Lakeside Church is an

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

nondenominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

, in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

, close to

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 anch ...

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 ...

. The church is located near Guelph Lake, north of the Guelph city limits.

History of Lakeside

Lakeside Church was founded by David Booker, along with forty families, in 1989. The church conducted its first service on 24 October that year. Booker retired as Pastor in 1998 and was succeeded the following year by

David Ralph David Ralph (born 17 August 1972) in Glasgow, Scotland is a former international hockey player who played as a forward for Scotland. He earned his first cap in 1993 and played club hockey for Loughborough Students' Hockey Club. Ralph, an expe ...

, who remained as Lead Pastor until 2017. A 1,000-seat auditorium was built in 2007. In 2014, the church opened its second campus at Lakeside Downtown and held its first downtown service on Jan. 5 (the downtown location was closed in 2022). Today, Marc Gagnon serves as Lakeside's Lead Pastor.

Outreach and charitable work

Lakeside Church started Lakeside HOPE House, (now Hope House Guelph) which opened its doors on Sept. 8, 2012. HOPE is an acronym for ''Helping Overcome Poverty Everywhere.'' From the premises of the Lakeside Downtown campus, it operates a

food bank A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food direct ...

, a gymnasium, a café, two kitchens, offices, classrooms, and a 400-seat auditorium. Lakeside Church has ministries targeted towards children, students, and young adults, and also runs recovery programs to assist people suffering from grief, divorce, and

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...

. Lakeside Church has an extensive

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

program and is involved in ministries in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, and Haiti. The church is partnering with PACE Africa to build Lakeside High School in

Nyahururu Nyahururu (formerly known as Thomson's Falls) is a town in Kenya, lying north east of Nakuru. The town derives its name from the Maasai word e-naiwurruwurr, meaning waterfall and/or windy or place of storms. It is located in Laikipia County. Desp ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

Church relationships and leadership

Lakeside has no official denominational affiliations, but it networks with other

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

churches of various denominations. Lakeside holds one service on Sunday at 10am. The church is governed by a board of elders. Marc Gagnon is the Lead Pastor.

Notable people associated with Lakeside Church

Lakeside Church partner Cam Guthrie has served as mayor of Guelph since 2014.

References

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