By Paul Estabrooks, Elder - Forest City Bible Church
Forest City Bible Church (FCBC) has a new pastor from Australia, but Pastor David Driver and wife Jess are not new to the Forest City. Ten years ago, Australian young adult, David Driver, chose London Ontario as a place to visit and experience life in Canada. On arrival, he secured a job and a work visa. Next, he sought out a place to live and moved into a student rental home with other young men from Fanshawe College.
As he worked in the city, a young lady named Jess caught his eye, and they began dating. She and her family invited David to join them Sundays at their church, West London Alliance. At the same time, David learned why his house mates were so positively different from many other young men. They were Christians who gently introduced him to the faith, and he began reading the Bible one of them gave him. His spiritual searching process lasted two years during which he began to realize that Christianity was not just an academic subject, it was primarily a relationship with Jesus. Here in London, Ontario, David committed his life to follow and serve Jesus Christ.
As a new believer, he became passionate in Bible studies and even Bible quizzing. He found a devout mentor and soon was baptized. His desire for Christian service continued to grow even more.
In 2015 David and Jess were married and then moved to Australia because David wanted time to share his new-found faith with his family and also attend a Bible College there. He completed the first goal which culminated in baptizing his sister in 2020. During the final year at Bible College, he acquired a pastoral internship and immediately after graduation became an associate pastor there for the next three years. But he still had a heart for the city of London, Ontario.
Meanwhile Pastor John Thompson retired in 2021 at Forest City Bible Church here in London after twenty-two years of faithful service. A pastoral search committee began the challenging process of finding God’s will for a new pastor. David Driver was the final choice and he and Jess with their young two-year-old daughter, Zoe, moved back to London early this year to be the new pastor at FCBC. After ten years, he has come full circle.
When asked, “Why London?” Pastor David replies, “The grace of God drew me here!”
Forest City Bible Church, part of the Associated Gospel Churches of Canada (AGC) is located at 1889 Wonderland Rd. N.. Please drop by to welcome Pastor David.
Forest City Bible Church
1889 WONDERLAND RD N.
LONDON, ON, N6G 5C1
https://fcbchurch.ca