We seek to be disciples who make disciples of Jesus Christ. We do this in three ways.
The Church Gathered
We gather together as a whole community to exalt Christ through expository preaching and singing songs that testify of the richness of Jesus. We seek excellence as we worship through prayer, singing, preaching, financial giving, baptism, and communion to the God who deserves our best. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)
The Church in Community
We meet intentionally and in a community for Bible study an prayer so that we may be disciples. Our groups exist to glorify God through being and making disciples of Jesus Christ. (Acts 2:43-47)
The Church in the City
We go out as individuals who are part of a community to proclaim the gospel and the love of Christ through our words and to show the love of Christ by our actions to the lost, broken, and marginalized. (Matthew 28:18-20)
Elders’ are men who have been charged with shepherding the whole flock of the local church (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2). The Elders’ are men who are held accountable to God for shepherding (Heb. 13:17) and the church is held accountable to subject (1 Pet. 5:5) and submit (Heb. 13:17) to the godly leadership of these men (1 Pet. 5:5). You can read the biblical qualification in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 3: 5-9.
In short, Elders shepherd God’s flock. 1 Peter 5:2 – “I exhort the elders among you: shepherd God’s flock.” So Elders shepherd God’s flock with spiritual oversight. So they feed, lead, protect, and nurture church members like a shepherd does with sheep. In Acts 6:1-6, the Apostles were to devote themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word, but how does that look? I’ll suggest four ways we see it work in the New Testament.
Teach. 1 Timothy 3:2. Elders are under-shepherd who feed Jesus’ sheep with Jesus’ word. That is through leading Bible studies, community groups, discipleship groups, preaching, etc. It also means Elders need to know what’s being taught and protect the sheep from rotten food in their diet.
Lead. 1 Timothy 3:1 calls Elders “Overseers”. Hebrews 13:17 instructs Christians to “obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.” This is done by seeking members to grow in maturity. Again, we can go back to Ephesians 4:12-13, which says, “to build up the body of Christ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, growing into a mature man with stature measured by Christ’s fullness.”
Model. 1 Peter 5:3 says that elders are to shepherd the church “not by lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” So when we look at the passage within 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9 and 1 Peter 5:1-4, the main focus is on the character of the man who would be an elder. That’s why the most basic job of an elder is to live a life where he can say along with Paul, “Imitate me as I also imitate Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1).
How this looks is that a man should guard his godliness (1Timothy 4:16). The other way this works is by being among the people. That means they spend time with church members in different aspects of their life, such as hobbies, life, and ministry. So elders are to model to the members what it means to handle tough situations, relate to his wife, deal with difficult people, and be able to say when they got something wrong.
Pray. In Acts 6:4, the Apostles devoted themselves to prayer; that’s why they called seven other men to handle the practical care for the early church members. So Peter says, “we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the preaching ministry.” When it comes to eldering, a man becomes very quick to see that he is powerless on his own to mature people in Christ. The only one that can mature someone, or sanctify someone is the Holy Spirit through the living Word of God. So the faster an elder understands this, the faster he will be on his knees and pleading that God would work by his grace in the church members and his own life.
Jeramie Rinne summarizes it in this way, “Like Jesus, make teaching central to your ministry, and make Jesus and the gospel the primary content of your teaching. In every decision, lead your people toward knowing and trusting Jesus. Let them see the character of Jesus exemplified in your life. And just as Jesus often turned aside to pray, so you as an elder should join Jesus in interceding for his people.” This is why in Acts 6 we see the Apostles sitting aside seven men so they could devote themselves to these things.
As a member of the Ontario and Quebec Regional Chapter of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches (FEB Central Ministries), we adhere to the set of shared beliefs expressed below.
Click to edit your teWe believe the Bible to be the complete Word of God; that the sixty-six Books, as originally written, comprising the Old and New Testaments were verbally inspired by the Spirit of God (and therefore were entirely free from error); that the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice and the true basis of Christian union.
We believe in one God, Creator of all, holy, sovereign, eternal, existing in three equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
We believe in the absolute and essential deity of Jesus Christ, in His eternal existence with the Father in pre-incarnate glory, in His virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, triumphant ascension, mediatorial ministry and personal return.
We believe in the absolute and essential deity and personality of the Holy Spirit Who convinces of sin, of righteousness and judgement; Who regenerates, sanctifies, illuminates and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ.
We believe that Satan exists as an evil personality, the originator of sin, the arch-enemy of God and man.
