Aldergrove
Fellowship Baptist Church
28163 - Swensson Ave., Abbotsford, BC Canada V4X 1H6
604-856-1413

As of 2009 01 01 Aldergrove Fellowship Baptist Church welcomed John Goulet-Jones as our new pastor. John is an experienced pastor in our Fellowship churches, and he and his wife Trudy and family have been a blessing to the church. Come, grow spiritually with us.

Aldergrove Fellowship Baptist Church, or Aldergrove Baptist Church for short, is an autonomous, congregationally-governed fellowship of born-again, baptized, bible-believing Christians. In humble and prayerful submission to God, the mission of the members of Aldergrove Fellowship Baptist Church is to:

• exalt the Lord,
• expound the word,
• equip effective disciples of Jesus Christ,
• encourage the members of the body, and
• evangelize the world.

We are born-again Christians, believing in the necessity of personal salvation through the death of Christ on the cross, applied by the free gift of God's grace alone, apprehended by an act of faith on the part of the believer, and lived out consistently through a changed life--all under the sole authority of the Bible.

Aldergrove Baptist Church is evangelical, Bible-centred, and conservative. It has been a relatively small country church, but large-scale development has commenced within walking distance. Aldergrove Baptist Church includes families of all ages and many backgrounds. Aldergrove Baptist Church emphasizes discipleship, leadership training, Bible teaching, evangelism, missions, and family ministry. AFBC uses a variety of music in worship services (though leaning to traditional hymnody) and has a very high level of member involvement in ministry. AFBC is one of the few churches in the area to offer an evening service, thus expanding the opportunities for serious study of the scriptures. Other opportunities are afforded by a number of small prayer and Bible study groups that meet during the week. AFBC has become somewhat regional in recent years, with members and adherants from Chilliwack all the way to Surrey.

Besides morning and evening services, and a Sunday Bible school (all ages, nursery to adult) AFBC offers a girls' club and youth programmes. There is also a monthly men's prayer breakfast, a weekly prayer meeting/Bible study and other small prayer and Bible study. AFBC has a long-time track record of supporting missions, a very active missions committee, and several members and former members on the field. The church is active in relief work, distributing Christmas hampers to needy families, and looking after others in need through a benevolent fund all year. AFBC is also an owning/supporting church for Camp Qwanoes (located at Maple Bay on Vancouver Island) and Northwest Baptist Theological Seminary (part of ACTS). We maintain ties to nearby Trinity Western University and the ACTS seminary consortium.

There are opportunities in teaching, the church nursery, janitorial services, maintenance, greeting and ushering, club ministry, small groups, music (instrumentalists, choir, ensembles, bell choir), driving the van, and a variety of other church committees. Nearby development affords opportunities for neighbourhood evangelism. The church also participates in the Building 272 street outreach at the centre of Aldergrove. To facilitate the participation of either students in the area temporarily or of retired missionaries, AFBC offers an associate membership. This permits all membership privileges except voting, and means that membership in a home church need not be cancelled in order to engage in practical ministry.

Go one main street east of Aldergrove (or three main streets west of the Abbotsford Auto Mall) on Fraser Highway (1A) to LeFeuvre Road (two gas stations and Hamilton Farms). Turn south, drive about 2km, then take the next left (Swensson Ave.) and go to the end. Alternately, from within Aldergrove, go south on Station (beside the Safeway mall) and veer off to the left where the road forks. Follow this, keeping to the left along winding Swensson Ave. to the stop sign at LeFeuvre Road where Swensson takes a slight left jog, and continue to the end.

From Vancouver or North Vancouver take Highway one west to Highway 13 (264 St.) south to highway 1A (traffic light) east on 1A through town to LeFeuvre Road and then as above. From Abbotsford or points east, use highway one west to the Mt. Lehman exit, then follow 1A west to LeFeuvre Road as above.

