Pastor Ben Denhoed:
Hi, this is Pastor Ben, and I’m glad you are visiting www.gilmourchurch.ca. I have been serving as pastor of Gilmour Memorial since October of 2009 and I count it a privilege to serve the Living God who made the universe!
I was blessed to have grown up in a home where I learned about God. And how He loved the world so much that He gave His only Son and that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. I put my trust in the Saviour Jesus Christ at a young age, but it wasn’t until I was a teenager that I took seriously my commitment to follow Him. I will never forget my experience at a Christian camp (Camp Widjiitiwin-Muskoka Bible Centre) when I was 15, and how God spoke through a missionary who had been serving overseas. I began to grasp more of God’s greatness and that following Him is the most important decision I would ever make. Since that week, my life has never been the same.
Following high school at Uxbridge Secondary (where I met my sweetheart, Amy; married in 2004), I had the blessing of studying at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago Illinois (Bachelor of Arts – Evangelism & Discipleship ‘03), and later at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton Ontario (Master of Divinity – Biblical emphasis ‘09).
I’ve had employment experience in the manufacturing industry, landscaping and property maintenance, youth ministry, and short-term international missions together with my wife Amy (Greater Europe Mission/Black Forest Academy). In all of these experiences God has brought me closer to Him, equipped me for His service, and, by His grace, continues to do so. Since moving to the Peterborough area, Amy and I have had four children. Josef was born in 2010, Elisabelle in 2012, Jayna in 2016, and Luc in 2021. They are such a joy to us and yet another way that God teaches us about life and love.
Enough about me. How about you?-Are you thirsty for more love and more in life? Perhaps more meaning, purpose, and direction? Don’t look any further than Jesus who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and the only way to God the Father (John 14:6). As a man once said, without the way there is no going, without the truth there is no knowing, and without the life there is no living. Look to Jesus today and trust Him!
My life verse is Acts 20:24. It was the life verse of one of my New Testament professors and reads this way:
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”
I hope to see you sometime at Gilmour where we emphasize the proclamation of God’s Word, passionate worship, prayer, and making disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). Please know that you are welcome to join us. Feel free to drop me an email at pastorben@gilmourchurch.ca and may God bless you today.