Meet the Board

James Beattie first attended MCC Toronto in 2016 at the behest of a member Paul Gray. The loving and kind welcome James found at the Church was completely unexpected and transformative from the outset. He volunteered as part of the webcasting team, participated at community meals, and is now a proud member of the Bass section of The Choir of MCC Toronto.

Professionally James career is exclusively in Capital Markets including Senior Global management roles at BMO, RBCCM and CIBCWM Inc. James is currently CEO of a derivatives exchange and clearing house start up tFOSE (Toronto Futures Options Swaps Exchange). His role includes corporate governance, regulatory approvals, capital raising, investor relations and daily operations.

Deana has been on staff with MCC for 14 years, serving in many capacities, currently as Senior Pastor. A former Maritime/Admiralty lawyer in the USA, Deana sought more meaningful work, became a minister, and moved to Canada. She holds a B.A. (Hons) from Dominican University, a Juris Doctor from George Washington University, and an M.Div. (Hons) from Wesley Theological Seminary. She has been engaged in ministry for nearly 30 years. She also serves as the Judicial Process Manager for our denomination (Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches) and is involved with the Toronto Police Service as a member of the 2SLGBTQ+ Community Consultative Committee. She loves to engage in spirited theological discussions and has a passion for spiritual journeys of all kinds. Combining her love of Biblical studies with her hobby of Biblical archaeology, she enjoys exploring new perspectives on old meanings. She shares her home with her wife, Janet, three cats, and a dog.

Colleen has been attending MCC since 2017 and became a member in 2018. It has become her second home.

Colleen has met a lot of people through her participation on the dragonboat team, volunteering with community meals, and attending the depression initiative group.

Her passion is to give back. After 35 years of volunteering, in 2015 Colleen was awarded the Sovereign’s medal for volunteers by the Governor General of Canada. Her volunteer passions include the sick kids hospital, children’s aid, camp Oochigeas, Starlight Children’s Foundation, St John’s pet therapy program and Etobicoke Support Services for seniors to name a few.

Prior to retirement, Colleen worked as a senior property insurance underwriter for 30 years, which involved assessing risks and providing coverages.

Tom Kiley, a retired Senior Director at Royal Bank of Canada, worked for 35 years at Canada’s largest financial institution.  Successive leadership positions of increasing responsibilities both domestically in Canada and internationally in Trinidad afforded him a breadth of experiences leading large-scale change initiatives and programs in finance, human resources and operations.

After a five year absence of living elsewhere, Tom returned to Toronto and MCC in 2024 and believes the church occupies a unique and important place in our community.  Its mission and promotion of respect for diversity and social justice for all are important values Tom personally shares and will promote in his work as a board member.

After attending her first service at MCC Toronto in 2008, Susan knew she had found a safe spiritual place where she would feel peace, respect and acceptance. She knew she had found home and became a member in 2009.

Wanting to give back to this amazing church, Susan has volunteered in many capacities over the years, and joined MCC Toronto’s Board of Directors in 2020. Beyond the value of helping, she found volunteering was a wonderful way to meet kind, loving and supportive people.

Susan’s professional career was centered around ensuring the emotional well being for children and youth. Since retirement Susan has taken care of her ailing parents, assisted agencies in building or mending staff teams and presented workshops on how to understand and support children with emotional and behavioural challenges.

Valerie Mills first participated with MCC Toronto in 2010 by singing with The Choir of MCC Toronto during its Roy Thomson Hall . She later joined the choir on a regular basis in 2012. Valerie has always had a strong sense of self and advocacy. She has advocated on behalf of people with mental disabilities, provided support to those in crisis, and has provided life skills and mentoring to those who are looking to make a career change.

Valerie believes that MCC Toronto is inclusive and everyone is welcome in this place and in this space.

Valerie is employed as a paralegal with the Ministry of the Attorney.

Lee started coming to MCC Toronto services in 1998 and became a member in 2001. He first volunteered with the Audio & Tech ministry and is currently one of the team leads with the Anointing and Serving ministry. He has also sang with The Choir of MCC Toronto for a few Pride and Christmas Eve Worship services.

Lee works in the field of leadership development and immersion learning, where he relishes being in the midst of innovative, creative and inspiring leaders. He is proud to be serving on the Board of MCC Toronto.

Stephenie Naugler first discovered MCC Toronto in the late 1980s at the Gerrard St. site. She and her partner began attending regularly in 1994 and became active volunteers right from the get-go, as Sanctuary Saints, as leads in the LGBTQ+ Refugees Clothing Program and in a variety of other roles. Stephenie joined the Board in July 2022, and currently sits on the Finance Committee (as Board Treasurer), the Senior Pastor Search Committee and the MCC Toronto Organizational Review Committee.

Stephenie’s work and education was initially in the hospitality/tourism field, though she later moved to healthcare where she managed large culturally diverse teams to ensure safe patient care at academic/trauma sites including Sick Kids, Baycrest and St. Michael’s. Now retired, Stephenie and her partner enjoy giving back to the church and community.

Ben Rowswell is founder of the Remembering Project, a movement of non-Indigenous Canadians who acknowledge our collective responsibility for the harm caused by the residential school system. Remembering Project volunteers support survivor committees in their search for missing and disappeared children, contributing to our shared understanding of the truth as a prerequisite for reconciliation.

He previously served as President of the Canadian International Council, Canada’s Ambassador to Venezuela, Representative of Canada in Kandahar, Charge d’Affaires to Iraq and cofounder of the civic technology startup Betterplace.

Ben is the proud father of Ava, Luke and Mia Rowswell.

Kevin Willcock first attended MCC Toronto in 1996. It changed his life and set him on a path to discover his authentic self. Since then he has consistently volunteered at MCC Toronto, including 19 years as a Deacon and 4 years on the Board of Directors. Kevin’s goal is to ensure that MCC Toronto remains vibrant and relevant for generations to come. In his professional career Kevin is employed as a Service Delivery Manager at Oracle, a leading enterprise software provider.