We believe that man was divinely created in the image of God; that he sinned, becoming guilty before God, resulting in total depravity, thereby incurring physical and spiritual death.
We believe that salvation is by the sovereign, electing grace of God; that by the appointment of the Father, Christ voluntarily suffered a vicarious, expiatory and propitiatory death; that justification is by faith alone in the all sufficient sacrifice and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and that those whom God had effectually called shall be divinely preserved and finally perfected in the image of the Lord.
The term “marriage” is reserved for the formalized covenant relationship between one man and one woman who commit themselves through legal declaration to exclusive, intimate companionship and sexual union with the intention of permanence. Marriage is monogamous, heterosexual, and intended for life.
We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ; in the bodily resurrection of the just and unjust; in the eternal blessedness of the redeemed and in the judgement and conscious, eternal punishment of the wicked.
We believe that a church is a company of immersed believers, called out from the world, separated unto the Lord Jesus, voluntarily associated for the ministry of the Word, the mutual edification of its members, the propagation of the faith and the observance of the ordinances. We believe it is a sovereign, independent body, exercising its own divinely awarded gifts, precepts and privileges under the Lordship of Christ, the Great Head of the church. We further believe that the spiritual leadership of the church is invested in its principal officers: pastors and deacons.
We believe that there are only two ordinances for the church regularly observed in the New Testament in the following order:
Baptism which is the immersion of the believer in water, whereby they obey Christ’s command and sets forth their identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection, and;
The Lord’s Supper which is the memorial wherein the believer partakes of the two elements, bread and wine, which symbolize the Lord’s body and shed blood, proclaiming His death until He comes.
We believe in the entire separation of church and state.
We believe in religious liberty; that every man has the right to practice and propagate his beliefs.
We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord’s day and that, in a special sense, it is the divinely appointed day for worship and spiritual exercise.
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interest and good order of society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honoured and obeyed, except only in the things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the only Lord of the conscience and Prince of the kings of the earth.
Knollwood Baptist Church stands as a testimony to God’s faithfulness through every season — in growth, in hardship, and in renewal.
In the early 1940s, God placed a burden on the heart of Fred Howard, a young Bible college graduate, to bring the gospel to northeast London. Trusting that God would accomplish His purposes, Fred began praying and sharing the good news of Christ. During a month of tent meetings in Dorchester, he was given a tent, benches, and a piano to use for ministry. A vacant lot on Oxford Street in London became the site of outdoor gospel services, and God used those early meetings to draw people to Himself.
As momentum grew, the ministry moved to a rented cottage on Boullee Street. In 1942, a small house was purchased to form the Knollwood Gospel Mission, with nine charter members. From those small beginnings, God provided steady growth. In 1951, a new facility was dedicated at Oxford and Quebec Streets, near the original site, and expanded with classrooms and parking as ministry needs increased.
After 40 years of faithful service, Pastor Fred Howard retired in 1982, and the church called his son, Don Howard, as senior pastor. Under Don’s leadership, Knollwood experienced a season of significant growth. In 1987, the church completed and dedicated a new facility on Cheapside Street — the same building where we worship today.
Following this time of growth, the church entered a more difficult season. Pastoral transitions, leadership challenges, and declining health in the church’s spiritual life all contributed to a time of struggle. While there were faithful members and moments of encouragement, the church’s vitality and gospel clarity weakened.
Yet even in that season, God remained faithful. He preserved a remnant, upheld His Word, and continued to work behind the scenes to prepare Knollwood for a new chapter of gospel renewal.
In 2012, Pastor David Elliot was called to serve as senior pastor. This continued a transitional period in the life of the church. While challenges remained, God was still at work — preserving His people, sustaining the ministry, and preparing the way for a renewed sense of gospel purpose.
In 2018, the Lord graciously provided new pastoral leadership through the calling of Pastor Nathan Klahsen, as Knollwood entered a new season of revitalization. By God’s grace, the church began to experience renewed clarity in its mission and doctrine, a deepening commitment to expositional preaching, meaningful membership, and a growing culture of discipleship and outreach. These changes reflect God’s ongoing work in shaping Knollwood to be a gospel-centred church for His glory.
Today, Knollwood is a church being rebuilt by God’s grace. With deep gratitude for what He has done — and a humble dependence on Him for what is to come — we pursue the mission:
To glorify God by being faithful disciples who make disciples of Jesus Christ.
From a tent on Oxford Street to a renewed gospel witness today, Knollwood’s story is ultimately about the grace of God — sustaining, refining, and restoring His church for His glory.
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