I live in Meaford Ontario with with my beautiful wife, Amanda, and five children, Logan, Abby, Justus, Emma and Faith.  I am the pastor of Woodford Baptist Church and First Baptist Church Meaford, affiliated with the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec.  I am active in writing, especially in the area of New Testament and apologetics. I have a B.B.A. from Brock University, M.Div., M.Th. And M.A. degrees from McMaster Divinity College and I am currently in the Doctor of Theology program at the University of South Africa. My favourite authors include C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, N.T. Wright, Mark Buchanan, Dallas Willard and John Ortberg.  My favourite activities include spending time with my family, going on dates with my wife and playing hard with my kids.

My purpose is to be:

1. 1)A dedicated follower of Jesus Christ, submitting in thought, word and deed;
   

2. 2)A faithful husband and father, blessing my family as they are a blessing to me;
   

3. 3)A dependable pastor and teacher, showing love to all and sharing the truth of God.
   

The focus of my ministry is the living out of 1 Peter 3:15-16. “Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.” God is calling me to defend the faith, that is to express the Gospel in ways that are understandable and believable. My two passions are apologetics, that is the intellectual defense of the Gospel through teaching, writing and blogging, and the ministry of compassion as I encourage my churches to reach out in tangible ways with the love of Christ. My goal is to demonstrate to an unbelieving world that the Gospel is both reasonable and relevant.

Contact Stephen at steve@stephenjbedard.com.