“There are a lot of people in the building who I’ve had a chance to counsel or pray with.”

Esther Kwan
Special to Spur Ottawa

A unique church model is bringing the gospel to Ottawa’s unreached residents. Tony Delahunty, of Kingdom Ministries, heads up a church that breaks with the traditional commuter-church model. His home church meets in a west-end residential apartment building, where many residents have now experienced God’s healing power.

The church started off with a prodding from the Spirit.

“The Lord stirred my heart [telling me] the non-churched need to see the power of God at work,” states Delahunty.

However, he says the church’s continuance was uncertain.

“In the early days, some of the residents did not want a church in their building. We didn’t know if we’d be allowed back the next week.”

Nonetheless, God was at work in the residents’ lives. Delahunty’s church made a positive impact, to the extent that even the building’s management noticed. They now lend their support and Delahunty says the church has become an accepted part of the community.

Now in its seventh year, the Sunday-evening service draws residents to the building’s main recreation room.

“When people found out we had Bibles in the building, they were coming down to ask for them.”

“We sit around the long tables, as opposed to pews,” Delahunty explains. “We start with a half hour of worship. Then we take a break for some fellowship, grab snacks and bring them back to the table to focus on the Word of God.”

Another unconventional element is the dialectical—almost Socratic—style of Delahunty’s teaching.

“I’m not preaching to them for an hour,” explains Delahunty. “I’m sharing things and there are times when the questions are just coming. There are times when there are total disagreements and we discuss it with regard to what the Word of God says.”

The Gideon Society has been an immense help to Delahunty’s church by donating Bibles to the building’s residents.

“When people found out we had them in the building, they were coming down to us and asking for Bibles. There’s such a spiritual void in them and the fact that there’s something spiritual there, they grab hold of it.”

The donated Bibles were also an immense blessing for the church attendees, most of whom did not have a Bible and were unsure where to find the verses they were discussing.

“He came all the way up to the west end to ask for prayer.”

Delahunty recounts, “I try to use a lot of Scripture, so when I teach it’s not me speaking, but the Word of God. When I ask them to go to a chapter, I can give them the page number and they all read along.”

Other residents do not feel comfortable joining the service, but because the church is so accessible and because of its inviting atmosphere they come before or after to ask for prayer.

“I’ve even had someone who lived on the streets downtown,” Delahunty recounts. “He came all the way up to the west end to ask for prayer.”

The residents’ spiritual hunger is evident, but many of them felt put off by mainline churches. Several have shared with Delahunty how they visited a church, but were completely ignored. Understandably, they didn’t feel comfortable going back. Now Delahunty brings church to them.

The mere presence of the church inside the residential building gives Delahunty access to 240 residents.

“This is what church is supposed to be like—meeting them where they are and making them feel loved and accepted.”

“They don’t all come to my service,” Delahunty says, “but there are a lot of people in the building who I’ve had a chance to pray with or had the opportunity to counsel, because they’ve gotten to know me over time.

“This is what church is supposed to be like—meeting them where they are and making them feel loved and accepted.”

Delahunty challenges believers to take the perceived unacceptance and discomfort experienced by non-believers as a wake-up call. He wants to see more Christians reaching out and starting churches in apartment buildings and housing complexes.

“Even just a Bible study in each of these buildings. It’d be amazing to see how this city would change for the Lord.”

Delahunty remembers how some of the residents had “little hope for their future. But now, through prayer and the Word of God, they’re starting to see themselves as having a hope and a future.”

But he is quick to give credit where it is due.

“God is breaking down a lot of barriers. I’m only doing what God has asked me to do, which is sharing the gospel. God is doing the rest.”