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About Our Church


Richmond Hill Baptist Church is a Reformed Baptist Church, holding to the historical doctrines of grace. We are part of the Fellowship Of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Canada. We are an evangelical, Bible believing fellowship of born again believers seeking to live to the glory of God. To find out more about RHBC and what we believe, keep reading.

Our Church Leaders

Lead Pastor

Pastor Jake Clemens has been the Lead Pastor at Richmond Hill Baptist Church since April 2021. Previously, he served as the Assistant Pastor at Crestwicke Baptist Church in Guelph. Jake and his wife Candys have been blessed with three young daughters Emilia, Naomi & Adelaide. Jake is a graduate of Toronto Baptist Seminary and his studies are ongoing at Heritage Seminary. Some of the things that he is passionate about are reading books, wrestling with his kids, dating his wife, camp ministries, walking his dog, watching and playing sports.

Youth Director

Nathan Karas

Elders

When establishing the early church in Acts, elders were appointed in order to oversee and instruct believers. At Richmond Hill Baptist Church we do the same and our congregation is led by a team of elders. Our lead pastor is part of the team of elders and serves alongside our lay elders. All elders meet the biblical qualifications laid out in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. They lead the church through example, preaching, teaching, discipling, and counseling. They meet regularly to pray and provide spiritual oversight on matters concerning our church.

Our current elders are: Jake Clemens (Lead Pastor), Andrew Black, and Danny Fingas.

Deacons

In the early church, the apostles appointed believers to provide for the physical & practical needs of the church so that the apostles could devote their team to prayer and ministry of the Word. In the same way at Richmond Hill Baptist Church we have a team of deacons to support our church ministry and carry out needed tasks.

Our current team of deacons are: Dan Hormillada, Luke Meiboom, Paul Lemsky, and Noah Rogers.

What kind of church are we?

We are a Baptist Church that is part of the Fellowship Of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Canada. We have been in this fellowship since our beginning in 1955. Their Statement of Faith is the one our congregation has adopted as an expression of our theological views.

In addition, the leadership of RHBC is committed to the theological views that are pegged by several titles such as "Doctrines of Grace", "Calvinism" and "Reformed". We love to proclaim the sovereignty of God.

We use the designation "Reformed Baptist Church" to identify with a recognized body of theology.

We are an evangelical Bible believing fellowship of born again Jesus followers seeking to live to the glory of God.

Statement of Faith

1. Bible

We believe the Bible to be the complete word of God; that the sixty-six books, as originally written, comprising the Old and New testaments, were verbally inspired by the Spirit of God and therefore entirely free from error, that the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice and the true basis of Christian union. (2 Tim. 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:21)

2. God

We believe there is but one true and living God; that He is inexpressibly holy, eternal, infinite, and perfect in all His attributes; that He possesses Omniscience, Omnipotence and Omnipresence and exists in three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe in the unity, trinity and triunity of God. (Deut. 6:4; Isa. 44:6; I Tim. 1:17; Rev. 4:8; Matt. 28:18-20)

3. Christ

We believe in the absolute and essential deity of Jesus Christ, in His eternal existence with the Father in preincarnate glory, in His virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, triumphant ascension, mediatorial ministry and personal return. (John 1:1-4; I Cor. 15:3-5, 20,23; Heb. 1:4-5; Heb. 9:38)

4. Holy Spirit

We believe in the absolute and essential deity and personality of the Holy Spirit who convinces of sin, of righteousness and of judgement; who regenerates, sanctifies, illuminates and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ. (I Cor. 12:3-11; John 14:16,17; John 16:7-15; John 7:37-39)

5. Satan

We believe that Satan exists as an evil personality, the originator of sin, the arch-enemy of God and man. (Job 1:6-12; John 8:44; I Peter 5:8; Rev. 20:1-3, 7-10.)

6. Man

We believe that man was divinely created in the image of God; that he sinned, becoming guilty before God, resulting in total depravity, thereby incurring physical and spiritual death. (Gen. 1:26; 2:17; Rom. 5:12-19; Eph. 2:1-3)

7. Salvation

We believe that salvation is by the sovereign, electing grace of God; that by the appointment of the Father, Christ voluntarily suffered a vicarious, expiatory and propitiatory death; that justification is by faith alone in the all sufficient sacrifice and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and that those whom God has effectually called shall be divinely preserved and finally perfected in the image of the Lord. (Eph. 1:17, 2:8-10; John 10:9-11, 27-29; Rom. 8:28-30; 2 Tim. 1:9-12; Phil. 1:6)

8. Future Things

We believe in the personal bodily and glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ; in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust; in the eternal blessedness of the redeemed and in the judgement and eternal conscious punishment of the wicked. (Acts 1:10,11; I Cor. 15; I Thess. 4:14-17; Rev. 20:11-15.)

9. The Local Church

We believe that a church is a company of immersed believers, called out from the world, separated unto the Lord Jesus, voluntarily associated for the ministry of the Word, the mutual edification of its members, the propagation of the faith and the observance of the ordinances. We believe it is a sovereign, independent body, exercising its own divinely awarded gifts, precepts and privileges under the Lordship of Christ, the Great Head of the church. We believe that its officers are Pastors and Deacons. (Acts 2:41,42,46,47; Acts 20:17,28; Eph. 4:11,12.)

10. Ordinances

We believe that there are only two ordinances for the Church regularly observed in the New Testament in the following order:

  • Baptism which is the immersion of the believer in water, whereby he obeys Christ's command and sets forth his identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
  • The Lord's Supper which is the memorial wherein the believer partakes of the two elements, bread and wine, which symbolize the Lord's body and shed blood, proclaiming His death until He comes. (Matt. 28:19, 20; Acts 2:38,41; 8:12; Luke 22:19, 20; I Cor. 11:23,32)

    The Church and the State

    We believe in the entire separation of church and state. (Matt. 22:15-22; Acts 4:19; 5:29.)

    Religious Liberty

    We believe in religious liberty; that every man has the right to practice and propagate his beliefs. (Joshua 24:15.)

    The Lord's Day

    We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord's Day and that, in a special sense, it is the divinely appointed day for worship and spiritual exercise. (Acts 20:7; I Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10.)

    Civil Government

    We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interest and good order of society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, except only in the things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience and Prince of Kings of the earth. (I Peter 2:13-16; Rom. 13.)