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Our History
The Beginning
Picture 10 couples, with the encouragement from Bethel Chapel in Waterloo, meeting for Bible study in a basement in the Lakeshore Village area of Waterloo back in the early 70s. Now, look at a huge brick building of almost 48,000 square feet, and churches in Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo . How did that all happen?
Well, first of all, it took about 30 years. That Bible study became a small congregation that called itself Lakeshore Bible Chapel and was meeting in Cedarbrae school. In 1974, the leaders asked a young man, Gord Martin, recently returned from a church planting mission in Columbia and Ecuador to help reach their neighbourhood with door to door visitation, mall outreaches and other activities.
Lakeshore Bible Chapel
The congregation of Lakeshore Bible Chapel grew and by 1978 they completed a building at 470 Glen Elm. Before long, there were more people than there was room in the new building. They talked, prayed and searched for ways to expand but to no avail. In 1985 a group of new and enthusiastic believers left to plant the Victorious Church in Kitchener . The following year, Forestview (now Highview) was launched on the west side of Kitchener . In 1988 Oasis Outreach Ministries was launched in downtown Kitchener , with much of the initiative coming from Lakeshore.
In 1992, Cambridge Community Church began meeting on the east side of Cambridge . In 1996 New Hope Community Church began meeting in a school on the west side of Waterloo. Since 2005, Life Spring Community Fellowship has been developing their cell church model.
Lincoln Road Chapel (LRC)
145 Lincoln Road is a ministry centre. It is home to two congregations, Lincoln Road Chapel and a Mandarin Congregation. The building plays host to a number of marriage and family councellors. It also hosts annual meetings and special events for a variety of church and community groups, including Ray of Hope, Canadian Mental Health workshops, OWL Child Care Annual General Meeting, Conestoag College's Second Language School, and various basketball and volleyball events. OWL Child Care operates in the adjacent but separate building on the property and serves the families of about 70 children in our community.
Vision Ministries Canada (VMC)
145 Lincoln is also home to Vision Ministries Canada , a co-operative network of adaptive and growing churches dedicated to church extension, leadership development and promotion of church health. This network, first developed in the early 1990s by Gord Martin, former lead pastor of Lincoln Road Chapel, includes about 130 churches across Canada . Interest ministries of Chicago provided the initial funding. VMC staff at 145 Lincoln Road handle administration, church health surveys and support, a resource centre and a development office. VMC presents conferences, training and network events from coast to coast and has a western office staffed by Jay Gurnett. Gord Martin serves as Executive Director. To go to their website, click here.
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