AGM 2025

I grew up in a family that had a deep belief in God and love for Jesus. I attended a fellowship baptist church in Scarborough with my parents and two brothers and can remember a Sunday school class when I was 5 years old where the teacher talked about becoming a christian by ‘inviting Jesus into your heart’. I remember this wasn’t the first time that I’d heard this, but this time it registered to me personally, and that night when my dad tucked me in for prayers before bed I told him I wanted to ask Jesus into my heart. I suppose that was the start of a life-long journey with a faith in God that has been growing and evolving for over 40 years now.

In my early years, my parents and youth leaders were most instrumental in helping develop my faith by teaching and modeling what life looks like for someone who loves and trusts Jesus. I was that kid in Sunday school class that won the sword drills and memorized verses and then in school during the week would ‘witness’ to my friends – even getting a friend in grade 3 to ‘accept Jesus into his heart’ right in the middle of class.

My faith in God was real and I don’t ever remember doubting that God exists, or that God loves me. In the later years my faith really developed while at Muskoka Woods over several summers and meeting mentors who still play a big role in my life. I was baptized in high school and later went to Bible College to dig further into scripture and my faith, receiving a BA in Theology. After graduating I joined AIM (Africa Inland Mission) as a missionary in Namibia for a year, then two more.

The last 3 or 4 years have marked a real shift in my thinking about God, the bible, the stories I was taught growing up and most, if not all, of the way that I saw things. I think for most of my life I just accepted things as they were taught and trusted those teaching me, and believed that how I was interpreting the Bible was the ‘right way’ of thinking on all matters. In these last few years my faith has become much more personal and real as I have dared to challenge and question much of how I was taught to interpret scripture and think about God.

There’s a new world in front of me that feels like freedom.  Freedom to explore a faith in God that now truly connects deep inside because it’s no longer rule oriented, or based on needing to KNOW everything. I’m letting go of much of what I was taught but feel more connected to God, even as I realize I know so much less than I’ve always thought I knew.

I’m excited about the journey I’m on, the community I’m a part of at Lakeside, and where we all seem to be walking, together. I still believe that God exists and that God loves me and that the best thing we can move towards doing every day is loving others.

I grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan, married Kevin and lived in Calgary for 20 years, where both our daughters, Kendra and Stacey were born. We moved to Guelph in 2002 and soon after, made Lakeside our church home. I joined Celebrate Recovery in 2013, and continue to find healing from life’s hurts, hangups and habits, and a deepening and renewed faith in Jesus. I serve as a small group leader and on the CR TEAM.

My wife D’Arcy and I have been attending Lakeside since 2019 after relocating from Simcoe to Guelph. We previously attended Lakeside from 2000-05 prior to our move to Simcoe.

We’ve been married for 45 years and have three adult children. Having graduated as a chemical engineer in 1980 I am now retired following a 45-year career in manufacturing management.

I was raised in a Christian home and has always identified as Christian. However, following recovery from addiction to alcohol in 2001, I came to know and understand Jesus in a new and wonderful way. As a result, I have been heavily involved in recovery ministries. In 2004 I was a member of the team that originally launched Celebrate Recovery at Lakeside. Since then, I’ve continued to be involved with CR in various leadership roles in Brantford, Simcoe, and then Guelph again both at Lakeside and as part of the team that started up a group downtown at Hope House.

I have also been actively involved with a not-for-profit organization called Family Outreach Ontario Christian Addiction Support Services where I’ve served as Executive Director since 2011.

My journey through recovery brought me into a close relationship with Jesus. However, in the years prior to relocating back to Guelph, I became increasingly disillusioned with the evangelical church I was a part of. I had difficulty reconciling many of their teachings against the nature of the loving God I met in recovery … eternal conscious torment, God-sanctioned violence in the Old Testament, and gender and minority suppression among others. So, when I started attending Lakeside again it was like a breath of fresh air. Lakeside gave me permission to ask difficult questions and taught me a new language to express my thoughts more clearly and without judgement. This resolved so many of these conflicts. Lakeside has helped me restore my faith in the organized church.