t fortunate to grow up in a Christian family, and when I’ve talked about my own mental health challenges it was because I didn’t have the Lord Jesus Christ in my life.

So the reason why I’m so incredibly happy that Tenth UBC exists – because it didn’t exist when we first arrived, and I will never forget the conversations I had with pastor Ken about this dream that there would be a Tenth UBC – is because of that spiritual transformation that was so integral to my survival and my thriving as an individual.

If you think about what he said about pastors actually bringing forward what’s in the Lord’s heart and mind, for me it’s really what’s happening in the hearts and minds of faculty and staff and students and friends in the university that matter to me.

If I think about my life and the pivotal role the spiritual transformation had in saving me, really, literally, that’s what I want for everyone in this room and for everyone who comes to this room for many years to come.

You know, it’s that education of your heart and of your mind which is really the foundation of one’s faith, because a true faith doesn’t come just from the heart or just from the mind, but from the synergy between your thinking about your faith, but also the love that you have in your heart for others, exemplified by the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I hope that brings light into your lives. It’s so wonderful to see you here. We love you and we wish you all the best in the months and years ahead. . . .

He invited church members to visit him in Michigan – especially if they like football.