Pastor
Allan Piper
I was born into a Christian
home. My parents, Bill and Audrey Piper, loved the Lord and raised my
two brothers, my sister and me in the Christian faith.
That Christian faith became real
in my life when I was about five or
six.
I remember after family devotions one evening at supper being convicted
that I was a sinner who was in real trouble with God. But I also knew
that because of His great love, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to
rescue us by paying the penalty for our sin and rising again from the
dead. That evening I knelt by a day bed in our den and asked for God’s
forgiveness, inviting Jesus Christ to come into my life. Later, I was
baptized in Grace
Gospel Church
in Paris,
Ontario, at the age of 11.
Our family moved around a bit.
Dad was Baptist minister who served churches in
Toronto
(Downsview), Huntsville (Locks, now Riverside), and
Springfield,
Ontario. It was great to see God
at work in those churches and in our family.
When I got into high school, I
started drifting from the Lord and hanging out with the party crowd. I
never gave serious thought to seeking God’s will for my life so when I
graduated; I was accepted into the landscape architecture program at the University of Guelph.
But God had different plans. After only seven weeks in the program I
contracted mono and had to call it quits. Back at home, my mom was dying
of cancer. She had had cancer for as long as I remember, and now the
Lord was calling her home. In spite of the pain she was in, her life
radiated the love and joy of the Lord. This is what God used to show me
that I was missing out on the lasting joy that comes from knowing Him.
As a result, I gave my life fully to the Lord and began to seek His
will.
It took a number of months to
regain my health. During those months, I became more involved in
Springfield Baptist Church where Dad was pastoring at the time. It was
there that the Lord confirmed a call to the ministry. I experienced such
joy and fulfillment in teaching God’s word in Sunday School, working
with the young people and leading in worship that I knew I couldn’t do
anything else.
I was accepted into Central
Baptist Seminary in 1973 (now Heritage Baptist College & Seminary in
Cambridge), graduating in
1978 with a Bachelor of Theology degree. It was there that I met my wife Sandy, a young nurse from Thunder Bay who was taking a year off work to
study the Bible more intensely. We married in 1977 at Sandy’s home church, O’Connor Baptist
just outside the city of
Thunder Bay. I thank God for the tremendous
support and encouragement that Sandy is as we serve the Lord together.
God has blessed us with three children Ben (& Melissa), Amy (&
Michael Hosegood) and Julie. He has also given us our
two grandchildren, Audrey and Mya, with another one on the way.
During my years at Bible
college, I had a very fulfilling internship under
Steve Bell at
Fellowship Baptist Church in Coburg, Ontario. A year after graduation,
God led Sandy
& me to Fellowship Baptist Church in Bobcaygeon, Ontario. The people
there were so patient and together we grew and ministered to one
another.
Then a call came in the spring
of 1985 to consider coming to Westfort. They had been without a pastor
for over a year. My sense was that I had done what God had called me to
do in Bobcaygeon, and, as God led, we moved to
Thunder Bay
and began our ministry in August of that same year.
Westfort Baptist Church
is a great group of believers to serve the Lord with. My passion in
ministry is to do all I can to equip and encourage people for ministry
and to see our church take the shape of the gifts that God has blessed
our people with. As we are faithful to His Word and the leading of His
Spirit, He will be faithful in building up the body. You’re welcome to
join us as we spread the joy of knowing the true and living God through
faith in Jesus Christ.
