Linda Margaret Ervin was born in Nova Scotia. She took her diaconal training at the Centre for Christian Studies in Toronto, graduating in 1973. After spending her first three years in a congregation in Calgary, she moved to Vancouver in 1976 where she served in mission ministry at First United Church for 11 years. Her role as founding member and president of the First United Church Housing Society would nurture a lifelong passion for social housing, in addition to other community advocacy and education, especially in women’s rights and women’s health issues. From 1987 to 1990, she served at Vancouver-Burrard Presbytery as part-time staff in Multi Cultural Ministry. From there, she was called upon to become part-time ordered ministry staff at Kitsilano United Church at a time of its amalgamation with St. James United Church into Trinity United Church, where she ministered until 1997. She later took a job in a mission partnership between Japan and North America. Upon returning to Canada, Linda applied her diaconal skills as a transformational educator, working to help congregations in B.C. and Alberta move through difficult transitions. In addition to her degree in Diaconal Ministry, Linda completed a Bachelor of General Studies degree at Simon Fraser University in 1989 (?) with studies in criminology, political science, and women’s studies. Prior to completing a Master of Theological Studies at St. Stephen’s Theological College in Edmonton in 2003, she served on its faculty, coordinating the Master of Arts in Social Transformation Ministry and the Diaconal Ministry degree programs.