Our Church Staff and History

Church Staff | History of Our Fellowship | Our Building Project

Our Church Staff

Rev. Stewart MacKenzie, Senior Pastor

Ministry History

Stew and Bev MacKenzie (shown in the photo on the right) have ministered in Kamloops (1980–1990), Kelowna (1990–2000) and High River, Alberta (2000–2007) before retiring to Kelowna until called back into ministry in 2010.

The MacKenzies have two adult children. Miranda is married with three children. Jeremy, single, now lives and works in Victoria.

Other Ministry Involvement

While in Kelowna, Stew served with Head Office Missions Committee on the work in Asia (primarily in India) and was involved in local ministerials (servicing as President and Treasurer).

Church Builder

In each of the three churches in which he pastored, Stewart was involved in leading them in building projects, including relocation. These churches moved ahead significantly during the years of his ministry.

Other Ministries

Church Management

The church management is overseen by the Senior Pastor, our Deacon Board (chaired by the Senior Pastor) and our Elders with volunteers managing various ministry teams.

History of Our Fellowship

Victoria Full Gospel Fellowship, formerly known as Queens Avenue Apostolic Church, began meeting in our current location at Spectrum School on Sunday, June 18, 2000. Our old church building, located at 804 Queens Avenue, was sold and our building committee began working on finding a new permanent home.

Victoria Full Gospel Fellowship traces its roots back to the Pentecostal revival in the early years of this century. From its beginnings in the old Knox Church in Winnipeg the revival fire quickly spread across the nation. William Deverill was one of the pioneer evangelists of this movement, and he, along with Bill Marks, started the Apostolic work in Victoria in 1941.

In the Beginning

Meetings were originally held in a building on Pandora Avenue, called the Apostolic Gospel Mission. The first pastor was Arvid Anderson, followed by Charles and Pearl Kingsfield. Under their leadership from 1943–46 the work grew quickly. When the annex of the Jewish Synagogue became available they moved into these larger quarters. In those days the church was known as the Evangelistic Temple. The pastoral charge passed to R. A. Reynolds in 1946, and then to R. A. Dawson in 1949 and R. L. Dean in 1952.

Acquiring a Building

It was through the vision of Bro. Dean that a building fund was begun, and the assembly soon moved into their own building (the former Grace Lutheran Church, purchased for the total price of $10,000). Bro. Dean was also instrumental in helping to secure land and a lodge on the banks of the beautiful Cowichan River in 1954 for the purpose of holding camp meetings. Today we know it as the Cowichan River Bible Camp, and it has been an integral part of our outreach to young people and families for the past five decades.

Bro. R.E.S. Toms, who had recently retired as president of the Prairie Bible Institute, assumed the pastorate in 1957 and continued until his retirement in 1966.

The Returning McLeans

Alan and Barb McLean followed and the work continued to prosper. Under their capable leadership there was a strong emphasis on the Sunday School and Youth programs. Outreaches included “The Coffee House” at the Upper Room, Boys Brigade Programs and Happy Hour Clubs at various locations. John D. Francis came in 1971, and it was during his tenure that the name of the assembly was changed to Queen’s Avenue Apostolic Church.

Alan and Barb McLean returned to the pastorate in 1977 and continued until 1981, when they commenced full-time ministry as Director of Development at Camp Cowichan.

Chris Cormack became our first assistant pastor in 1980 (and Marlene Masterson became his wife that same year). Chris and Marlene ministered at Queen’s Avenue for nine years before accepting the call to pastor the Community Chapel on Saltspring Island.

Garth and Myrna Knapp assumed leadership of the assembly in 1981, and continued in this role until 1995. At that time — you guessed it — Alan and Barb McLean came out of retirement and once again returned to Queen’s Avenue to assume the senior pastoral duties for a third time! They have always been there when we needed them, and they are greatly loved and respected by the congregation.

Dave Mortensen served as our Youth Pastor with his wife Lorie from 1990 to 1996, at which time Marcel Kurtz assumed responsibility for leading the youth of our congregation.

The Rukins Arrive

June, 1998 saw new leadership once again with Stan Rukin taking the helm upon the retirement of Bro. McLean. Stan, his wife Margaret, and their three children moved to Victoria from Abbotsford.

November, 1999 saw Marcel and Kristina Kurtz moving to North Vancouver, where Marcel assumed his new duties as Youth Pastor at Lynn Valley Full Gospel. Following Marcel’s departure, Kris Newman stepped in to fill the gap as interim Youth Leader. Kris and his wife Katie were later confirmed in this role, and continued to minister to the youth in our assembly until June, 2001.

Leaving Queens Behind

The new millennium started with a change of location for our congregation. June, 2000 saw the sale of the former church building at 814 Queens Avenue and our relocation to rented space in Spectrum Community School. The church constructed a modern church office in the bottom of the Rukin residence and much of our church inventory was placed into storage in various church members’ homes.

Since moving several Home Groups met on a weekly basis (currently on hiatus), and a vibrant youth group maintained by a Youth Committee composed of youth and adult members. Other ministries continue to serve the church in various homes and other locations.

Pastor Stan finished his ministry as senior pastor at VFGF on June 30, 2010.

The MacKenzies Arrive

In November 2010 Stew MacKenzie arrived as our new senior pastor.

Our Building Project

While meeting at Spectrum each Sunday morning we were growing our building fund and a Building Committee met regularly. In November 2011 we purchased the church at 550 Obed Avenue and began some renovations to modernize it and adapt it to our needs.

Your prayer and financial support in this project is appreciated. Contact for more information.

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