The main sanctuary holds about 230 people and has excellent acoustics for ensembles and choir. The Pacific Mennonite Children's Chior (PMCC) uses the facility as its home base. Also on the main floor are a much-used nursery, a library with about 1500 volumes, and offices. A full daylight basement houses a large, modern, well-appointed kitchen, Sunday School rooms, and a common area for fellowship activities and club use. Outside, the paved parking lot holds over a hundred cars, the landscaping is mature, and the soccer/baseball field (complete with chain link backstop) occupies about two thirds of the five acre property. There is also an outdoor half court basketball court on a cement pad and an adventure playground on a grassy area away from the sports fields for younger children.

Aldergrove Fellowship Baptist Church is located at the eastern edge of Aldergrove town, the largely rural "in-between place" located halfway between Langley and Abbotsford cities. Most of the town area is part of Langley Municipality, though the church itself is on the Abbotsford side of the border. (Everything from 240 St. in Langley to Mt. Lehman Rd. in Abbotsford is considered Aldergrove.) For many years, Aldergrove has been stable in size but a somewhat transient community. However the area just West of the church property has recently been slated by Abbotsford City for development (now well underway), meaning there will be some 3000 new housing units of all kinds built in the immediate neighbourhood (Abbotsford side of the town) over the next few years, providing a remarkable evangelism and growth opportunity for the church. Some of this has already been constructed, and much more is in process.

For those considering living in Aldergrove itself, there are four elementary schools and a secondary school close by, and numerous athletic fields besides the one owned by the church. Both Langley and Abbotsford have large recreation centres less then fifteen minutes away. Shopping is available in Aldergrove (small malls, supermarkets, post office, the Aldergrove Coop, and a lightly-used border crossing to the USA) and in nearby Abbotsford and Langley (large regional shopping centres.) Two large regional parks (Aldergrove Lake and Campbell River) and a National Park (Fort Langley) are within short driving distance. Vancouver is a forty-minute+ commute, with easy freeway access. Abbotsford International Airport (airshow, fast domestic access, trade centre with many shows) is at the southeastern edge of the Aldergrove area, and the famous Bradner flower show is held every April a mere ten minute drive northeast of the church. The Aldergrove telephone exchange offers local calling all the way from Abbotsford to North Vancouver.

Trinity Western University is a twenty minute drive from the church, less than that from some parts of Aldergrove. Several current or former TWU students and faculty are members of AFBC, and the church offers a small scholarship (the Braid Award) for members attending TWU. The church is part of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches, which owns Northwest Baptist Theological Seminary, part of ACTS (Association of Canadian Theological seminaries consortium) located on the TWU campus. Columbia Bible College is also nearby. These proximities offer unique student ministry opportunities, and the church has frequently hosted student interns.

We don't talk much about money at worship meetings because members know what the needs are from having approved the annual budget, and they give as generously as the Lord leads them, without need for public persuasion. Donations are counted by a teller and a treasurer who sign copies of their report for the treasurers and the auditors. One treasurer deposits the funds, and two others write the cheques and keep the records. The process of producing charitable donation receipts for envelope holders (each January for the previous year) is largely automated, and such records are strictly confidential. The church owns its land and building outright, and in most years meets or exceeds the budget, with additional designated giving above that going to various missions projects (Pakistan, Malaysia, Quebec, South America, Romania, Ireland, Los Angeles, and other places).

Formerly known as Aldergrove Regular Baptist Church, Aldergrove Fellowship Baptist Church resulted from a merger of the Patricia Mission operated by Minnie and Oliver Throssell with the Aldergrove Sunday school under Ailie Caldwell (Watt). ARBC was a home missions work of the Convention of Regular Baptist Churches in British Columbia before that organization changed its name to the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in British Columbia to match the name of the national fellowship, and the church followed suit. The present building on historic Swensson Avenue was constructed in 1980 under Pastor Rod Wilkinson, who served the church for ten years. He was followed by Sam McCallum in the 80's and Marshall Davis through the nineties to 2008 01 31. As of 2009 01 01 John Goulet-Jones became the senior pastor.