Dean Davey, PhD

Assistant Professor of Leadership
At the age of 15 my life purpose hit with lightning-like clarity: to encourage others. Since then, life has led me down diverse paths where failures have become glorious and successes illusory, so that in the end, my hope and desire is simply that you would know fully you are deeply and profoundly loved.

Dr. Dean Davey finds great joy in journeying alongside others to assist them in finding life at its fullest. After decades of serving as a pastor, founding a non-profit organization, and then managing a retail/manufacturing business, Dean completed his PhD, focusing on the suffering of failure as an educational transformative process. Agreeing with TS Eliot that "the hint (is) half guessed, the gift half understood," he is humbled by the paradoxical reality of life. Even still, his greatest delights are his wife and children, and occasionally he enjoys a round of golf (but usually not).

Dr. Davey has served in the following roles:

  • Lead Pastor, Friendship Baptist Church (1992-2008)
  • Founder & Executive Director, Abiding Life Canada (2004-2008)
  • Business Manager, Hammond Jewellers (2009-2021)
  • VP & Dean of Students and faculty member, Pacific Life Bible College (2015-2023)
  • Certified Life & Leadership Coach, Chrysalis Advantage Coaching & Consulting (2021-present)
  • Provost and faculty member, Rhodes Wellness College (2023-2025)
  • Assistant Professor of Leadership, Trinity Western University (2025-present)

Feel free to check out Dean's website for more info: deandavey.com

  • PhD in Educational Studies (Biola University; 2019)
  • MA in Christian Studies - Leadership (Trinity Western University; 2001)
  • BA in Biblical & Theological Studies (Briercrest Bible College; 1992)

Expertise

Burnout, Posttraumatic Growth, Failure Response Theory, Moral Descent, Spiritual Formation, Restoration Practices, Redemptive Suffering, Atonement Theories, Scapegoat Mechanism, Mimetic Theory, Existential Positive Psychology, Entrepreneurial Servant Leadership

  • A Phenomenological Study of the Spiritual Formation and Restoration of North American Pastors Who Experienced Moral Descent (doctoral dissertation, Biola University)

Awards & Honours

  • The Scholastic Award, The Society of Professors in Christian Education (2019)

Recent Publications

  • A Phenomenological Study of the Spiritual Formation and Restoration of North American Pastors Who Experienced Moral Descent (doctoral dissertation, Biola University)
  • Responding to Failure: A Transformative Process, Christian Education Journal
  • Pastoral Burnout, Failure, and the Value of Restoration, Northwest Institute for Ministry Education Research
  • Book Review: "You are what you love," Christian Education Journal
  • Book Review: "The other half of church," Christian Education Journal

Affiliations & Memberships

  • Interim President, International Network on Personal Meaning
  • Public Insight Director, Canadian Professional Counselling Association
  • Academic Council Chair, Rhodes Wellness College & Vancouver School of Healing Arts

  • LDRS 504 Leadership, Values & Ethics
  • LDRS 612 Leading Change & Innovation
  • LDRS 614 Mission, Marketing & Quality
  • LDRS 617 Employee Engagement & Stewardship