“Ottawa needs thousands more churches, to reach thousands more people.”

Craig Macartney
Senior Writer

A new church plant in Barrhaven is getting ready to baptize four people, in their second baptismal service since they launched on Easter weekend. The multi-ethnic Neighbours Church held an outdoor baptismal service earlier this month for another new member who was too eager to wait until their August 7 baptismal service.

“I preached on baptism for the first time June 26, so we had some people sign up for August 7, and then one person asked to be baptized right away,” says Chris Stevens, Neighbours Church’s pastor. “We borrowed a tank from Sequoia and off we went. We have three more people who are interested, so we’ll see whether it’s four or seven [in August].”

Stevens says it’s a mixed group, with people who are new to faith in Christ, people who were baptized as infants and are making their faith their own, and even his parents (in their 70s) who felt it was important to have a full-immersion baptism.

One of the people being baptized is Ayesha Thorne, who was raised in church, but never felt connected. Leading up to Easter, she found a flyer advertising Neighbours Church’s first service and felt compelled to attend.

“I can’t really explain the strong pull I felt, but there was a sense of home or belonging from the very beginning. I have been attending Neighbours church ever since.”

“I hope every group imaginable, that’s going to lift up the name of Jesus and see people come to know Him, comes into the city of Ottawa and starts churches.” Photo courtesy of Neighbours Church.

Thorne says she felt very alone and wanted to connect with God and a community, then she found the flyer at her door. The past few months have helped her no longer feel alienated from the Church and taken away the feeling that she cannot catch a break in life.

“I’m committed to serving my purpose through God,” she says. “I have been actively seeking Jesus and learning about who He is, and thus who I am through scripture. I am committed to training my children up in a way that they shall not depart and my baptism next month is my declaration of that.”

Outreach and helping people, like Thorne, connect with Jesus is a focal point at Neighbours Church. Stevens stresses that only 10 percent of Ottawa residents attend an Evangelical church. Pointing to statistics that show only one percent of Canadian churches are baptizing a new believer every year, Thorne says the Church needs to be more missional.

“Ottawa needs thousands more churches, to reach thousands more people. I hope every group imaginable, that’s going to lift up the name of Jesus and see people come to know Him, comes into the city of Ottawa and starts churches. The reality is, each church is going to reach a different segment of the population, so we need more churches.”

One unique aspect of Neighbours Church is the “take-home” service they organized for the July long weekend. The take-home package included communion elements, a devotional for families to do together, a kids’ lesson, and a QR code to access a pre-recorded worship set. The take-home service gave leaders a rest and let families worship on their schedule, even if they were traveling.

Another unique aspect that stands out to the church’s worship pastor, Shayla Triemstra, is the “question and response time at the end of every message, so no one leaves feeling as though they didn’t understand.”

Triemstra says being part of the church planting team has deepened her faith, as well.

“Since beginning this journey with Neighbours Church I find myself seeing God all over my day. I see the way He is part of all I do. I know with confidence that He is the hero of my story and the more I focus on that, the more I grow into who God has called me to be.”