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12 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday January 24, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Living Oakville Beaver LIVING EDITOR: ANGELA BLACKBURN By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Phone: 905-845-3824, ext. 248 Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: angela@oakvillebeaver.com Tale of two pastors at Chartwell Baptist There's a tale of two pastors playing out at Oakville's Chartwell Baptist Church. One has recently retired -- or semiretired. He has spent a good number of years leading a growing church in an affluent area. The other is in the prime of his life. He, too, has spent a good number of years leading a growing congregation, but in a very multicultural church in north Scarborough. The two men are Pastors Roy Matheson and Paul Johansen. Today, Chartwell Baptist Church includes numerous congregations which meet at several different locations and number nearly 1,000. It has been under Matheson that the growth has occurred. However Matheson retired a year ago and Johansen has been selected to lead Chartwell Baptist into the future. In fact, Johansen preached to his new congregation for the first time this month. While Matheson has been at Chartwell Baptist Church for 27 years, BARRIE ERSKINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER Johansen has spent 16 years at Good Shepherd Community Church in STEPPING BACK: Roy Matheson has been pastor at Chartwell Baptist Church for 27 years. Scarborough. It was in 1979 that Matheson came 20-somethings and began about five years ago. to Chartwell Baptist, a small church founded in Then there's a Clarkson site that's a decade 1978 to serve about 30 people. old. Another site began in 1992 at King's When a church site -- 228 Chartwell Christian Collegiate in north Oakville. became available as another church moved, the Another congregation has also sprung to life site was purchased for $1. meeting in an apartment building on Kerr Over the years Chartwell Baptist has grown Street where Kerr Street Ministries (KSM) had steadily and Matheson was around when it was a hand in bringing the need for the congregadecided the growth would be accommodated tion to the church on behalf of a group of chalthrough establishment of new congregations lenged Kerr Street apartment dwellers. -- that meet at satellite sites other than the Chartwell Baptist actually grew out of a church proper. group of people who had attended Calvary Various other pastors lead those congrega- Baptist Church, but wanted to do some new tions -- all of which fall under the auspices of things, explained Matheson. the one church. "There was a desire for an emphasis on small There's a youth-oriented congregation that groups in church and on shared leadership," makes its home at the church grounds at 228 said Matheson. Chartwell Rd. It's called The Well, is tailored to Through growth, the effort to stay small has Tyndale College. Now Matheson is in his 70s, with grown children and six grandchildren. Matheson's wife, Helen, passed away and he has remarried, Joy, who also has three children and two grandchildren. He still lives in the same house he has for years ­ five minutes away from the church. "I'm in my 70s," he said when asked about why he chose to retire. Yet, while he may have stepped away so Johansen could step into his shoes, his footsteps are still very real through the church halls. He continues to act in an advisory capacity at the church so his presence is very much still at work at Chartwell Baptist Church. Matheson admits his biggest challenge over the years has been to retain the intimacy first sought by the original church founders while accommodating growth. His biggest success has been watching the congregation do lots of worthwhile activities in the community over the years. He, too, has done his share of community work -- in the global community. BARRIE ERSKINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER He has visited a host of countries on STEPPING IN: Paul Johansen arrived this month at the worldwide landscape to do volunChartwell Baptist after years at a Scarborough church. teer work. His travels have taken him to always been a struggle, but Matheson said the Kenya, Indonesia, the Philippines, China and off-shoot congregations stay true to that initial more. He plans to continue doing that work, philosophy. too, though he said his wife, Joy, has experiTaking the helm of Chartwell Baptist enced culture shock when accompanying him. allowed Matheson to lead his own congregation On a trip to India, Matheson said his spouse and still remain teaching at a Toronto's Tyndale was "just overwhelmed" with the poverty, the University College and Seminary -- where he need and the crowds. continues to teach part time even now. "Sometimes the accommodations are a bit Matheson and his successor, Johansen, are Spartan and sometimes the food is less than not that strange to one another. Johansen stud- Oliver's," he noted with his dry humour. ied under Matheson. Then, he interjects, "Sometimes you realize Matheson was born in Nova Scotia, grew up material things are not really what's most in Ottawa and spent 12 years in the U.S. -- six important. Many of the people there are much in Texas and six in Alabama. He was at a semi- more content than we are here." nary in Dallas then stayed on to pastor at a "I think it's a calling," he said when asked church for nearly five years. Then he moved to how he chose his vocation. Alabama where he taught at a Christian college. "I had planned to be a chartered accountant. Matheson came to the GTA to teach at See New page 14 YOU PUT IN 110% EVERY DAY. COGECO HIGH SPEED BUSINESS INTERNET Adel Szakacs PACKAGES STARTING AT $ 4995 Business Internet PER MONTH See how Cogeco's personalized services can help. · Build a service package that'll fit your needs and budget · Take advantage of the fastest Internet service* up to 16Mbps , · Connectivity problems? 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