Our adversary attacked the Ottawa congregation at the critical and vulnerable time when we were attempting to establish another congregation.

In May 1985, during that time of assault, God sent help from across the Atlantic Ocean. A man I did not know personally then—Pastor Ted Donnelly—came from Northern Ireland to teach at our Canadian seminary. He also preached in the Ottawa congregation that Sabbath. Rev. Donnelly was unaware that he was preaching to an embattled church, but God knew. The Lord sent forth His Word through this man at just the right time. Another vital connection had been made, this time with the Irish Church. It was through their minister that God’s help and strength came to us. After listening to Rev. Donnelly’s morning message that day (and again on tape), I was resolved in what I had to do.

In September 1985 a judicial commission was appointed by the St. Lawrence Presbytery to begin many months of work in our church. Six months later the commission made its final report, in which a disciplinary action of the Ottawa session was upheld. The battle had come to an end, but there were casualties. Over 30 people had left the church. Some of the people who left were my children in the Lord, people I had led to Christ. It was a very sorrowful time.

In January 1987 I wrote to the congregation: “While in some years church discipline has taken very little time, this past year has not been so blessed. Literally hundreds of hours of your pastor’s, session’s and presbytery’s time has been consumed in dealing with discipline cases in this congregation. While sin had threatened to destroy this work, the time put into saving it was well worth it. By God’s grace, we continue!”

We continued as a congregation—smaller, but stronger. Aubrey Ayer and I had come through that first battle standing; and standing together, side-by-side, as pastor and elder. This was a year of recovery, in which the Lord raised up Alaisdar Graham as an elder to help in the rule and restoration of our people.

On June 24 of the following year, the Perth fellowship was organized as the Perth congregation of the RPCNA. Dr. Christian Adjemian, who had received his full seminary training at Ottawa Theological Hall, was ordained and installed as its pastor. Dr. Coombs was elected as Perth’s first ruling elder. The service of organization was held in the sanctuary of the big United Church building—the same one where Covenanters had worshiped our God in former days. In attendance were people from the other Canadian congregations and many of the American ones. Professors who had taught at Ottawa Theological Hall also came up to Canada for the occasion. Of course, the St. Lawrence Presbytery was there as well.

A member of the Almonte RPC remarked to me how amazed he was at all the new people singing the psalms. Then he said to me, “You know, Rich, when I was a boy I remember when the presbytery used to come to Canada. It was always to close another church.” What a change! Instead of attending a funeral, he was witnessing an incredible outpouring of God’s grace. Instead of death, there was life. It was the work of God. About 40 members of the Ottawa RPC became the beginning membership of the new Perth church. These were fabulous and exciting days. God was manifestly at work. The excitement in the Perth church was palpable.

Also during this year, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the nation’s abortion laws. It was a time of unique opportunity for Christians, especially those in the nation’s capital. The Lord opened many doors for me to speak “to kings and governors.” I spoke to the premier of Ontario and, in a television address, to the prime minister of Canada. I preached to thousands of Canadians on Parliament Hill about Christ’s kingship and His dominion from sea to sea. “He shall have dominion from sea to sea” (Ps. 72:8) is engraved in the stone above the main door of the Canadian parliament buildings.

The next year, my family and I traveled across the USA visiting many of our churches and raising money for the Canadian RP Seminary (OTH).

In 1990, after considerable hesitation, we (the Ottawa RPC) moved into a larger building on the west end of Ottawa to accommodate our growing numbers. We rented the Seventh Day Adventist building for worship services and the Ottawa Christian School for Sabbath school classes. Our church was growing and we needed more room, but we had continual difficulties there.

There was great excitement when the first Canadian student, Matthew Hadwen, graduated from Ottawa Theological Hall in 1991. (Prior to this, every graduate of OTH had been an American student.) Matthew was ordained as pastor for a new RP church plant in Kingston, Ont. Great discouragement followed. In less than a year the work was abandoned. However, 20 years later, Matthew Hadwen is preaching again; this time in French, as a supply preacher to a Reformed congregation in Québec.

