I talked with Bryan from his home in Kitchener, Ontario, a short time ago; I recognized his office by the brightly coloured wall behind him. He makes videos and teaches online there, as well as in person.
 
Bryan was born in Winnipeg and has lived in a variety of places in Canada and in South America.  His father is a retired biblical scholar and teacher who taught in Canada, the United States, Costa Rica and Bolivia. His mother is musically gifted, and often led church musicals, in which Bryan had a part. From the age of eleven through sixteen, Bryan lived in South America, and is fluent in Spanish.

Bryan has a solid educational background with a Bachelor of Theology degree from Winnipeg’s Mennonite University, a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Waterloo, a Bachelor of Education from Nipissing and a Master of Theological Studies, also from the University of Waterloo.

The seed for Small Tall Ministries began growing in January 2001. Through a conversation with a few friends and colleagues, Bryan felt new questions and ideas emerge: What about the songs we sing with our children? What if we could sing with our children in such a way that they would grow up knowing that God has a mission of peace, justice, reconciliation, restoration in the world – and we are all invited to join that mission?

That afternoon Bryan sat down on the living room floor with his then-3-year-old son and sang:

"God’s love is for everybody
Everyone around the world
Me and you and all God’s children
From across the street to around the world
From across the street to around the world…”
 
With verses that included  biblical characters and the reminder that this story and calling belong to us too, the floodgates opened. Songs of faith for small and tall would keep coming, and so Bryan became aware of his new vocation.

For the next 19 years Bryan was busy with songwriting, recording, performing concerts and leading in worship. He has released 8 studio albums of original songs and toured extensively…until…COVID…

With COVID, and its obvious restrictions on a touring ministry, Bryan undertook some wonderful interactive online videos and other creative musical endeavours. At the same time, he took an almost fulltime position in Kitchener, Ontario, where he and his wife, Julie, live.
 
For four days a week Bryan works at St. John’s Kitchen - a gathering place for a diverse community of people, including people experiencing homelessness. Julie works at the Job Resource Centre of the Working Centre, an organisation associated with St. John’s Kitchen. They have one grown son who is in university, away from home.

Curious about St. John’s Kitchen, I looked at their website: “St. John’s Kitchen includes many people who are experiencing homelessness, at risk of homelessness, or are street involved. For over 30 years, people have come to St. John’s Kitchen to be with others, have conversation, prepare a daily meal and share it together, and access a variety of supports and resources. It’s a place where people come together in the spirit of respect and mutual support.” Bryan is living out what he sings.

This year, the Epic Telling will be from the Acts of the Apostles, and Bryan just may come up with new songs from that book - just for the online Festival of Biblical Telling, February 3-5, 2023.

You will want to meet this inspiring teacher, with his friendly and inviting ways. Here are a couple of songs to get your heart ready to hear Bryan Moyer Suderman in concert on Festival Saturday. We are looking forward to that!

Song Links:
Our God is a God Who Makes Friends
You're Not Alone