On a Friday night in the late 1990s, long before smartphones or social media, students packed into the common spaces of Trinity Western University’s Robson dorm. Intramurals had wrapped up, the cafeteria buzz had died down, and discipleship groups were gathering in living rooms across campus. Among them was Mike Penninga, a Kelowna native who had thrown himself into the life of the University.
“I lived on campus for all three years I was at Trinity,” he remembered. “I was involved in recreational services, intramurals, discipleship programs. I even helped launch the video yearbook. Living there gave me the full experience Trinity had to offer.”
Those years weren’t just busy, they were transformative. The friendships formed, the professors who poured into him, the countless small acts of community all built a foundation that would carry Penninga through decades of ministry, teaching, and leadership.
A Family of Faith
Faith was never just a Sunday routine in the Penninga household, it was the air they breathed. Morning devotions at the kitchen table, prayers before bed, active church and youth group attendance, and a steady example of parents who lived out what they believed left a lasting imprint.
“My parents were good at living their faith and then inviting us to do the same,” he recalled. That steady rhythm of faithfulness shaped not only him, but his siblings as well. They all chose to study at TWU with their different callings and talents: Mike’s older brother Martin pursued Business, his younger sister Melanie chose Education, and Mike found his home in Christianity and Culture.
Three Penninga siblings, three different callings, but one shared foundation. That legacy continues today as each finds ways to pass along not just traditions, but a lived-out testimony of God’s goodness across generations.
From Journalism to Alternate Storytelling
Before he arrived at Trinity, Penninga’s path looked very different. He was trained in broadcast journalism and was already working in radio and television. Then came a story that shook him: a crime leading to the death of a young girl. Penninga covered the grief that enveloped the community. The work honed his skills as a storyteller, but it also confronted him with a deeper question.
“There's a lot to be said about journalism. It has shaped my life and how I do every day storytelling. But for me, I just thought to myself, What do I want to do with my one life? And there was this phrase that I stumbled across, “One life on earth will soon be passed, only what's done for Christ will last.”
“That season was formative in my life and I would say that it prompted me to consider more redemptive purposes and think about how faith intersects with culture,” said Penninga.
That conviction set him on a new course, toward TWU, where he majored in Christianity and Culture with a minor in Communications.
Ministry Beyond the Pulpit
After graduation, Penninga returned to his home church in Kelowna and was invited into pastoral ministry. For nearly two decades, he preached, counselled, and shepherded congregations. Along the way, he began graduate studies at ACTS Seminaries with a focus on apologetics, drawn by his journalistic instinct to ask questions and pursue answers. Holding true to his heart for ministry, Penninga began to see God redirect his gifts into new arenas: from life-saving services to leadership and mentorship programs.
“Now I still get to love people, to encourage them, to pour into them. But the congregation isn’t in a building. It’s in workplaces. It’s every day.”
Today, Penninga works at Canadian Blood Services, building partnerships to strengthen Canada’s lifeline. He coaches leader's one-on-one, designs workshops for new Canadians, teaches in Continuing Studies at Okanagan College, and in the summer officiates weddings. At each touchpoint, he sees ministry in every marketplace of life.
“There are so many opportunities to point to Christ just by how you show up,” said Penninga.
Building the Leadership Lab
For Penninga, leadership has always been the thread running through his story: whether holding a microphone as a young journalist, shepherding a congregation as a pastor, or now equipping professionals in servant leadership in boardrooms.
This fall he is harnessing those decades of experience into The Leadership Lab with Mike Penninga, a means designed to help people grow in courage, clarity, and conviction. “In a lab, you experiment, you try things. Some things don’t work, some things do,” he explained. “My desire is to create spaces where people can be presented with leadership ideas and practices that can absolutely revolutionize how they show up at work.”
Through workshops, one-on-one coaching, and keynote presentations, Penninga helps leaders thrive at work and in life. Those interested can explore more about his work with Leadership Lab at www.mikepenninga.com. It’s his way of bringing faith into the broader culture and planting seeds of transformation in spaces far beyond traditional ones.
Lessons for Today’s Students
When asked what advice he would give to current TWU students, Penninga didn’t hesitate.
“Be present each day with that day. Don’t live in regret of yesterday or anxiousness of tomorrow. And don’t worry too much about your grades. Not once has anyone asked me my GPA. But what people want to see is, how do you add value wherever you go?”
For him, a Trinity Western education wasn’t about chasing perfection, but about becoming a lifelong learner who carries faith into every sphere. More than 15 years after graduating, Penninga still points back to the investment of professors, the laughter in dorms, and the student life experiences that gave him confidence to lead.
“Trinity gave me an opportunity to try things in a safe environment that helped build my confidence to then springboard into the real world,” he said.
From journalism to pastoring, from classrooms to boardrooms, Mike Penninga’s story is one of faith intersecting with culture: exactly the vision that drew him to Trinity Western in the first place. And wherever he goes next, that calling remains the same: to use his voice, his story, and his leadership to point people toward Christ.
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About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students for life. Uniting faith and reason through Christian teaching and scholarship, TWU is a research institution offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in the humanities and sciences as well as in several professional schools. It has campuses in Canada in Langley, Richmond, and Ottawa. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Instagram @trinitywestern, Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn. For media inquiries, please contact: media@twu.ca.