Pastor Rich Ganz and his wife, Nancy, at Ottawa RPC’s 35th anniversary celebration with the gift presented to them by the congregation.

Location: Ottawa, Ont.

Presbytery: St. Lawrence

Organization: May 1981

Membership: 83 communicant; 48 baptized

Pastor: Dr. Richard Ganz

Website: www.rpcottawa.org

History

For many years, dear and faithful saints in the Almonte, Ont., RPC prayed that our Lord would, in His mercy, bring a congregation to Ottawa, the nation’s capital. In 1973 Joy and Aubrey Ayer moved to the Ottawa area from New Brunswick. Jesus used them to be integral in the answer to these many prayers. Over time and through attendance at the St. Lawrence Family Conference, the Ayers came to be acquainted with the saints in the Almonte RPC. At that time, there were only two congregations—70 souls—left of a church that once had more than 100 congregations across Canada.

In 1979 a monthly fellowship group began meeting in the Ayers’ home. Striking out in faith, worship services were started later that year in an Ottawa suburb. The preaching fell to pastors from Almonte RPC and nearby Lisbon, N.Y., RPC. A call was put out for a pastor for the fledgling work.

Rich and Nancy Ganz arrived in Ottawa in May 1980. The first worship service was held in Ottawa in Sept. 1980. Ottawa RPC was organized as a congregation on May 27, 1981. Since then we have grown in numbers. There have been many seasons of trial but also seasons of rest, and always with the blessing of our Savior. We met for worship in several locations around Ottawa, finally settling in our own building in March 1995.

On May 27, Ottawa RPC celebrated its 35th anniversary in an evening of fellowship shared with brothers and sisters from Almonte, Russell, and Hudson-St.Lazare.

Ministries

We recently held retreats for both men and women. In February we hosted a youth retreat during Winterlude, a winter festival in Ottawa The young people who attend are always enthusiastic about their faith and learn from a different speaker each year. The singing at the Sabbath worship is always lively with so many youthful voices.

We have a midweek time of prayer, psalm singing, and Bible study on alternate Wednesday evenings. There are Bible studies at several homes throughout the week, plus a monthly men’s prayer meeting.

At Christmas the children of our congregation perform a pageant written by Nancy Ganz telling the account of Christ’s birth. We invite family and friends as well as folks from the neighborhood. Nancy has painstakingly collected costumes and props over the years.

Recently Vince and Julie Ward have returned after 10 years in South Sudan with Cush4Christ. Under Vince’s direction we are starting a street ministry, something we haven’t done since our earliest days when Rich Ganz searched the streets of Ottawa looking for those Christ would lead to His Church.

Interesting Facts

• Ottawa Theological Hall and its library are housed in our church building.
• Our oldest member is our elder emeritus and founding member, Aubrey Ayer. One of his great grandsons, James Lendore, born in January, is our youngest.
• Each June the Ottawa RPC and the Russell RPC get together for a pig roast at the fairgrounds in Russell, Ont.
• We have a room in our building to house visiting pastors and professors that we call the Prophets Chamber.
• Psalm 72:8 is inscribed on the outer wall of the Canadian House of Parliament in Ottawa.