Mark Kelm, one of three new board members at Providence University College, hopes to help shape lives just as his changed was 20 years ago.

Kelm, now the Senior Chaplain at Union Gospel Mission, was nominated by his old friend Lorn Bergstresser who had sat on the board for many years.

"He submitted my name," says Kelm. "They went over my record and I had a meeting with President David Johnson."

At the Governor's Banquet at the end of October, Kelm and two other new members - Sheldon Loeppky from Langley, BC and James Zelinski from Pitt Meadows, BC - were affirmed and welcomed onto the Board of Governors.

The first Board meeting was "surreal," Kelm says. "To be sitting at a table like that with former professors who taught me years ago - like Cam Mckenzie - but it was surreal in a good way. I am going to enjoy sitting in those meetings."

Providence says their Board of Governors, "Is responsible for the school’s stewardship, purpose, viability, vitality and integrity. The members of the Board are committed to advancing Providence’s mission and vision."

Kelm says Providence had a "big impact" on his life and because of that, he hopes to give back to its current and future students.

"This gives me the opportunity to have a voice in how things are going at Providence."

Kelm first went to Providence in 1995 for his Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies before receiving his Master of Divinity at their Theological Seminary.

In his second year of university, Kelm was asked to join Student Leadership as a Resident Advisor - something far outside of his comfort zone.

"It was a formative time for me," he says. "When I first went there I was a really shy person, but they really got me out of my shell.

Attending Providence, says Kelm, not only impacted his social life but the entire course of his career.

Kelm says he has originally planned to become a police officer, but within his first year of study, he felt a call in a new direction: "I just felt the Lord's calling to be a pastor.

"My time at Providence was a good nine years that I was there and it was very formative years - it had a big impact on my life, how I look at the Bible, and my ministry work today."

Kelm mentions that the Board hopes to have at least three members involved in ministry either at a church or para-church organization.

"I am hoping to bring more of a ministry-type voice to the Board in that way. I just want to do what I can to help Providence continue to be one of the leading Bible colleges and seminaries in Canada."