Huron Expositor, 2014-11-05, Page 21Wednesday, November 5, 2014 • Huron Expositor 21
Bethel Bible Church celebrates 50 years of ministry
For the Expositor
Bethel Bible Church will
mark its 50th anniversary
of ministry and service to
the community of Seaforth
the weekend of Nov. 15 to
16 with an open house,
banquet and special anni-
versary service, featuring a
former pastor and music
from all generations of
singers. It will be a cele-
bration of the church's
past, as well as a kick off
for the church's next 50
years in the community.
"We're heading into
some challenging times for
the church," said Bethel's
pastor, Rev. Mark Kennedy.
"Life is so much busier
now - there are lots of
events booked on Sundays
and even stores are open.
It wasn't that way 50 years
ago. Our church leadership
is challenged to plan how
we can address that and
reach out to the
community."
Rev. Kennedy confirmed
that Bethel has seen a lot of
change over the last half
century, but said one thing
has remained constant:
"God's Word is founda-
tional at Bethel."
"Our vision statement,
'Building a community of
maturing believers in the
Lord Jesus Christ that will
impact the surrounding
community for the glory of
God' is still valid," said Rev.
Kennedy. "It involves two
things: We are very pas-
sionate here that we are
firmly established on the
Bible, and we desire to be
contributors to the
community."
With the decreasing
emphasis on church in
today's society, Rev. Ken-
nedy said the church needs
to reach out to its commu-
nity more than ever before,
to see it as their local mis-
sion field. He hopes the
Seaforth community will
see Bethel as a warm, wel-
coming fellowship.
"We're not perfect peo-
ple, but we want people to
have a good taste in their
mouth about Bethel. We
have a compassion for
people and we need to be
more intentionally com-
munity -minded," he said.
"We want them to know we
have a faith, and see that
the personal relationship
that was so paramount in
our coming together is still
there, and we can encour-
age one another and pro-
vide hope where hope is
lost."
According to founding
members of Bethel Bible
Church, the future of
Bethel is rooted in its past.
"We have always been a
Bible -believing group;
being evangelical was the
distinction, I think,"
offered Ada and Gordon
Blanchard, two of several
Seaforth area residents
who in 1964 left their
mainline churches in pro-
test against "modernism"
to form the "evangelical
voice for God" that would
become Bethel.
"People have to do, and
stand up for, what they
believe is right. We felt very
strongly that we wanted to
stay biblically -based," they
said.
So, on Sept. 25, at the
Legion Hall, this group of
believers held their first
Sunday School. They
moved to the Orange Hall
the next Sunday and added
an evening service, and
then later a morning
church service in addition
to the Sunday School. In
November 1964, 14 charter
members announced their
congregation as a "house
of God that acknowledges
the Scriptures": Bethel
Bible Church. One year
later, in December 1965,
Bethel Bible Church
became a member of the
Associated Gospel
Churches of Canada, with
reception services held on
Jan. 13, 1966. In addition to
the Blanchards, other char-
ter members of Bethel
were: Virginia Dalton, Mr.
and Mrs. Lyle Hammond,
Lola McGonigle, Damon
and Marjory Stannah, Rob-
ert and Elaine Peterson,
Orval and Florence Greer,
Hazel Greer and Harvey
Greer.
A number of leaders
have guided Bethel in the
50 years since its incep-
tion. Rev. Art Yielding
came first, offering his
leadership from 1964 to
1966 while still pastoring
in Stratford. Rev. Floyd
Shantz was the church's
first full-time pastor, serv-
ing from mid -1966 until his
call into Peruvian missions
in the fall of 1967. He was
followed by Rev. Dwight
Patterson, who stayed until
June 1973. It was during
Rev. Patterson's term that
facilities on Water Street in
Egmondville were pur-
chased, renovated and put
into use. From mid -1973
to his pastoral retirement
in 1981, Rev. Art Yielding
took the helm of Bethel
full-time. It was during this
time that Bethel reached
out to begin monthly ser-
vices in area nursing
homes.
Rev. Archie Robertson
picked up the reins in 1981
and stayed until June 1987
when Rev. Glen Sadlier
took over. The 1980s
resulted in increased out-
reach efforts through "The
Bethel Messenger" and a
Vacation Bible School
program.
Rev. Rick Lucas came to
Bethel in October 1990 and
served until March 1998.
His leadership in the nine-
ties brought much growth
in the weekly church
attendance, and the
church had to begin meet-
ing at the Seaforth District
High School because it had
outgrown the capacity of
its building in
Egmondville.
In December 1998, Rev-
erend Doug Corriveau
came to Bethel. By March
of 1999, the church final-
ized the purchase of its
present building which
formerly housed Canadian
Tire retail space, and
before that a furniture fac-
tory. By June of 1999,
Bethel Bible Church offi-
cially moved to downtown
Seaforth. Reverend Doug
Corriveau was
instrumental in leading the
building program at the
new site, with members
putting up walls, painting,
laying carpet and doing
electrical work and
plumbing..
A series of interim and
supply pastors served from
2002 until Apr. 9, 2009,
when Bethel's current Pas-
tor, Rev. Mark Kennedy
took on the role.
"There have been lots of
changes, but through them
all the constant has been
Biblical teaching, outreach
to community and focus
on missions," noted the
Blanchards.
From its early days of
one weekly service, the
church now offers a full
continuum of program-
ming and outreach includ-
ing: Sunday morning
church services, Sunday
School for all ages
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seaforthhuronexpositor.com
(including adults), nursing
home services, men's,
ladies' and topical Bible
studies, Boys' and Girls'
Club, Jr. and Sr. youth
groups, vacation bible
school (vbs), ladies'
retreats, men's breakfasts,
"State of Heart" worship, a
community barbecue and
carnival, and an "After the
Christmas Parade" hot
chocolate event. Its con-
gregation serves in many
areas, including teaching,
music, visitation and
caregiving.
Bethel also remains a
church committed to mis-
sion work, with a portion
of its budget going to sup-
port missionaries across
the world. It sends out
short term mission teams
annually to children's
homes in Mexico and
Columbia. Bethel also runs
a "Love Came Down at
Christmas" program where
gift baskets are delivered to
people who are suffering or
in need of comfort over the
Christmas season. The
congregation was instru-
mental in forming the Sea -
forth and District Food
Bank.
Bethel's anniversary cel-
ebrations include an Open
House from 2 p.m. to 4
p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15,
followed at 6 p.m. with a
banquet for returning and
present members and affil-
iates. On Sunday, there will
be a special anniversary
service featuring returning
guest Pastor Rick Lucas, a
soloist, a special occasion
men's choir, the church's
regular worship team, and
the Fanatics Worship team
that features young adults
who grew up in the church.
That is scheduled to begin
at 2 p.m.
11
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