Greer Anne Wenh-In Ng

Greer Anne Wehn-In Ng (吳 詠 嫣; born 1936) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian scholar and religious educator. Having taught Christian education at Vancouver School of Theology and Emmanuel College in Toronto, Ng has also served in leadership roles for the United Church of Canada. She is known as a feminist and anti-racist leader within the church. Ng is listed as one of 215 most-influential Christian educators by a peer reviewed database maintained by the Talbot School of Theology.

Early life and education Ng was born in Hong Kong in 1936 and was given both Chinese and English names, Ng Wenh-In (吳 詠 嫣) Greer Anne.

Following the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, Ng's family moved to Vietnam and then to Macau. She returned to Hong Kong for high school. During high school, She attended a Baptist mission school and a Catholic church.

Ng graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1958 and 1960 with a Bachelor and then a Master of Arts degree in English (with a focus on the writer, George Eliot). While at the university, she studied with the poet Edmund Blunden. In Singapore she began teaching at Trinity Theological College. She was one of the first women at the college to teach with faculty status. In 1966, the couple moved to Toronto for a year-long sabbatical. During that year, her husband was a visiting scholar at Emmanuel College, Victoria University.

In 1978 Ng returned to school to complete a Master of Divinity degree at Emmanuel College.

Her career as professor of educational ministry began in 1986 at the Vancouver School of Theology.

Awards and honors She is the first Asian North American woman featured in the "Christian Educators of the 20th Century," a web-based database of 215 Christian educators maintained by the Talbot School of Theology.

In 2010 Victoria University granted Ng an honorary Doctorate in Divinity.

Feminism and religion Ng recalls that as a child she was aware of the gender-based privilege given to her younger brother. Likewise, her feminist consciousness grew as she witnessed the lives of women in different cultures.

Influenced by Paulo Freire, and introducing his work to lay audiences, Ng pursued a contextualized, pragmatic, anti-racist, and justice-centered approach to religious education.

Ng practices embodied spirituality with daily Tai Chi, calligraphy, and hymn writing.

Selected works

Ng, G.A.W. (2020). Complexities in religious education with Asian/Asian Canadians and Indigenous realities: the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report on Residential Schools. Religious Education, 115(3), 315–322. Ng, G.A.W. (2020). Let (racial) justice roll down like waters. Touchstone 38, no. 2: 23–31. Ng, G.A.W. (2018). My religious education Sangha and Dharma: learning-teaching as an Asian in the North American diaspora. Religious Education, 113(2), 165–172. Ng, G.A.W. (2005). Reading through new eyes: post-colonial theology. Catholic New Times 29, no. 1. Ng, Wenh-In, ed. That All May Be One: A Resource for Educating toward Racial Justice. United Church Publishing House, 2004. Ng, G.A.W. (2004). Beyond bible stories: the role of culture-specific myths/stories in the identity formation of nondominant immigrant children. Religious Education, 99(2), 125–136. Ng, G.A.W. Land of maple and lands of bamboo. In Realizing the America of our Hearts: Theological Voices of Asian Americans, edited by E. S. Fernandez, 99–114. St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2003. Ng, G.A.W. (2000). From Confucian master teacher to Freirian mutual learner: challenges in pedagogical practice and religious education. Religious Education, 95(3), 308–319. Ng, G.A.W. (1997). Contextualization of religious education in an age of disbelief. Religious Education, 92(2), 192–203.