The Reverend Diane Knowles

Our Minister

Diane is a Maritimer. She was born and raised on the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland. After high school, she left the island to study at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Psychology and was on the Dean’s List.  Returning to St. John’s, she became an on-air host for a local radio station for six years. She was “discovered” by CBC  because she then became a writer, broadcaster and news reporter for CBC Radio in St. John’s for another six years.  It was during this period that Diane began to realize that she wanted to provide more comfort and support to people in crisis, whom she interviewed, than her job as a journalist enabled. This was the beginning of the stirrings of a call to ministry.

During this period too Diane met and married Marc who is an Air Canada pilot. They had two children, Joshua and Rebecca who are now in their twenties, completing their studies and starting their careers, although Joshua’s plans of becoming a pilot have been sidelined by the disappearance of pilot’s jobs due to COVID-19. Diane calls her family her three biggest blessings in life.

When she was 40, and the family was living in Ontario, Diane responded to the nudging of the Spirit, and began theological studies at Emmanuel College, the University of Toronto. She was the recipient of the Emmanuel College Philosophy Award of Distinction along with her Master of Divinity degree in 2007. She was ordained and settled by Toronto Conference at Bond Head United Church and had a fulfilling and flourishing ministry there for 13 years.

Marc was raised in Bracebridge and feels he is coming home with their move to Muskoka. Marc has a deep bass voice and loves to sing.

One of the gifts Diane brings is nurturing us both spiritually and psychologically to be the best we can be, and working alongside our Pastoral Care Coordinator, she will help those needing to find healing and peace.

Diane was called to Trinity in 2021.