Harold G. Wells is the 2019 Distinguished Alumni/ae Award Winner

The Rev. Dr. Harold Wells Emm 6T6 was named this year’s winner of Emmanuel College’s Distinguished Alumni/ae Award for lifetime achievement at the local, national and international level.

Wells is Professor Emeritus of systematic theology at Emmanuel College. He is also a retired United Church of Canada (UCC) minister who has served the church and society as minister, teacher, academic and prolific writer. Wells holds a BA (McMaster), BDiv (Emmanuel College), MTh (Edinburgh), PhD (McGill) and DD (Knox, U of T).

Wells served three UCC pastoral charges in Ontario: Jarvis, Sudbury and Burlington. He published, as author or editor, six books, 11 chapters and 17 peer-reviewed articles – in addition to dozens of popular articles and reviews – and delivered many academic and public lectures and workshops.

Wells, as mentor, supervised 23 doctoral theses for students of the Toronto School of Theology, as well as many Master’s theses.

Wells’ work in Lesotho with his wife Pat (who taught high school there) resulted in fruitful mission partnerships, including serving as chaplain to the Protestant congregation at the National University of Lesotho and lecturer in theology at Morija Theological Seminary and the National University. He also served on the Africa committee and executive of the Division of World Outreach of the UCC.

Wells has written various theological statements and responses for the UCC, including on apartheid in South Africa. He has been active in writing about eco-theology and Christian churches’ ecological responsibility. In his retirement, Wells has served on the Board and published substantially with Touchstone, a Canadian journal of theology and heritage, numerous articles in the Observer and various other publications on the issue of climate change.