The Associated Gospel Churches, commonly known as AGC, is a Canadian

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

denomination. It is affiliated with the

Evangelical Fellowship of Canada The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC; french: Alliance évangélique du Canada) is a national evangelical alliance, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. Its affiliates comprise 43 evangelical Christian denominations, 66 Christian org ...

. The national headquarters are located in

Burlington, Ontario Burlington is a city in the Regional Municipality of Halton at the northwestern end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada. Along with Milton to the north, it forms the western end of the Greater Toronto Area and is also part of the Hamilton met ...

, Canada.

History

The Associated Gospel Churches can trace its origins to the 1890s, when the AGC began a group of independent churches, in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, that was joined together by a charter under the leadership of Dr. P. W. Philpott. In 1922, the group was named ''the Christian Workers' Church of Canada''. To differentiate itself from similarly named, but theological differing groups, the denomination was renamed ''Associated Gospel Churches'' in 1925. It was federally incorporated March 18, 1925. The AGC began its first expansion outside of Ontario in 1940, when a group of churches based in

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

sought to affiliate themselves with AGC. This group of churches eventually became what is now known as ''AGC West Region''. In 1944, the AGC began expanding its English language ministries into the Canadian province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, and began its first French language ministries in 1972. In 2020, it had 152 churches.Associated Gospel Churches,
Directory
agcofcanada.com, Canada, retrieved April 9, 2020

Leadership

In June 2018, a vote was taken at the AGC National Conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario, with a 99 per cent approval for Bill Allan to become the association's fifth full-time President. Previous Presidents: * Bill Fietje (2008-2018) * Bud Penner (2000-2008) * Don Hamilton (1989-1998) * Bill Sifft (1981-1989)

Fair Havens Ministries

Fair Havens Ministries is a Bible Conference and Christian retreat centre, owned and operated by the Associated Gospel Churches (AGC). It is located near

Beaverton, Ontario Beaverton is a community in Brock Township in the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, Canada. History Beaverton was first settled in 1822. The settlement is located on Lake Simcoe at the mouth of the Beaver River. It was called Calder's M ...

, about 120 km (or 75 miles) north of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

AGC leadership

* Bill Allan - President of AGC * Tom Lambshead - AGC East Regional Director * Russ Wilson - AGC West Regional Director * Del Gibbons - AGC Quebec Regional Director * Lorne Meisner - AGC West Associate Regional Director * Glenn Rider - National Coordinator of Doctrine & Credentials * Elizabeth Thompson - Executive Director of Fair Havens Ministries

References

External links

Associated Gospel Churches - Official websiteFair Havens Ministries
{{Christianity in Canada Evangelicalism in Canada Evangelical denominations in North America