Faith Baptist Church: Leadership

INTERESTING FACTS OF OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Senior Pastor - Harry Toews

Pastor Harry grew up in the country loving the great outdoors. His theme song would have been "Thank God I'm a Country Boy!" Maybe that is why he enjoys outdoor activities such as woodworking, biking, fishing and boating so much today. His high metabolism enables him to eat his favourite foods such as bread, pasta and sweets and still stay in shape. He is an up-beat and positive person who loves to encourage people to be all that God wants them to be. His claim to fame is that he once held a Guinness World Record. His dream would be to travel the world and explore the many cultures and countries that make up this amazing world of ours.

One of his great loves in life is spending time with his wife, Rosemary and two children, Edward and Maria. Another love he has is reading and sharing God's Word with others. He considers it a great privilege to have served Jesus Christ in pastoral ministry for over 20 years.

E-mail: harry@faithbaptist-oakville,com

Associate Pastor of Worship, Outreach and Discipleship

Pastor Jon's greatest earthly joy is his wife Angie, and his two sons, Micah and Josiah. He enjoys a good story...whether it is delivered in conversation, from a stage, in print or on screen. Perhaps that appreciation for story...character, plot, protagonists, villains, conflict, tension, resolution, etc...is why he also enjoys sports so much! As a fan of the Cleveland Browns and the Toronto Raptors he feels as though he is mired in a tragedy. As a Blue Jays fan he feels as though he is in the low point of a drama. As a Pittsburgh Penguins fan recent days have him enjoying an epic! He doesn't just watch, though. He enjoys participating in sports of all kinds.

Music has also been a lifelong outlet and means of ministry for Jon. His musical development began with some piano lessons and singing in church. It grew as he learned the trumpet and eventually the guitar. His favourite musical things to do are: leading people in musical worship and getting together with friends to perform for good causes. Involvement in music has given Jon the opportunity to be in hundreds of churches, tour the east coast of Canada and travel to Brazil.

Jon enjoys interacting with people, hearing their stories, and helping them discover and play out the role God has created them to play in the grand narrative He is writing.

Jon Limmer
E-mail: jon@faithbaptist-oakville.com

Associate Pastor of Seniors

Gary Landers was born and raised in Stratford, Ontario.  He was actively involved in Memorial Baptist Church from early childhood to the time of his marriage to his future wife Margaret (Marg) Bender in 1965.  Recreationally, Gary has enjoyed playing both baseball, golf and hockey.  While playing junior and senior inter-county and Junior B hockey he played goaltender.  In 1966 Gary graduated from the University of Guelph with a Diploma in Recreation.  He came to faith in Christ through the ministry of Dr. Don Holliday and vocalist George Shuttleworth.  He was later baptized at Memorial Baptist in the same service as his wife.  During his days at Memorial, he gave leadership in the youth group as well as ISCF (Intervarsity Student Christian Fellowship).

He was called to full-time Christian ministry in 1967 during a city-wide Crusade. He graduated from Ontario Bible College (now Tyndale) in 1971 with a Bachelor of Religious Education degree. He served as a student pastoral assistant at Churchill Heights Baptist Church in Toronto during college. His first pastorate was Churchill Church in Ballantrae, Ontario. He then moved onto a full-time pastorate at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Oshawa. From 1974 to 1982 Gary pastored in B.C. at two different churches. The first one was at Central Fellowship Baptist Church in Prince George, and the second was at First Baptist in Quesnel. He moved back to Ontario in order to pastor North Broadway Baptist in Tillsonburg from 1983-1986.

God changed the denomination Gary served in for the next number of years but not the love and passion for shepherding God’s people. He pastored with the Free Methodist Church in Canada for 12 years in northern Ontario and then for the past three years he has served as the Executive Director at Maple Grove Christian Retreat Centre in Thamesford, Ontario. Gary and Marg are the proud parents of four daughters and four grand-children.