A Place Prepared for the Ottawa Work (1992–1995)

In 1992, the Ottawa congregation began to sense the need for a building of our own. We were still renting three separate buildings, and the rents were steadily increasing. We had met in 10 different locations over the years. We were tired of wandering, and our present facilities were tenuous at best (we had been threatened with eviction more than once). From our congregation, the Lord raised up two very gifted deacons, Iain Campbell and Stu Schmidt, who became responsible for the building project. In August our first step towards a permanent meeting place was taken. By faith, we bought a piece of property in Ottawa with the hope that someday we would have a building on the site; a building that would house our three main ministries—the church, the seminary, and the Sabbath school.

This land was purchased from what had been a family farm and was located in the middle of Ottawa! My elders, deacons, and I met with the family. In that meeting, we realized that the members of this family were believing Christians. They were really excited to hear that we were planning to use the property both for a church and for a seminary, since their parents’ desire had been that it be used for one of the two. When it came time to discuss the price for the property, we all agreed to take a week to separately pray that God would lead us to the right price, and that we would each come back with a price that we believed was the right one. A week later, we all returned with exactly the same price! A contract was drawn up, and we became the owners of a beautiful property, with 52 pine trees lining the future lane that would lead to the doorstep of the church. You might say that this was not the common way to conduct business over an extremely valuable piece of property in a very wealthy city, but God was pleased to glorify Himself in this manner.

We worked to raise money for the building. In the summer of ’93 my family and I visited Northern Ireland, where we were blessed by a faithful church and a beautiful land. We were greatly encouraged by the sincere interest of the Irish RP Church in the Ottawa work. They supported our building fund quickly, joyfully, generously. We all rejoiced in their willingness to help us.

In June 1994 we had our official groundbreaking ceremony. I could not imagine that a building would ever be in that bush-lot, but later that summer we began to build. Iain Campbell faced and overcame every obstacle the city bureaucracy threw at us. Soon after, Iain was elected an elder. His wisdom, knowledge, and godliness are invaluable assets in the Ottawa ministry.

Soon more than 100 adults and 100 children ceased from moving from place to place. We exultantly and thankfully moved into our new building on our property; a beautiful building containing a sanctuary, Sabbath school classrooms, a large fellowship hall, a general library, an OTH library, an OTH classroom, and a “Prophet’s Chamber” for visiting professors. Our official opening service was held April 23, 1995. At the official opening service and after my morning message, I announced my new status as a Canadian citizen. The American visitors in the congregation were perplexed (and later asked me why I had done such a thing), but my Canadian congregation broke into spontaneous applause. There was a sense of permanence that day. The Ottawa church had their own property and building; they also had their own Canadian pastor. Our building would be completely paid off in 11 years.

Perseverance in the Work and Proclamation of the Word (1995–2011) God continues to lead and guide and mold us. There have been numerous fierce assaults on our church and upon me personally (the pastor is always the point man, drawing the enemy fire). I labor in the midst of a warfare generated by “principalities and powers, the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12), but God has been faithful and the work continues to this day. The Ottawa RP Church continues to grow. Many people have come and gone (and many have stayed), but God has persevered and strengthened us through the years; teaching and maturing us through His Word—even when that strengthening and teaching came through being “tested by fire” (I Pet. 1:7).

It seems that where there is a combination of patient endurance and faithful preaching and teaching, a congregation may struggle to exist but usually survives. The church is always under attack, because the church is on the attack; and she battles, not in a safe haven, but in enemy territory. Even though “the gates of hell shall not overpower the church” (Matt. 16:18), the battles are fierce and the discouragements are great. During the years 2002–2006, three of our new works ended (the Perth/Smiths Falls congregation, as well as the Bancroft and Toronto mission churches). The Apostle Paul reflects perfectly on the battle: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5). How do we do this? We preach the Word of God—in season and out, corporately, individually, and in faith.

