Church History

In late 1980s, a group of young enthusiastic Arabic-speaking new believers of a Middle Eastern background started an informal small Christian cell group in their houses in Etobicoke, Toronto. Their primary objective was to create a spiritual community that caters to their spiritual needs and provide them with a Christian fellowship. In 1990, they formally established a new Arabic-speaking church and called their first pastor to lead it, giving birth to Middle East Baptist Church (MEBC). Initially, MEBC met at Kipling Baptist Church in Etobicoke until 1997 where the majority of the congregation lived in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, due to rental availably, MEBC moved to city of Mississauga, in the area of Dixie and 401, where it worshiped at Mississauga Chinese Baptist Church (MCBC) from 1997 until early 2000. During this period, MEBC vision was to relocate strategically in a highly dense Arabic-speaking community, which happened in 2000 when the church moved to its current building at Given Road near Hurontario and Dundas.In 2011, and after couple of years of establishing multiple home-cells throughout the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), God blessed MEBC with planting its first daughter church in its old Etobicoke area, giving birth to Saviour Baptist Church (SBC). Around the same time, MEBC started its English ministry to serve its second generation Middle Eastern decedents, which eventually gave birth to Given Road Church (GRC), a daughter English ministry church that is part of MEBC. In 2017, Given Road Church called its first English-speaking pastor.