In 1959, Reverend Victor Leavitt came to the Orange Hall on Princess Street in Kingston to hold special services. The results of these services are not known.
New Life Church of Kingston (NLC), formerly known as Kingston United Pentecostal Church was founded by Reverend J. C. Kleinsteuber in 1962. The church initially held services in the town of Kepler, a small town north of Kingston, and in 1969 moved to the city of Kingston and continued to conduct services at various rental facilities. Property was purchased a 362 Alfred Street in 1975 and the church continued to grow in strength and viability as it reached out to Kingston with the gospel. Many children and youth were bussed into the church on Sundays and much needed assistance has been given to families in need of food, support, clothing, encouragement and of course, spiritual guidance.
As a result of growth and progressive thinking, the pastor and leadership forged ahead and sold the Alfred Street property in 1991 and purchased a fine church facility at 342 McEwen Drive. The church continued to grow and due to lack of parking and other needed space, the church sold the McEwen Drive property, and moved Sunday services into Cataraqui Woods Elementary School, while pursuing larger facilities to facilitate current and future growth.
In the summer of 2013, a beautiful property was purchased at 2837 Creekford Road. This property was purchased before Bayridge Drive was extended north to meet Creekford Road, making the location of New Life Church much more visible to our community.
On June 16, 2017, New Life Church participated in “CHURCH IN A DAY,” a volunteer-based construction program of North American Missions, UPCI. Around 250 people, mostly unpaid volunteers, converged on this property to build the current facility in a bit more than 24 hours. What a monumental effort! New Life Church, Kingston is thankful for the efforts of all who laboured. During the remaining months of 2017, the rest of the work took place to complete the building.
God impressed upon on Pastor Arbeau that “We would build, and build again.” Seven years after the “CHURCH IN A DAY” build, we are seeing God working powerfully in our community. Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, many new families and individuals of diverse cultures and languges are calling New Life Church home…and now we are nearing seating capacity! We believe God will soon call us to build PHASE 2, a larger auditorium to increase seating for Sunday gatherings. We know that this future expansion will also not be an end, but another event in the expansion of God’s Kingdom in Kingston and the surrounding region!
These are exciting days for New Life Church!
NLC has been led by several successful pastors since its inception:
- Rev. V. Leavitt 1959 Temporary
- Rev. J. C. Kleinsteuber 1962-1965
- Rev. C. Rutter 1965-1971
- Rev. D. Flowers 1971-1972
- Rev. C. A. Brewer 1973-1990
- Rev. D. Hanscom 1990-1996
- Rev. D. D. Hanscom 1996-2003
- Rev. E. Arbeau 2003-Present