All was not bleak. The Russell, Ont., church plant, under the faithful leadership of Pastor Matt Kingswood, was initiated in 1997. On Oct. 13, 2006, the Russell mission church was organized as a congregation of the RPCNA. Ottawa Theological Hall remains strong and continues to train men for the ministry and many men and women for service in the church. This year, 53 men and women are taking various courses at OTH. Currently, we have six men studying for the pastorate, who one day may carry the torch themselves—the light of the Word of God.

Despite the difficulties and disappointments, the northern lights are spreading once again. Today, there are six RP churches in Canada, with two new churches organized in the last year: New Creation RPC in Kitchener, Ont. (with Pastor Scott Wilkinson) and Shelter RPC in Edmonton, Alberta (with Pastor Bob Hackett). Courtney Miller ministers nearby in the Hudson/Saint-Lazare RPC in the province of Québec. Our mother church in Almonte, Ontario is growing under the strong leadership of OTH graduate Matt Dyck as its pastor. Our daughter church in Russell is strong and growing. It is blessed to have Pastor Matt Kingswood, who also studied at OTH. Cush4Christ, the mission outreach to Sudan, is presently led by Vince Ward, another graduate of OTH. Jan Buchanan, who studied at OTH, has been a long-term missionary in Senegal. Currently she is in Sudan as part of the RP mission team. Andrew Stringer, also a graduate of OTH, recently finished his missionary work in Sudan. Steve Zink, a recent graduate of OTH, is currently working as assistant pastor in the Ottawa RP Church.

Addendum

The work and the life of the church must always continue on a course in which the Word of God, ever exalting Jesus, is the centerpiece. This is not limited to the public preaching, but should extend to all areas of the church, including encouraging and teaching people how to really and truly study the Bible for themselves and apply it to their lives. Often, the temptation will be to do something new; something good, but something else; something that might make the church grow faster. But we must trust in the Lord and in the means He has ordained. We must remember that God does not measure success by numbers. He is interested in the heart, and advances His Kingdom by the means He has ordained. We must have patient endurance and perseverance as we sow the precious seed. We must say, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16).

Recently, I was told by a pastor that the Ottawa RP Church was just “a preaching station.” It was meant as a judgment and an insult, but I took it as the greatest compliment. We are here to preach the Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is our mission. This is our calling. If I were ever to change the name of our church, I would not hesitate to call us “The Preaching Station,” where all pilgrims would be welcome to stop for refreshment, strengthening, and encouragement in the living and life-giving Word of God.

Such a plan of ministry is not without difficulty. I have found that in 30 years of labor in the gospel ministry, the battles, in one way or another, have always come down to the Word of God. The battle for the Bible is not just a cultural battle. It is the church’s battle. Stand fast. Stay the course. Persevere. “Preach the word when it is convenient and when it is not” (2 Tim. 4:2). God will be honored and the church will be blessed.

We continue in our labors and our battles in the strength of the Lord with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We continue with a vision for the church in Canada (and in lands far beyond our borders) that the rule of Jesus Christ will extend “from sea to sea” (Ps. 72:8). By God’s grace, He will “establish the work of our hands” (Ps. 90:17)! “I am convinced that He who began this great work…will perfect it to the very day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6).

From the Ottawa Sheep

We are thankful for God’s guiding and preserving hand upon us, for the godly elders given to us (Aubrey Ayer, Iain Campbell, Paul Ledwell, Steve Zink, and formerly Alaisdar Graham), and for the deacons (Norm Fry, Pieter Trouborst, and others who have served throughout the years). We are also thankful for our beloved Pastor Rich and his wife, Nancy, for their wholehearted, faithful, steadfast, unswerving ministry in which they have “stayed the course,” shepherded us, and blessed countless lives; for Rich’s passionate biblical preaching and teaching; and for God using Rich and preserving him throughout 30 years of ministry and spiritual warfare, to bring many souls to Christ. We are grateful to the countless men and women who are part of the congregation and who invest their hearts and lives in the ministry of this church, doing so because they love God and His Church. By God’s grace, we look forward to the next 30 years! “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:29). “To the only wise God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever” (Jude 1:25).

—Dr. Rich Ganz is the founding and continuing pastor of the Ottawa, Ont., RPC. He is president of Ottawa Theological Hall.