Centre for Redemptive Entrepreneurship

04/23/2026

Full house last Thursday on the theme of Navigating Business in the AI World.

Over 45 builders gathered at the Startup Starters Huddle, a community evening filled with thoughtful sharing, active listening, honest reflection, and genuine exchange among like-minded Kingdom builders.

In conversation with Alan Kearns of CareerJoy on his personal journey, one idea anchored the evening:
✔️ Work is not meant to be driven by fear, but shaped by calling and expressed through love.

From that, three insights stayed with us.

1. Work matures from career into assignment
2. Growth requires discernment, not just ambition
3. In an AI-shaped economy, how we lead and care for people becomes central

Throughout the evening, these thought-provoking insights formed a redemptive mindset of how we build, facilitating deep conversations that continued after the event.

We captured more reflections in a short article to be shared soon. Stay tuned.

If you are thinking through similar questions in your venture, save the date and join us at the next Huddle on July 9.

04/16/2026

Scripture is never meant to read just on Sundays.

Last night, the Centre for Redemptive Entrepreneurship (CRE) and the Canadian Bible Society (CBS) hosted a dinner with Chinese business leaders and pastors, wrestling with a simple but disruptive truth:

God’s Word moves through cultures, markets, and everyday work.

The Bible is being translated into heart languages around the world—reaching peoples without God’s Word in their own language that can bridge their lives to God.

Builders and business leaders are becoming active participants in the global Bible movement—not just funding it, but shaping it through investment and participation in the movement’s strategy.

This is where capital and leadership become part of the life-changing global mission.



Canadian Bible Society

04/13/2026

🤖 Leading people is already challenging, and AI is adding layers of complexity.

🤷🤷🏻‍♂️🤷‍♀️ We notice more Christian founders grappling with this now. Roles are evolving, expectations are unclear, and people are trying to determine where they still add value.

As an entrepreneur, how we lead during this season truly counts. It influences what happens to those we’re responsible for.

We’re opening this discussion at the next Startup Starters Huddle with Alan Kearns, Founder of CareerJoy.

A practical talk on leading people well when everything is shifting.

Thursday | 6:30 pm | Tyndale University

→ Register now
https://redemptivebusiness.ca/huddle

04/08/2026

☑️ Leading people is often the hardest part of building anything.

You can have a strong idea, a growing business, and real traction— but still feel the weight of hiring, culture, and responsibility for others.

At this Startup Starters Huddle, we invite you into a guided conversation with Alan Kearns, Founder and Brand Champion of CareerJoy. Born in Ireland and raised in Canada by immigrant parents who found dignity and meaning through their work, Alan developed an early conviction: work is not just a job—it is a place where people contribute, grow, and serve others.

That conviction led him to build CareerJoy, an award-winning national firm that has partnered with more than 2,300 organisations, including Shopify, MNP, Fluevog Shoes, The Salvation Army, Military Family Services, and the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.

In this live conversation, Alan will reflect on:
His entrepreneurial journey and key turning points
What he has learned from working with leaders across Canada
The real challenges of building organisations that serve people well

How to align people, culture, and responsibility in practical ways. This evening is designed for founders, builders, and operators who want to lead people more clearly while continuing to build what they’ve been entrusted with.

Coffee Meetup: 6:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Program: 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Reserve your seat today:
https://mjqad4cc.paperform.co

Centre for Redemptive Entrepreneurship

03/26/2026

CRE’s New Experience in Atlantic Canada

Last week, Philip spent three days in Moncton for the Vennture Conference (a Faith-Meets-Work initiative by CBM) at Crandall University—and he came back deeply encouraged.

Philip was invited to be the keynote speaker at the conference, followed by a luncheon meeting with pastors and business leaders. Throughout the trip were meaningful conversations with faculty, students, business leaders, and ministry leaders who share the same views of integrating faith and work in the marketplace.

We talked about what redemptive means in our calling as Kingdom builders, and decisions that might even cost us, but have the gospel value. We discussed how business could shape culture, whether we are intentional about it or not, and what it might look like to actually form people rather than just inspire them.

Kingdom builders have ample opportunity in the marketplace. They are ready to move. But intentional formation is necessary because it turns that readiness into action that matters.

