"My" Churches

I was ordained to the ministry of the Word and the Sacraments on October 11th, 1987 as the minister of the Canadian Reformed Church in Ottawa (this church would later assume the name "Jubilee" on its 50th Anniversary). I served here for five years. The congregation was, at that time, renting Merivale United Church, an historical building whose history goes back to 1876. (Click here for the history of the building). Among other interesting facts: Sir John A. MacDonald, Canada's first prime minister, laid the cornerstone of MUC. 

Surrounded by graves

A lovely building . . .

. . . with notoriously uncomfortable pews

I was ordained by the late Rev. Johannes Mulder, "father," mentor, and friend. Here we are standing in front of Merivale Church.

In 1992 I was called by the Canadian Reformed Church in Taber, Alberta. When I came, this recently instituted church was worshiping in Parkside Manor, a seniors recreation centre. 

After a year or two we moved our services to a building owned by the "Benevolent Protective Order of the Elks" where I preached under the serene gaze of three elk heads. (I wonder how protected these three elks felt. . . .)

For several years I preached in the ugliest building in the federation of churches. But we had some beautiful Sundays there. Once I baptized four children in the same service. We were wall to wall people!

Then we built a lovely church building. I preached and taught here with great pleasure. Taber still worships here.

In 1997 I was called by Ancaster Canadian Reformed Church, which I served for eleven years.

A beautiful building.

In 2008 my first congregation, Jubilee-Ottawa, called me back. I served there until 2016, when poor health led me to request the status of Minister-Emeritus. Though we moved to Hamilton I happily remain a minister of Jubilee Church.

I preached my farewell sermon on a steaming hot summer Sunday in a building with no air conditioning.

Final exhortation.

Jubilee Church, forever in my heart.

Cemetery

It used to be typical to bury the saints who died in the church graveyard. In Europe, people who died were often  even buried inside the building. The Dutch word for graveyard is "kerkhof" which literally translates to English as "church yard."

Although Jubilee Canadian Reformed Church, my congregation, hopes one day to have its own building, we have been joyfully using Merivale United Church since 1979 and I have been preaching in its pulpit for 13 years (1987-1992 and 2008 until the present). The Merivale church building, establish in 1876, is surrounded by graves. What a place to be on the day of the resurrection. Can't you just see it? Jesus descending, graves tearing open, and saints arising! What a sight that will be.

I've always wanted to live beside a cemetery in the hopes I'd be at home on that day. In Ancaster, for eleven years, I lived across the road from St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, which had a graveyard, and now I preach every Sunday within sight of many gravestones.

There is something good about having a cemetery surrounding your church building. Seeing the gravestones and markers before the service makes one long ever more for the words of life he is about to hear or preach. When you leave the service and see them again you know that death will not win out in the end. Jesus has won the victory! O death, where is thy victory! O death, where thy sting! Thanks be to God for the glorious triumph of Jesus Christ!

"Our" church building

Jubilee Canadian Reformed Church has been renting Merivale United Church since 1979. The church, now a heritage building, has an interesting history. The present structure was built in 1876, only nine years after Confederation, when there was not much in the Merivale area, then called "Hopper's Settlement." Although it is a small building, originally it had a commanding presence. An interesting little note is that it was given the address of 1876, the same as the year in which it was built.

The original Merivale Church was a log building built in 1849 by a Presbyterian congregation and soon it was shared with an Anglican congregation.

In 1874 the Anglicans erected their own building, St. John's, immediately south of the log church. St. John's has since moved on but the foundations of the building can still be seen.

St. John's Anglican on the left; Merivale United on the right.

In 1875 the Presbyterians resolved to build a new church, which was dedicated on May 7th, 1876. Originally it did not have the tower it has today. Note the horse shed beside the church.

In 1925 City View Methodist Church and Merivale Presbyterian Church united as part of the grand union that formed the United Church of Canada. In 1939 the tower was added. This is what the church looked like when I served the Ottawa Canadian Reformed Church from 1987-1992, although we were not driving Model "T" Fords (see the garage). The front steps led straight out on to Merivale Road.

In 1967 the Christian Education building was erected just north of the horse barn / garage, which was torn down. Today we use the "CE Hall" every Sunday for coffee and fellowship, and I use it for my catechism classes.

In 1990 a new narthex and sidewalk were added to provide much better access to the building.

Today Jubilee Canadian Reformed Church is a small but friendly and growing congregation of about 165 souls which I have been serving again with joy since 2008. Please drop me a line if you would like to know more about us.