Melrose Community Church
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  • Who we are
    • Our Mission, Vision & Values
    • Our Staff & Board
    • Our History
    • What We Believe
    • Our Connections
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Our Mission, Vision & Values

Our Mission:

Growing together in Jesus
Serving our neighbours
Sharing His love
Our Vision:

A Jesus-centred community
Connecting lovingly
With our neighbours
Our Values:

     We are committed to God, and guided by His word.
We are a praying community.
 We believe all people matter to God and so they matter to us.
We are made to worship God and reflect his creativity in all we do.
We are actively engaged in the world, convinced that God is already there at work.


 

Our Staff & Board

Our Staff

Jon Fuller

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Lead Pastor
Jon grew up in the Philippines and currently leads an international Non-Government Organization (NGO) focused on East Asia. Jon and his wife Marilyn have three adult daughters, all of whom love Canada but see themselves as global citizens. He has degrees in Philosophy, Inter-Cultural Studies and Leadership, a passion for science fiction and a love of sailing and canoeing. 

Mario Villanueva

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Associate Pastor
Mario was born in the southern part of the Philippines. He is married to Raquel, blessed with three adult children and three grandchildren. He has been involved in church planting in the Philippines and Spain, working with multi - national teams from different mission organizations. He served as the outreach pastor of a multi-ethnic church in Scarborough before joining Melrose Community Church.
He is also a chaplain at Pearson International Airport, bringing the presence of Christ by extending and demonstrating Christ’s love in practical ways to all: employees and passengers, while praying for open doors to share the Gospel based on love, not power or coercion.

Pat Promney

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Congregational Life Coordinator
Pat leads visitation and care in many ways at Melrose, leads one of our Renovare small groups, our ladies' ministries and our Prime Timers group.

Debra Coutlee

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Admin Assistant
Debra works in the office part-time and puts the weekly bulletin together.  She also volunteers as a Sunday School teacher.

Valerie Marshall

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Custodian
Valerie works part-time as our Custodian keeping things spotless and also leads the House Committee.

Our Board

Debie Degillo

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Deacon

Siobhan Farrer

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Deacon

Andrew Henriques

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Treasurer

Alison Covert

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Deacon

Deroi Brown

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Deacon

Marilyn Fuller

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Deacon

Carmelita Martinez

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Deacon

Paul Zurbrigg

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Community Engagement Coordinator and Elder

Chris Coutlee

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Elder

 

Our History

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The first group of people in 1926 and the beginning of what is now Melrose Community Church.
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The building pictured is a garage that was used as the first church starting in November 1926. It was situated on the southwest corner of Melrose Avenue and Avenue Road, where a daycare is currently located. 
"Melrose," as we affectionately call it, came into being through tragic circumstances.

In the spring of 1926 Willie Dowle, while on his way home from a children's meeting, was struck and killed by a streetcar while crossing Yonge Street. In order to avoid the need for children to cross what was even then a busy highway, two ladies, Bessie Locke and Nellie Whatton, planned meetings that summer for children in the area of Avenue Road and Melrose Avenue. The group met in a grassy field on the corner until the weather turned cold. They used the kitchen of a home on Melrose Avenue, and when the group outgrew that, they moved into a garage for the rest of the winter. Later, a small building was constructed on Avenue Road to house the "Melrose Gospel Mission." In 1953 the "Mission" joined the newly formed Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada (FEBCC) and became known as Melrose Baptist Church.

In 1964 a new building was erected on Melrose Avenue just west of Avenue Road. This served the congregation until 1989, when a large extension was built to provide space for a library-fellowship lounge, Sunday School rooms, offices and a board room. The church is now known as Melrose Community Church.

Our most recent building renovation was the installation of a wheelchair lift. We are planning to upgrade our basement facilities.

From the beginning Melrose has been involved in missionary work around the world. We have helped to support over 80 missionaries in 30 countries. Today we continue our missionary program and support a number of our own members involved in Thailand, Benin, Cameroon, and here in Canada. We also support a family serving in Nepal. 

Given our history, Melrose Community Church anticipates growth to serve the local community as well as people in distant lands. It's time to build on past experience to strengthen these ministries. As God has enabled us over the years to be a blessing through His people to the world, we are confident He will continue to do a good work through us in the years to come.

 

What We Believe

The following statements define what we believe to be the basic truths about God and His works.
Our Statement of Faith
Our Statement of Doctrine
 

Our Connections

Our church is a part of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada, a nation-wide group of evangelical baptist churches.

OMF | "A global network of Christians proclaiming the glory of Jesus Christ among East Asia's peoples through fervent prayer, loving service, and personal witness. Through God's grace and power we work to see a biblical church movement in each people group of East Asia."

Partners International | "For over 50 years Partners International has actively sought out opportunities to bring the Gospel message to the difficult parts of the world. Partners specializes in partnering with indigenous Christian missionaries in the developing world."

SIM | "SIM's primary purpose is to facilitate local churches to send cross-cultural missionaries. SIM seeks to humbly serve and boldly challenge churches in their obedience to God's mandate to be witnesses in all the world. In many countries, the emerging church is catching the vision for cross-cultural missions but needs help to establish sending agencies."

Wycliffe Bible Translators of Canada | Wycliffe Canada's vision is "A world where translated Scriptures lead to transformed lives among people of all languages." 


Policies
375 Melrose Ave., Toronto, ON M5M 1Z6
Phone: 416-785-1980
Email: info@melrosechurch.org

  • Home
  • Events
  • Who we are
    • Our Mission, Vision & Values
    • Our Staff & Board
    • Our History
    • What We Believe
    • Our Connections
  • Plan Your Visit
  • sermons
  • Give