Our Beginnings –  Greenhills Christian Fellowship (GCF) was birthed by missionaries, Rev. David and Patty Jo Yount of the Convervative Baptist Mission do reach Filipinos who have leadership and influence to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Philippines. Starting at one of the major cities in Greenhills, San Juan City in 1978, a Valentinue’s Day Fellowship Dinner grew into what it is now, at the heart of the Ortigas Centre in Pasig City.

The Ongoing Harvest – After 14 satellite churches were established, the first overseas satellite church was GCF Toronto in 2007, followed by GCF Peel a year after. In 2011, GCF York was established. Sunday worship services were first held in Vaughan’s Dufferin Clark Community Centre and later settled at the Patricia Kemp Community Centre along Dufferin and Clark. Starting April, 2022, GCF York moved its Sunday services to the Langstaff Gospel Hall in Thornhill, Ontario.

Jesus Christ is Lord – As the church continues to grow, the emphasis remains consistent with its theme – to know Christ and to make Him known throughout the community.  

Ultimately, our desire is for you to know the Lord Jesus Christ, understand God’s goodness and grace,  and receive His gift of eternal life. Jesus came to this world that you may have life and have it more abudantly (John 3:16, John 10:10). 

The Bible – The Bible is the inspired Word of God written without error, so it is our only sure source of knowledge about God and His plans, and is our absolute guide for doctrinal teaching and godly living (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1: 20-21).

God –  We worship and serve the only One True God who revealed Himself in the Bible as three persons sharing one indivisible essence in the mystery of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19-20).

Jesus Christ – Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God, being fully God and fully man. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life but suffered and died in the place of sinful man, was buried and resurrected ascended bodily into heaven, and is preparing to return bodily in glory to earth a second time (John 1:1-14; 14:1-3; I Corinthians 15:3-6; Philippians 2:5-11).

Holy Spirit –  The Holy Spirit is God who is actively at work in the world. He dwells permanently in every Christian, helps us to pray, equips and empowers us to serve God, strengthens and molds us to be more like Christ, and protects us to guarantee our eternal life (Acts 5:3-4; Romans 8:14-16,26).

Angels – Angels are the innumerable and unseen creatures who serve the causes of God and His people. Satan and demons are fallen angels who promote wickedness and oppose God’s purposes, doomed and awaiting their final judgment (Isaiah 14:12-17; Hebrews 1:6-14).

Man – God created man, male and female, in His image. Man was originally sinless but through Adam, all mankind sinned, became condemned, separated from God, and rendered totally unable to gain God’s favor of forgiveness and eternal life (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 5:12-14).

Salvation – Salvation is God’s act of forgiving sins, reconciling people to Himself, and giving a new nature and eternal life to those who put their trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Salvation is not a reward for good works but a free gift of God received by grace through faith in Christ alone and secured eternally by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 1:13-14; 2:1-10; I John 5:11-13).

The Church – The Church is the universal Body of Christ consisting of all born again Christians united by the indwelling Holy Spirit. A member of a local church must have undergone baptism by immersion, participate in Communion, and help fulfill the church mission to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:41; I Corinthians 11:17-34; 12:13).

The End Times – Jesus Christ will come again to reign on earth and to reward God’s people with life with Him forever in the new heaven and earth and to judge unbelievers with eternal separation from God and suffering in hell (Revelation 20:1-4;21:6-8).

Civil Government and Society – We uphold the separation of the church and state and we affirm the Christian duty to honor and to pray for those in government authority, to pay taxes and to promote the general welfare of society. (Romans 13:1-7; I Timothy 2:1-2).

Marriage – God instituted marriage (Genesis 2:23-24; Matthew 19:4-6) and the family (Ephesians 6;1-2; Colossians 3:20-21) as the basis elements on which society is built.

