Bridlegrove Bible Chapel, Toronto, ON

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In the fall of 1965, three families decided to commit themselves to establish a local church in the new and developing community in Agincourt. Others soon joined them and in 1967 they were incorporated under the laws of Ontario as Bridlegrove Bible Chapel, Toronto, ON.

March 25, 1965 - The first meeting - Six people, Mr. & Mrs. Roy Hall, Mr. & Mrs. Sydney Hoffman and Dr. & Mrs. Robert Stephens, met together - the idea of Bridlegrove Bible Chapel was born.

September 17, 1965 - The first visitor from the neighbourhood, Vivian Smith - a little seven year old attended the first Youth Night. By the end of that year fifty to sixty children were in attendance. Two gymnasiums in two nearby schools were used on Friday Youth Nights.

October 17th, 1965 - The first Sunday School started with twelve in attendance meeting in the corner of the cafeteria at the Sir. John A. MacDonald High School.

November 21st, 1965 - The first communion service with only a few families but the Lord was with us.

From these small beginnings, the work began to grow. Mr. Robert McClintock, builder of many homes in the Scarborough area of Toronto, heard about the small nucleus of Christians. He set aside an extremely valuable piece of land for the future use of the assembly. An old farm house occupied that site until 1974. Before a church building was erected, this farm house was the focal point of the mid-week activities. Since Finch Avenue had set-back restrictions, the house was deemed too near to the street and had to be removed.

In the spring of 1976 they moved into their own building on the southeast corner of Finch and Pharmacy avenues. One characteristic of the group that has become quite evident from the beginning was that Christ calls individuals from all walks of life, and ethnic backgrounds. Christian fellowship overrides all barriers!

Bridlegrove is simply a group of believers in Jesus Christ and claim no other names than those common to all believers. Though independent, Bridlegrove Bible Chapel is not isolated from other church fellowships.

I should also mention the tireless work of Sydney Hoffman, who's efforts earned him the title of "founder" or "planter" of Bridlegrove Bible Chapel. Today his picture still hangs in the chapel office. Some of the elders through the years have included Sydney Hoffman, George Wilson, Ted Corcoran, Desmond Daley, Ken Burton and Neville Eccleston. The assembly celebrated it's 25th anniversary in 2001.

[edit] Original survey

Before erecting the building in 1976, the assembly conducted a survey of the area. According to the survey, a large percentage of the community had some particular needs which suggested that the assembly had a specific ministry to urban living. Many replies suggested a daycare for pre-school aged children and in many cases an after school programme was suggested. The survey also indicated a definite need for family counselling in problems with drugs, alcohol, marital break-up and about half of the returns from the survey asked for a more meaningful church service.

To quote an assembly document entitled "What are some of our goals":

"Our Chapel should be an inviting place, aesthetically compatible with the neighbourhood and one which expresses the ministry of the church. It will need to be flexible in order to accomodate the many diverse functions, such as:

Worship services, Christian education classes, Conferences and conventions, Counselling and discussion groups, Day Care Nursery, Youth activities, coffee house, Library and learning resource room, Music room, arts and crafts