Kildonan Community Church has a rich history dating back nearly 200 years to the arrival of the Selkirk Settlers.
In 1851 Rev. John Black came to Kildonan as the first Presbyterian minister. Construction on Kildonan Presbyterian Church, the first Presbyterian congregation west of the Great Lakes, was completed in 1854.
Rev. James Nisbet arrived in 1864 and built a schoolhouse, now Nisbet Hall. In 1871 Rev. George Bryce founded Manitoba College (now the University of Winnipeg). Early classes were held in Nisbet Hall.
The original church, a Provincial Historic Site, stands in the middle of Kildonan Presbyterian Cemetery, a resting place for many of the Selkirk Settlers, Hudson's Bay Company employees, founders of the city of Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba, as well as veterans of the First and Second World Wars.
In 1988, Kildonan Presbyterian Church completed and moved into their new building that was located north of the building. At that time, the members of the church decided to re-name themselves Kildonan Community Church to better reflect their desires to be more community focused in their mission and support.
Today, Kildonan Community Church continues on with mission of the previous generations by focusing, once again, at their involvement in the community in which they find themselves. We celebrate as a community in worship of our most amazing God who came to us in the person of Jesus. We also gather a community of faith in special events throughout the year.
St. Francis of Assisi once said, "Preach the Gospel; use words when necessary." Our actions speak much louder than our words do. As a community of faith, we take the words of Jesus seriously when he gave us the Great Commandment (to love God and to love our neighbours), and the Great Commission (Go out into the world and 'preach the Gospel'). As a community of faith, this is our starting point and foundation of our ministry. to our community. We understand that this initiative looks much different today than it did in previous generations. Everything has changed these past decades. The church too, must change.
Change is a normal and necessary part of life. The rate of change in our world is staggering. Technology has changed so much that it has affected every aspect of our lives. We are living longer, because of change; we are better informed (and sometimes misinformed) of events around the world; we even communicate differently.
On the other hand, we acknowledge and worship God, who does not change – the Love He has for us and His creation is limitless. We believe that the church is a place that bridges an ever-changing world with God. We strive to bring the relevancy of God’s message (through words and action) to a world that is in need of hearing and experiencing His Grace, Love and Mercy. We believe that the local church is the hope of the world.
We are a community of Christ followers who, discerning God’s Will, are reaching out to humanity in challenging times, as we come along side with people and help them walk their spiritual journey without judgement or condemnation. We realize that we are all “works in progress” and choose to journey our spiritual paths together with friends, family members and ultimately with the Love of Jesus as our mentor and guide in life.