“We need more people to be soul-conscious,” Bishop McEwan charges the Ottawa church

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

Ottawa’s first black pastor is celebrating 50 years of pastoral ministry. Bishop Rudolph McEwan first came to Ottawa from Jamaica, in November 1963. He planted Emmanuel Apostolic Church in 1969 and went on to help many other black pastors establish ministries in Ottawa.

New Covenant Apostolic Church is hosting a celebration dinner and ceremony on Saturday, September 21, beginning at 5 p.m.

McEwan says he first came to Ottawa simply out of curiosity.

“I just wanted to travel and get away for a while. I intended to come only for three years.” He returned to Jamaica briefly, before coming back to Canada in 1969.

McEwan was deeply involved in ministry in Jamaica, traveling with his pastor to evangelize, preach, and lead worship. After arriving in Ottawa, he quickly connected with a church and found similar ways to support the ministry. His transition, however, was not without a degree of cultural adjustment.

“We started in my home in the west end. Most of the support was from the Canadian people.”

“The first Sunday, when I walked into the lobby, I said, ‘Praise the Lord everyone.’ Everybody turned and looked at me strange,” he chuckles. “I guess everyone used to say ‘good morning’ or whatever. In Jamaica we say ‘Praise the Lord’ to greet one another.”

Although the 60s and 70s were a time of deep racial tension in the U.S., McEwan says he did not see this in Ottawa.

“For me, it was not difficult,” he says. “We started in my home in the west end. Most of the support was from the Canadian people, 75 percent of those who started with me were [white] Canadians. There were some great Canadian women who took me under their wings and took me all over, and to Wakefield, to minister.”

“The Lord made a covenant with me at the time.”

With a strong focus on evangelism the church grew quickly. By 1972 they bought a church building at 289 Spencer St. with space for more than 100 people. They outgrew the location within three years and built the current facility for Emmanuel Apostolic Church, off Hunt Club Rd. In 1995, McEwen was consecrated as a bishop and opened New Covenant Apostolic Church in 1997, where he still serves.

One strong aspect of his legacy is that all four of his children are in ministry, three of them pastoring. He says that is the fulfillment of a promise God made to him when he first went into the ministry, in Jamaica.

“After a service, I called together some of the young people in the sanctuary. We began to pray and the Holy Spirit descended. I heard an audible voice speak to me, ‘Preach my word.’ I said, ‘Lord, I cannot do that.’”

McEwen was concerned what would happen to his young kids if he committed to the ministry.

“It was that covenant with the Lord, that one day, August 7, 1962. God made a covenant with me, so difficulties or success I have to maintain that.”

“The Lord made a covenant with me at the time. He said, ‘Don’t worry about your children, they will be well taken care of.’ When I saw them growing up in the Church and moving out in ministry, I knew what was happening.”

It is that moment with God that McEwen credits with keeping him through the past 50 years of ministry.

“It was that covenant with the Lord, that one day, August 7, 1962. God made a covenant with me, so difficulties or success I have to maintain that. God never fails, so I have something to always fall back on.”

McEwen plans to publish a book by the end of the fall, detailing what he learned through his journey. A key message he has for those aspiring to the ministry is to make sure they do so in response to God’s calling.

Another challenge McEwen has for the Church in Ottawa is to refocus on evangelism.

“We need more people to be soul-conscious. When people are soul-conscious they get out of the four walls. We need to spread the Gospel more, especially among young people.”

McEwen says, so many things come against young people to stamp out Christian faith.

“In the early revival days, the same thing used to happen. They would try to dampen the Christian faith. But there are a lot of things that we, as leaders, can instil in our young people so that they will come up into leadership roles.”