About Bethany
Our Story
Bethany Baptist Church was formed in 1952 when a small group of believers decided to form their own Baptist Church in their local community. For the next 40 years we held services in several different locations, until finally settling into a brand new church building in 1992 at our current location at 382 Centrepointe Drive.
Bethany Baptist Church is a small, self-governing Christian community who join together in weekly worship services and participate in fellowship opportunities. As a Baptist church we practice Communion and Baptism, the two ordinances commanded by Jesus during His ministry.
We celebrate Communion on the first Sunday of every month, and we invite all believers to participate with us. Believers’ Baptism is a public declaration of faith and is one way to become a full member of our community.
Our goal is to create in Bethany an accepting and stimulating Christian fellowship, and to be Spirit-led agents of positive change in the lives of those we encounter in our communities.
Bethany in the Bible
Our church takes its name from a village named in all four Gospels which is closely connected to the final weeks of the earthly ministry of Jesus. It is also near to where He is prophesied to return again. (Zechariah 14:4)
Bethany was located on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, about three kilometres east of Jerusalem. The name comes from an ancient Syriac word meaning house of affliction or poor-house, indicating the village had become a place of refuge for caring and supporting the sick and destitute. It would also have aided pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem, a mere Sabbath day’s journey away. (John 11:18, Acts 1:12)
Bethany is the inspiration for our community to also be a place of refuge and a guide to those who seek the Lord.
Bethany is probably best known as the home of Jesus’ good friends, the sisters Mary and Martha, and their brother Lazarus. Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead, performing this miracle to demonstrate He was sent by God. Before entering Jerusalem, Jesus had dinner in the house of Simon the Leper in Bethany, where Mary anointed His feet with expensive perfume (Matthew 26:6-13). Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus gathered His disciples and took them to the Mount of Olives close to Bethany, where He blessed them before ascending into heaven (Luke 24:50-51).
Tour Bethany
Take a look inside our home at 382 Centrepointe Drive, Ottawa.