We are overjoyed to announce that by God’s grace we have been privileged to plant and support a new church on Vancouver Island, in the Westshore area of Greater Victoria, called Living Hope Bible Church.
A Brief History
In the fall of 2021, when numerous families and individuals on Vancouver Island could not find an open church, they began to stream services from Prairie Chapel together.
Originally this was an attempt to simply obey God’s Word which says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:23-25).
After about six months, with no end in sight to lockdowns and medical mandates, the group reached out to our church and asked if we would help them find a pastor who could faithfully proclaim the gospel and lead the group to plant a new biblical church. Our elder team agreed and began to pray, along with the whole church, for God’s help to find a faithful biblical preacher to take up the call and plant a local church.
Our pastors, elders, and other leaders began to spend time working with the group, visiting and teaching the group in-person when possible. After more than a year of prayer, and many challenges along the way, we learned of a student of The Master’s Seminary named Nathan Giesbrecht, who was actually from the island, trained to pastor and preach biblically, who wanted to return to the island to plant a church after graduation.
Leading the New Church
Over time getting to know Nathan and his wife Christina, he completed his studies and candidated for the group on the island under the direction of the elders of Prairie Chapel. He also preached and taught at our church locally, in Abbotsford, so that the congregation could send the Giesbrechts with full blessing to the island.
The church was officially planted with the installation of Pastor Nathan on Sunday November 12th 2023 with a large group of visitors including pastors and elders from churches around the island.
For those on Vancouver Island looking to attend a biblical church with expository preaching and wonderful fellowship, visit https://livinghopebible.ca. To support this work, please indicate “Living Hope Bible Church” in your gift through Prairie Chapel.
