Pastor Sean Todd is first and foremost a loved Child of God who wants everyone to grasp the peace that passes understanding which is offered freely from God. Next, he loves and is loved by his wife Kalie Etheridge who is a teacher at Sandy Lake Academy. Third, Athletics holds a dear place in his heart. He always excelled at sports and loved the team atmosphere, but acrobatics was, and is, treasured above all other sports.
He is currently serving as the sole pastor of 2 small churches in Nova Scotia, chaplain at Sandy Lake Academy, camp director for Pugwash Summer Camp, and is halfway though his Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry (MAPM). One of his favourite aspects of serving where he does has been establishing an acrobatics team at Sandy Lake Academy. The SLA Osprey are now in their 4th year of existence. Starting just as Covid shut down the world was a bit of a hurdle, but that only served to strengthen the team’s motto, “Hard is good.” Christ does not call us to laziness nor convenience. He calls us to put in the hard work and become the best possible servant for him. So, if life is easy, then you’re doing it wrong, because hard is good.
Sean spent his young years being taught by Toby Asante and Ron Schafer in the Junior Acro’s after school program. Then he joined the Acronairs in his grade 12 year 2011-2012. He spent his college life split between Burman and Avondale in Australia so his years on the team are fragmented. Between 2011 and 2018 he spent a total of four and a half years on the team.
Sean’s favourite memory of the team comes from the last show in his first year. In June 2012, a few remaining team members were brought to a near by stampede ground for a show. For context, throughout the year, at any event with food, Sean would walk up to his teammates and with painstaking slowness he would reach out and take food from their plates. Bewildered by the audacity of being robbed in broad daylight in such an obvious manner, at first the teammates didn’t react, not really believing he would take their food. Just as he would scoop the food from their plate and they would begin to react, he would once again bewilder them by whispering, “Just let it happen”. Back to the Stampede ground. One of Sean’s favourite moves was being hit for a gainer off the teeterboard. Luke Edgson, about the same size as Sean, is who used to hit in show. At the stampede ground though, Sean stepped onto the teeterboard, looked up and just before signaling ready he saw Tony Bentley (assistant coach) standing next to Luke, arms around each other’s backs ready to double hit. As eye contact was made Sean could see Tony mouthing the words, “Just let it happen.” Signalling ready, Sean flew higher in show that day then he ever had before.
Some of Sean’s favourite sayings are:
“If you’re not living life on the edge, then you’re taking up too much space.”
“Pain is like yogurt, it expires quickly.”
“The oxen is slow, but the earth is patient.”