Student AffairsVisit us at 210 Mitchell Hall! If our door is open, please come in!
Chaplain Drop-In Hours:
We strongly recommend you reach out about making an appointment. Common Room hours will not necessarily have chaplains available.
Please email chaplain@queensu.ca or call 613-533-2186 to book an appointment.
Erin returned to Queen’s in her current role in January of 2022. Ordained in the United Church of Canada, Erin spent 15 years in congregational ministry with a focus on intergenerational connections, programming for Spiritual But Not Religious members, and education for herself and her community on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity, settler colonialism, and anti-Black racism, particularly around the role institutions have played in creating harm and upholding harmful systems.
Erin has always focused on community and connection. She enjoys working with students to explore how faith and spirituality adapt and change, and wrestling with how traditions and practices with ancient roots can hold relevancy and importance in modern times. In her work at Queen’s, she supports students in areas of faith and spirituality, meaning-making, the spiritual dimensions of mental health, identity, grief, relationships, family dynamics and vocation.
Erin is an enthusiastic vegetable gardener who keeps adding plants to the FSL spaces. She enjoys reading cozy mysteries and books with dragons in them. She is very creative and can often be found drawing, sewing, or knitting warm, woolly things for her spouse and two children.
Imam Abdullah El-Asmar was born and raised in Montreal, then moved to Kingston in 2014 when he was offered the position of Muslim Chaplain with Correctional Service Canada for incarcerated Muslim inmates, where he continues to serve.
In 2016 he joined the Chaplaincy team at Queens University as one of the Associate Chaplains.
Imam Abdullah’s work mainly revolves around teaching and spreading the correct and normative understanding of Islam rooted in spirituality, self-awareness, and God-consciousness. His presence on campus will provide support to students with their religious and spiritual needs, to be a listening ear and to help them navigate student life within a religious context.
He runs several study groups and programs on campus, namely a Gathering of Remembrance held bi-weekly in the Inter-Faith Prayer Room in Mitchell Hall.
Imam Abdullah is also a passionate martial artist and a qualified Self-Defense instructor. He can also teach you how to kick butt! :)
Contact Imam Abdullah at a.elasmar@queensu.ca
Heidi De Jonge has been a Christian pastor for 18 years. Most of those years she has served as a congregational pastor, but she began her ministry working with university-age students who were discerning what they wanted to do with their lives. Heidi received her Master of Divinity from Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and her Doctor of Ministry from Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, focusing her studies and her dissertation on conflict transformation. In addition to her new role as an associate chaplain at Queen's, Heidi is a chaplain in a long term care home near Kingston, and also works with a couple of different organizations that help people navigate conflict.
Heidi enjoys writing, especially at the intersection of loss, grief, and spirituality. You can read her monthly essays in The Reformed Journal here. Heidi is a road cyclist, a dog lover, a wife to Tim and a mom to three teenage kids. She is looking forward to journeying with Queen's students in all of the beautiful and terrible complexities of their lives.
