Pastor Al Platt

Rev. Al Plat 

Pastor

I grew up on a dairy farm in South-Western Ontario.  My parents were children of Dutch immigrants, who had moved to Canada after the World War 2.  Growing up in a family with strong Christian roots, there were a couple of careers that I considered pursuing after graduating from High School.  Mostly, I wanted to be a dairy farmer; secondly, there was this nagging pull in my heart to consider going into ordained ministry.  At age 18, I decided to go to Agricultural College, came home to farm after that, and figured the decision for my life's vocation had been decided once and for all.

I married Jeannette in 1992, and we have 2 children; Leah, born in 1994, and Ryan, born in 2000.  Dairy farming, while being a husband and father made for a very busy life.  In time, it became obvious that I had no idea how to feel connected to my wife, and eventually, I wasn't sure it was even possible.  Fortunately, we attended a Reformed Marriage Encounter weekend in 2004, and our marriage experienced resurrection.  And that set into motion a series of small steps that involved getting less involved in farming, more involved in ministry (particularly marriage ministry), heading off to Seminary, selling the farm, moving all the way to Alberta to serve a congregation in Athabasca as its pastor, and finally being ordained and installed as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Reformed Church in America in the fall of 2015.  

It's amazing how much life can change in 11 years, and  if at the beginning of that journey, God showed me that He would be taking me from milking cows in Arthur, Ontario, to serving as a Pastor in Athabasca, Alberta, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have done it.  But God, in His mercy and wisdom, did it all at a pace I could handle; one step at a time; and I now have the joy of being able to experience both of the life paths that I saw before me as a teenager graduating from High School.

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Available at your request. Contact Pastor Al below or stop by and meet him.

 
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Jeannette Plat

Secretary

I grew up in a Christian home in a small town in rural Ontario, the second oldest of six children, the daughter of a police officer and a homemaker.  After high school, I went to Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ontario for a three-year general degree.  Unsure of what I wanted to do with that, I moved back home and worked for an organization where I worked with handicapped children.  It was in that time, that I met a young farmer, who would one day become my husband.

Al and I married in 1992 and my future, I thought, was decided.  I would be a farmer’s wife for the rest of my life.  I won’t say that my post-secondary education was wasted but I did not take any courses at Redeemer that taught me anything about farming and nothing could have prepared me for what lay ahead.

In due time, the Lord blessed us with two wonderful children that have filled our lives with indescribable joy and blessing.  In the following years, and after experiencing a miracle in our marriage, the Lord set in to motion a series of circumstances and events that led us to a decision to sell the farm and a change in careers for Al.  He felt a strong call to go to seminary and go into ministry.  While he was a student, he was given the opportunity to do a summer internship at this church in Athabasca and by the end of the summer, he was offered a job here.  Although it was very clear to both of us that this was where the Lord was calling us to serve Him and His people, it was a huge step of faith.  We not only left our parents and siblings, we also left without our daughter, who had just finished up high school at that time, and had decided to stay in Ontario and go to college there.  I would have to say that that was one of the hardest things that I have ever had to do and, although it has not been an easy road without its struggles and sadness, the Lord has guided and blessed us through it.

Shortly after we moved to Athabasca, I was unexpectedly given the opportunity to work as the office administrator at the church; so once again, just as in farming, Al and I have had the opportunity to work alongside each other in this phase of our lives, as well. I’ve have to come realize over the past couple of years that, although I really did not enjoy living and working on a farm, and being a farmer’s wife, it was excellent training for being a pastor’s wife, which I enjoy a great deal more.

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Jeannette Plat
Office Administrator

 

We are pleased to welcome Nathan Gullion as the Pastor for our Calling Lake Church Plant!

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Nathan has been serving in Calling Lake now for the past two years as our Student Seminarian. He is of First Nations background himself, and has been warmly welcomed by that community. Up until recently, his work was full time during the summers, and during the school year he offered online Bible Studies and Alpha Courses.

Nathan is no stranger to a life of brokenness, alcoholism, addiction, and incarceration but he was saved by our Lord Jesus Christ some 16 years ago, and understandably now has a real passion to bring the gospel to others in the First Nations community. Now, after having completed his Master of Divinity in June of 2021 (at Taylor Seminary in Edmonton), he has started full time at Calling Lake with the goal of planting a church there. He is under care of the Classis of the Canadian Prairies, and is working toward being ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the RCA.