About Bow Valley Baptist Church
A Brief History of Bow Valley
In 1985, the Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists made a decision to locate the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary and Convention Office in Cochrane. This decision also led to the planting of a new church in the community. On January 9, 1986, thirteen people met for the first time in the home of the Wymans. Regular Sunday services were held at the Glenbow Elementary School beginning July 6, 1986. The first worship service was attended by thirty-four people. Georges Boujakly was selected to serve as the group’s first pastor. On March 27, 1988, the congregation constituted as Bow Valley Baptist Church of Cochrane. Services were moved to the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary in August of 1988.
Hamish Buntain was the second pastor of this church. Under his leadership the congregation grew and established a very significant presence in the community. The Lord allowed the church to purchase a very strategic piece of land and on May 27, 1994 a dedication service was held for the first building on West Aarsby Road. This location has proved to be significant as the town grew west and now surrounds the church facility.
Dr. Melvin Blackaby has served as pastor of Bow Valley since April 2000. We have been blessed with tremendous growth in the last few years as God brings many to saving faith in Jesus Christ. As a result, our limited facilities became inadequate. As we prayed about a larger facility, God led us to be debt free before proceeding. On September 30, 2002 our congregation gave to a “Loaves & Fishes Offering”, reaching our exact goal of $450,000.
We then proceeded with construction of a new facility which includes a large foyer, 660 seat sanctuary, and more education space in the basement., We celebrated our first service in the new sanctuary on October 27, 2002. Meanwhile we continue with an aggressive strategy to reach the lost, not only in Cochrane, but across Canada and throughout the world.
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Bow Valley has been the sponsoring church for three congregations: Calgary Deaf Baptist Fellowship, established in February 1995; Mountainview Christian Fellowship in Calgary established April 1995; and Alpine Christian Ministries in Canmore, established in September 1999. We are currently sponsoring a new church plant, Heart Mountain Christian Fellowship in Exshaw.