New Life Church was planted in the fall of 1992 by Bruce Ford in affiliation with the PAOC (Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada). The first official service of New Life Church was held on October 20, 1992!
In the summer of 1992, Rev. Bruce Ford, wife, Ellen, and their family moved to Kindersley, SK, to begin a new church plant called New Life Church. By late fall of that year Pastor Bruce and Ellen had things ready and the first services were held in the local bar. A short time later, services were moved to the convention room at the Kindersley Inn. Attendance varied but God moved very early on in those services. Their desire was for it to be a place of refuge for hurting people of all walks of life.
In 1995, New Life Church moved their services to the Norman Ritchie Centre. This allowed Pastor Bruce to have an office and the congregation had access to a kitchen to have more fellowship time as a group.
In early 1996, Pastor Robert White and his wife, Shannon, moved to Kindersley to help work with the growing youth group. Pastor Rob held a job outside the church but did a wonderful job encouraging the youth in their daily walk with God.
In January 2000, Pastor Bruce and Ellen let the congregation know that they were moving. Soon after that, Pastor Rob announced that he had taken a pastor position in another city and would also be moving.
After much prayer, it was decided to invite Rev. Kelly Froese and their family to lead the Kindersley church with his first service in May 2000. The decision to purchase a building was a big one, but finally, in 2002, everything was in place, renovations were done by congregation members and the move was made. NLC was now meeting at 303 5th St. West. The building was originally a church building so everything was there – sanctuary, classrooms for Sunday School, washrooms, office, and a kitchen! We no longer had to set-up and take-down every week. In June 2008, Pastor Kelly announced that he would be stepping down as pastor of the church, but remained an active part of New Life Church.
On the first Sunday in November, Rev. Jonathon Bloomfield led his first service as the new Pastor. He and his wife, Nicole, and their family were a welcome addition to the family. In December 2010, Pastor Jonathon resigned. From December 2010-December 2011, we had in-house pastors and other leaders step in for services including Pastor Lloyd Griffith, Pastor Kelly Froese, and Pastor Brian Linaker.
In February 2012 Pastor Mel Versluis arrived with his wife Karen and four girls. In 2013 Pastor Mel hired Associate Pastor John Schultz who joined us with his wife, Rebecca, from Ontario and began leading our youth ministries amongst other responsibilities. Pastor Mel pastored our church from 2012 to the Spring of 2016 when they announced they would be moving to British Columbia. During that time Associate Pastor John Schultz was offered to become Interim Lead Pastor while the Search and Discernment Committee sought after God for who to hire, and he accepted the position.
In March of 2017, the congregation met and voted for Pastor Kelly Froese to return as our "new" lead pastor! It isn't a usual thing for a church to hire a pastor back for a second time, but the Search Committee, Board, and congregation felt God was leading them in this direction. On August 8th, 2017 Pastor Kelly Froese began as Lead Pastor at New Life Church.
In 2022, talks began among the Church leadership to expand our pastoral ministry which led to some changes. Pastor Kelly continues to be the overseeing Pastor of New Life Church but is also working at the local funeral home. Derek Schellenberg, a member of New Life Church with a call to pastoral ministry, was hired to serve as Associate Pastor. Pastor Derek is currently serving half-time and will be pursuing the education needed to be fully licensed. He is married to Cassidy and they have a daughter. Pastor Derek loves Jesus and teaching the Word and is a wonderful addition to the team. New Life Church has also hired Melanie Solano as our Administrative Pastor. Pastor Melanie keeps things running day by day while participating and bringing leadership to many ministries.
New Life Church is excited to have this team of pastors, other leaders, and a congregation with servant hearts. We are thankful to the Lord Jesus, for the work that has been done in our hearts to bring us together in what feels very much like one big family. It is our desire to serve and provide help, ministries, and programs that will build up our congregation and our local community.
New Life Church continues to be a place where hurting people are healed, and where lives are changed and renewed by the power, grace, and love of God. It's our hope that others find a place here and feel at home! Feel free to join us Sunday’s @11am, check out our weekly programs, or get in touch with us anytime.
- New Life Church, Kindersley -