Marriage is the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of others (1 Corinthians 7:10, 39; 1 Timothy3:12a; Titus 1:6a) so that the husband and the wife can share love (Ephesians 5:22-29, 33) and intimacy for personal fulfillment (1 Corinthians 7:2-5) and for the establishment of families (Genesis 1:28; 1 Timothy 3:12b; Titus 1:6b)

Ethos – The GCF ethos is the characteristic spirit of the community of believers in GCF York, as manifested by its aspiration to know Christ and make Him known through excellence in life and service by God’s enabling grace and for His glory.For easy recall, the acronym G.R.E.E.N.H.I.L.L.S. is used to describe the 10 attributes of GCF church life in which satisfactory results are essential to ensure the health of GCF Peel. The focus is not on numerical growth, but on improving the health of the satellite, with the understanding that when a satellite is sufficiently healthy, numerical growth will follow.

The proposed 10 key attributes of the GCF Peel ethos are as follows:

G = Gifts-based ministry

R = Responsible stewardship

E = Effective structures

E = Empowering leadership

N = Needs-oriented evangelism

H = Holistic growth groups

I = Inspiring worship

L = Loving relationships

L = Life-enriching preaching

S = Sustainable spirituality

Affiliation

GCF-York is a member of the Canadian Baptists of Ontario & Quebec (CBOQ).

Pastor Narry Santos

Narry Santos is Assistant Professor of Christian Ministry and Intercultural Leadership at Tyndale Seminary and Vice President of the Evangelical Missiological Society Canada. He also serves as part-time Senior Pastor of Greenhills Christian Fellowship (GCF) Peel and GCF York, and a part-time Church Planting Catalyst with the Canadian National Baptist Convention. He recently planted and pastored  Saddleback South Manila and served for three years. Before Saddleback Church, he ministered at GCF in different pastoral responsibilities for 20 years, including helping plant six churches in Canada and four in the Philippines. He holds doctorates in New Testament and Philippine Studies. In addition, he contributed to academic journals and served as editors for books like Mission and Evangelism in a Secularizing World: Academy, Agency, and Assembly Perspectives from Canada, and wrote several books including Slave of All: The Paradox of Authority and Servanthood in the Gospel of Mark.  

Narry is married to Hazel for 30 years, and has two beautiful daughters, Eirene and Kaira. 

Pastor Ferdie Umali

Ferdinand Umali leads various growth groups and prayer meetings at GCF York. He is also the Resident Pastor of GCF – Halton (Oakville).  

He worked as a Medical Technologist in the Arabian Peninsula (Middle East) for 25 years before he and his family migrated to Canada in 2008. He served at various churches in Manila (4yrs), Riyadh (6yrs), Muscat (15yrs) and Dubai (4yrs) in the capacity of a pastor, teacher, mentor and counselor. In Canada, he was involved in the Evangelism & Discipleship at Christ Almighty Baptist Church – Toronto for 2 years (2011-2013), as a “Church Planting Intern” at Fellowship Pickering for a year (2013-2014) and a Volunteer at Intercultural Connections (Muslim Ministry) for 3 years. As one of the pastors of GCF-Canada, he also serves in the “Evangelism and Discipleship” ministry at Peel and York churches. Inspired by GCF-Canada’s “Vision 2024,” Ferdie envisions to plant churches in Hamilton, Niagara, and Buffalo, USA.  

He graduated from Tyndale Seminary in 2015 with a Master of Divinity major in Global Mission and Intercultural Studies. He is currently working on his thesis-project to fulfill the requirements of the Doctor of Ministry program at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.  

He is married to Beth, has three adult children, Jayjay, Jenny and Jammy and a son-in-law and skillful fisherman, Troy.   

Bro. James Diolanda

James serves as one of the preaching ministers for GCF’s Sunday worship services. He also leads the Sunday School ministry.    

The next Season of Harvest is underway. Our mission is to preach the gospel to as many people as we can reach that they may find salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. GCF Canada is also committing to planting 7 new churches across Canada in the next 7 years. We are asking our members to set aside at least one day a week (you choose the day or days) and at 8:24 pm (20:24 – military time) spend time praying for Vision 2024. Bookmarks have been printed to help remind you of this very important commitment. Take one for each person in your family.