Faithway Baptist Church was born in the heart and mind of Ray Duerkson as God spoke to him while attending Bible College in Waterloo, Ontario. Ray, along with his wife Fran and four children stepped out in faith and believed God wanted them to start a church in Woodstock. Peter Reynolds had been traveling to study the Bible with the Duerksons and his interest was growing for something to be done in Woodstock. He, along with Barb Toews, agreed to assist in the early days of the church.

Faithway’s Development

In those early years, many Christians found a church where they felt welcomed and others came because of the Bible content and the faith element that was emphasized. The evangelistic efforts of the church were rewarding and several families and individuals came to a personal faith in Christ. The pool at the YMCA was used for baptism on several occasions. Although the membership was small, the church believed it would grow and that God would provide a building.

Faithway praises God for the great beginning He has given and looks ahead to even a greater future. "...to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" (Ephesians 3:21)

In the fall of 1988, Faithway approached the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Church about acceptance and was received into the Fellowship. At the same time a building was purchased on Springbank Avenue. The small building began to fill and the church met there for less than a year. The property was sold and the church now had enough for property to build on. The church moved back to the YMCA temporarily. The land on Athlone Avenue was purchased in June 1991. The rezoning and severance of the land was completed the next year and the house on the property was sold in June 1993. During this time the church called it's second pastor Harry Toews. He began his ministry in January of 1993, after serving as interim pastor. The FEBC builders provided the plans and labour for the building project which began in September 1993. The church took six months to complete and was ready for the grand opening in March 1994, just in time to commemorate it's 10th anniversary.

A Land Divided (By Karen & Hugh Mckendrick)

On June 13,1991, Don Perkins, pastor of Oxford Baptist, saw a property for sale on the Athlone Avenue. It was on the outskirts of town. It was 2 ½ acres with a house on it. Ray and Fran sensed the Holy Spirit saying that this was the place for Faithway, as did Hugh, Al Wyatt, and Pete Reynolds. On Friday, June 14, the Holy Spirit confirmed it in Ray’s heart as he read 1Thessalonians 3:11“Now may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way before us.”

On Sunday, June 16th , it was proposed to that the church would proceed with negotiations. John Larsen (Mrs. Wyatt's father) agreed to be the agent for 4% commission, which would be split with another agent. FEB called to say that we qualified for a Minute Man loan and several other funds.

On Friday, June 21,1991, we offered $195,000 with a $10,000 deposit and three conditions: rezoning, congregational approval, and financing. Negotiations proceeded with a final offer of $210,000 with $20,000 deposit which they accepted.

On Tuesday, June 25, we called Stu Sylvester for his free standard blueprints he used for small churches . A month later Ray and Fran decided to place their own house on the market. They would live in the Athlone house and sell the land to the church for the difference of the value of their property. That would have been approximately $100,000 the church would pay for the land

On June 26th we began working with the City of Woodstock, to begin the rezoning applications. Bob Smith, Ray’s neighbour, had owned an Engineering Firm in Woodstock for many years. He helped us get the surveys needed and advised us not to get consultants for our presentation to the City. Instead, he offered to coach Ray through the processes of applications and presentations for free, about a $10,000 savings! The FEB had a model building which was used to show to the church. They agreed to supervise the building of the church but many volunteer hours would be required from our people. The City was in favor of the Planning Commission’s recommendation to allow us to purchase the property and rezone it.

On Nov. 7th City Council unanimously passed the rezoning and severance application. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), which was provincial, opposed it . There might be gravel they could use. There were ongoing tension between the MNR and the City. We were going to be a test case for them before the Ontario Municipal Board! Despite this, the FEB suggested to proceed on the building plans.

May 5,1992, MNR's test dig on the Athlone property found only poor grade gravel. They then agreed to reverse their objection if we agreed to sign a legal document saying we wouldn’t oppose them in the future. And with that we had the property back! For a year God had been working on Ray and Fran to return to Manitoba. They left before the completion of this project. God had to take our church on a journey of faith without the Duerksons! God had a new church that needed them and eventually the founding of a church renewal ministry, to be use around the world!

In June, 1993, we broke ground on the Athlone property. Our joy soon turned to despair. It was at the ceremony we realized that we had to come up with $110,000! There were no conditions for

financing on the purchase agreement. We had approximately two weeks to come up with that money. The church needed God to show up for us as He had in the past. Prayer meetings were organized. Small groups of people would pray that week in different homes throughout the city. Hugh went to the Royal Bank to see about a loan. We had five families that had signed an agreement that we would be responsible for that loan. They were not interested in loaning us the money. Banks do not like to loan money to churches incase they have to foreclose on them. The previous summer, while on holidays up north, we had met a retired Christian bank manager from London, Ontario. We contacted him to see if he knew anyone that could help us. He contacted his son who worked in a private financial institution. The son couldn’t help us but he would see what he could do. Our lawyer from Brantford also was looking for someone that may be able to loan us money. He knew a Christian real estate agent in Brantford. He contacted him to see if he knew of anyone that would be willing to do a private mortgage with a church. A meeting was set up in Branford. A man had been found who was willing to loan money to our church. We needed God to move and He did! Our lawyer from Branford and the businessman, from the financial institution, in London both contacted to the same person, the real estate agent! He found us the man who was willing to do a private five year mortgage. All he wanted was the interest owing during that time! We had eight days until the closing. It usually took 10 business days for a mortgage agreement to be completed. Two days after the closing date our private mortgage was finalized! Praise God, He saw us through. The FEB building program, Baptist Builders, would normally build churches in the summer, when volunteers would take their holidays. They would complete the whole building in just one week! Our church build had been on hold with all the delays but finally was set for September 22, 1993. They only had July and August to pull volunteers together from across Canada to come help the build. They thought we would still have enough to complete the build in a week but there was a shortage. For the build we had volunteers from our church and as far away as British Columbia! The structural work was completed in that week, along with the major interior work. For the next six months volunteers helped whenever they could. Many people spent ALL of their free time working at the church. The grand opening was March 1994, at our 10 year anniversary. The church had to be severed from the house. We needed to sell the house in order to pay back the private mortgage. God gave us five years to sell the house and get the money we needed to pay off the loan. We didn’t want to sell the house but it was all we could do. But God, was still working out His plan!

After 20 years, we were able to re-buy the house back! We were outgrowing that property and plans for remodelling were discussed. With the house in our possession, the property’s worth was now of greater value as a whole. The city had been growing all around us by that time. Developers were keen to build and had offered to purchase our property for over $1,000,000! We thought that Athlone Avenue was to be Faithway’s final home. But God had others plans for Faithway! We would move to the centre of town, in a residential area. God gave us the Legion building in 2016. What other faith journeys does God have in store for this church. Only God and time will tell.