Identity area
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Description area
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History
Edwin James Searcy (Ed) was born to the Rev. George and Anne Searcy at Penticton, BC in 1954. He studied Arts at the University of British Columbia, graduating with an honours degree in history. His first year of studies for the Master of Divinity degree was at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California as a student at the Pacific School of Religion. He completed the degree at the Vancouver School of Theology (VST) and was ordained by BC Conference in 1980. As a pastor, he served Minnedosa-Rapid City Wider Area Parish in Manitoba (1980-1981); Crescent United Church, Surrey (1981-1989); South Arm United Church, Richmond (1989-1995); and University Hill Congregation, Vancouver (1995-2015). Searcy also served BC Conference throughout the 1990s as chair of the Land Claims Campaign (1990-1994) and then of the Indian Residential School Task Force (1995-2000). From 1998 to 2002, he completed the Doctor of Ministry degree at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. He was granted an honorary doctorate by VST in 2015.
A focus throughout Ed Searcy's pastoral ministry was his work in adult faith formation through Bible study and small group discussion. Beyond the congregation, he lectured for several decades at various centres of learning, including VST, Naramata Centre, and the Centre for Clergy Care and Congregational Health (Toronto). His many written contributions to books and journals (1986-2015) have largely come from his perspective as a pastor doing biblical and missional theology. Searcy has served on the Editorial Board of Touchstone theological journal (1993-2010). In 2011, he created "Holy Scribbler," a blog on gospel, church, and living with multiple myeloma.