Pastor Profile - Rev. Henry de Korte

Pastor Dekorte, or just plain "Henry," as he likes to be called, comes to us from a diverse church background. He was baptized Christian Reformed, confirmed Presbyterian, came to the Lord as an adult in a Pentecostal church, graduated from an Anglican seminary, was ordained as a Baptist pastor, and has now found a home in the RCA. He is quick to point out, though, that this does not imply confusion on his part—rather, it was an educative, spiritual/theological journey that has helped shape his ecumenical perspective and his philosophy of ministry. And there’s still more. After a stint in the military, he roamed around our country in an old Bell Telephone van, which also served as his home.

From the bush camp in B.C. to the loading docks in Toronto, he was on a desperate search to find meaning in life. What drugs and alcohol were unable to do, the Lord Jesus did when He spoke to him one day through a secular song. "It’s as though He grabbed me out of nowhere," Henry says, "shook me, and said, ‘You’ll never be happy or fulfilled until you acknowledge me as your Lord and Saviour.’" He did, and he has never looked back.

A lot has happened since then. He married Debbie, his Baptist pastor’s daughter, and began a career as an instrumentation technician at the steel plant in Hamilton, Ontario. Although he had great plans of his own, God called him to ministry in 1982, and he ended up pastoring a Baptist church in Toronto. The family also grew to include three children: Mark (13), Bethany (11), and Laura (9).

That seems like quite a journey. But Henry quotes Romans 8: 28 and Genesis 50: 20 and understands how God has used everything to mold and shape him and how his background contributes to the way he does ministry today. He believes that the Church has a responsibility to communicate the gospel to a needy world and to do whatever it takes. This means being contemporary and relevant. In other words, having a message that is meaningful to people and in a language that they understand. He knows first hand the unrootedness and helplessness experienced by the unsaved, the forces that drive believers to other churches, and the frustrations of the pew.

Henry and Debbie and the kids are happy to be in Guelph. It’s a blessing for them to know that God orders our steps, and that sensitivity to His will and direction puts our lives on track!