A Panel Of Urban Pastors

What are the things that urban churches need to be thinking about? Pastor Duane Henry from Portico Church in Mississauga hosts a conversation at Our City Toronto 2023 with four urban pastors that are on the forefront of strategy and mission.

Olu Jegede is a return guest on Sidewalk Skyline Podcast and continues to pastor at Christian Centre Church.

Jessie Knight is an assistant pastor with Olu with a focus on student ministries.

Godfrey Adderley pastors at Stone Church in downtown Toronto.

Joel Spiridigliozzi is a regional director for Western Ontario District working with pastors and ministries in the Toronto region.

Links:

Duane Henry - Portico Church

https://www.porticocanada.ca/

Olu Jegede & Jessie Knight - Christian Centre Church

https://ccctoronto.com/

Olu Jegede

Jessie Knight

Godfrey Adderley - Stone Church

https://stonechurch.ca/

Godfrey Adderley

Joel Spiridigliozzi - Western Ontario District of PAOC

https://wodistrict.org/

Urban Churches in Canada - QUEST Conversations part 1

Tim Keller writes, “Cities, quite literally, have more of the image of God per square inch than any other place on earth. How can we not be drawn to such masses of humanity if we care about the same things that God cares about?” [1] Timothy Keller, Center Church p.143

So what do we mean by the term ‘urban church’? Our working definition of urban includes High Density (population), High Diversity (culture) and High Disparity (socio-economic).

Each of our guests today are pastors in urban churches from coast to coast. Each urban centre is so different from the other, but we are finding lots of common ground in what it means to be an urban congregation.

 Simon Gau is at Broadway Church in Vancouver, BC. He serves as the community pastor and Executive Director of Cityreach.

Debbie Kunst is the pastor of Edmonton’s Father’s House.

Bruce Martin is the pastor of Calvary Temple in Winnipeg, another historic Pentecostal congregation that has remained in the downtown core.

Across the Prairies, let’s land at YYZ. Pearson International Airport in Toronto. We’re renting a car and driving 20 kms NE to the Jane-Finch corridor. Olu Jegede is the senior pastor of Christian Centre Church.

Let’s get back on our private jet and fly to Montreal. Kyvenz Amedee is the pastor of Eglise Gospelvie, a multicultural church located in the heart of Montreal’s South-Central district.

And finally our Maritime urban pastor Chad Nickerson. He is at Calvary Temple in St. John, NB.

Links:

Broadway Church, Vancouver BC

https://www.broadwaychurch.com/

Cityreach

https://www.cityreach.org/

Simon Gau

Broadway Church, Vancouver

Edmonton Father’s House

http://edmontonfathershouse.org/index.html

Debbie Kunst interview from Season 1:

https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/spiritual-mother-in-the-fathers-house-debbie-kunst-interview

Video version:

https://youtu.be/FK5ghUOu-EQ

Debbie Kunst

Calvary Temple, Winnipeg

https://www.ctwinnipeg.com/

Bruce Martin

Christian Centre Church, Toronto

https://ccctoronto.com/

Inner City Outreach, Toronto

https://innercityoutreach.ca/

Olu Jegede from Season 1:

https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/gangland-preacher-olu-jegede

Olu Jegede

Inner City Outreach

Eglise Gospelvie

https://www.gospelvie.com/

Kyvenz Amadee

Calvary Temple, St. John NB

https://www.calvarytemplesj.com/

Chad Nickerson from Season 1:

https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/saint-chad-in-saint-john-chad-nickerson-interview

Video version:

https://youtu.be/i365tAy9duU

Gangland Preacher - Olu Jegede

Welcome to Episode 8 of Sidewalk Skyline Podcast. Today we are starting a series that I call Gangland Preachers. In this and upcoming episodes we are going to hear from some people that have firsthand experience when it comes to gangs and their effect on the community. Most of our discussions will focus on the Toronto area. 

Today’s guest is Olu Jegede who pastors Christian Centre Church in Toronto.

Hey, do you get those Amber Alerts on your smart phone? More than once I’ve been awakened in the night by that disturbing ring tone to report that a minor has been abducted or has gone missing.

I remember in early March of this year getting the alert about a 14-year-old boy that was missing from the Jane and Finch neighbourhood of Toronto. He had been abducted over a $4 million drug debt that his stepbrother had owed from last summer.

Well that young man was a recent example of someone that Christian Centre Church knows and cares about. He was recovered by police and returned home. These kind of stories are very real and personal for people like Pastor Olu Jegede.

In 2007 Jordan Manners was killed by gun violence inside his high school. This was one of the many young men that Olu has mentored over the years. 

Like Nehemiah of old, God calls some people into urban centers to build community and faith in places that have lost both. This session was a presentation that Olu gave at Our City Toronto 2019.

Links:

https://ccctoronto.com/

https://innercityoutreach.ca/

Jennifer and Olu Jegede

Jordan Manners’ funeral