We are grateful to Crandall University and CBM for the experience in Moncton, and for the amazing people we had the chance to sit with along the way. 🙏


Tyndale Seminary

03/10/2026

Is entrepreneurship part of God’s redemptive mission?

Philip Yan, founder of the Centre for Redemptive Entrepreneurship (CRE), is honoured to be a keynote speaker at the Vennture Conference at Crandall University in Moncton, New Brunswick (March 17–18).

On March 18, Philip will share how Christian entrepreneurs can integrate applied theology and faith conviction with strategy, leadership, and operations in venture building—serving communities and shaping culture with redemptive purpose.

If you are a business leader, entrepreneur, ministry leader, or aspiring entrepreneur, we invite you to join the conversation and meet like-minded Christians exploring redemptive entrepreneurship as mission.

📍 Crandall University
🗓 March 18 | 7:00 PM

Looking forward to this event! You coming?

We’re pleased to welcome Philip Yan from the Center for Redemptive Entrepreneurship (CRE) at Tyndale University. Philip will speak on what it means to build and lead redemptive businesses, ventures that pursue both economic and gospel-shaped impact.

Following his address, there will be a time of Q&A, as well as a short social time with light refreshments. This evening will be especially meaningful for entrepreneurs, business leaders, students, and pastors interested in strengthening the connection between the church and the marketplace.

02/19/2026

Last weekend, the CRE was invited to Leamington, Ontario. We left encouraged and inspired.

We visited large manufacturing facilities, toured North America’s largest greenhouses and innovated greenhouse labs, visited multi-purpose healing services, youth ministry and housing initiatives, and sat with leaders who are rebuilding more than their own successful companies.

What we witnessed was way more than large scale business success.

It was alignment with a deep conviction of the gospel.

Many faithful entrepreneurs in this region are asking a deep faith-in-action question:
How do we design leadership, strategy, and operations to actively address the broken system, the service gaps, and build up the people and community?

We discussed what redemptive entrepreneurship means in building business systems and ministry for flourishing purposes.

This trip affirms our belief that renewal doesn’t start with new programs. It takes surrendered leaders willing to build differently.

So grateful for the time in Leamington. Something profoundly meaningful is taking root there.

Leamington Ont Canada

Tyndale University
Tyndale Seminary

02/06/2026

👏 Last Thursday night, something special happened.

CRE’s first Startup Starter Huddle of 2026, themed “Restart,” was packed—then the conversations spilled past 11pm. Stories were shared. Isolation dropped. There was a real sense of togetherness and attentiveness to what the Holy Spirit was doing among us.

We gathered Christian entrepreneurs, founders, and business leaders—not just to network, but to wrestle honestly with what it means to build companies with Kingdom purpose.

Our special guest, David George, Co-founder and Board Advisor in Strategic Alliances for Accedo.tv based in Stockholm, brought a resonating message:

"It's an unfair advantage to be a Christian in business..."

What it means is having faith does not make entrepreneurship easier; it fundamentally changes why we build and who we trust.

A few highlights that really got us thinking…

→ "People who know how to do something will always work for the people who know why. I'm a why guy."

→ "When your faith deepens, you're not the driver anymore. You're in the back seat saying, 'All right, God, where are we going?'"

→ "Most days I don't know what to do—but my eyes are fixed on You."

Every part of the sharing was relatable. There was a palpable sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit among us.

Save the date: Our next Huddle is Thursday, April 16, 2026. Stay tuned for details.

If you're a Christian in the startup world and you're ready to stop going in circles and start building with focus—we'd love to see you there.

Question for our community: What conviction of your faith has shaped how you approach business? 👇

01/21/2026

Over the past few weeks, we’ve spent direct, unhurried time with our friend, David George—listening, mapping, and reflecting on his business journey.

Revisiting the real moments that shaped him as a builder:
startup decisions,
→ merger complexity,
→ acquisition pressure,
→ and the slower, deeper work of renewal.

This is how we prepare at CRE.
By walking with leaders through their lived experience—naming what mattered, what changed, and how faith was carried into real business decisions.

The upcoming Startup Starters Huddle builds on that work.

If you’re building—and wondering how to carry your work more faithfully this year—we’re creating space for that kind of dialogue.

Thursday, January 29
6:30–9:30 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm)
Tyndale Commons, Tyndale University

→ Register: https://redemptivebusiness.ca/huddle

Space is limited to keep the conversation focused.