Our Story

SERVING THE CHATHAM-KENT COMMUNITY SINCE 1977

The founding Pastor of Praise Fellowship Church, and Senior Pastor for twenty two years, was Rev. John Lubbers. Rev. John and Edie saw the church grow from a handful of people gathering for meetings in their basement to a congregation that is bursting the seams of our latest church facility built only in 1992.
Originally from Wallaceburg, Rev. John and Edie moved to Chatham and started a mobile ministry called "Transport for Christ". Quite literally a ministry on the move, it involved a tractor trailer, where the trailer was a church! Sporting logos on each side proclaiming "Safety is of the Lord" and "Salvation is of the Lord" the church with 18 wheels traveled a circuit from Windsor to Toronto for two years, ministering at many stops along the way.
1974 marked a year of beginnings. The fledgling seeds of what was to become a brand new church in the Chatham area, began as prayer meetings in basement of their house.
The meetings grew and in 1977 Rev. John became ordained under Elim.
With the purchase of our first building in 1977, Praise Fellowship Church was officially born.