Church History

Victory Baptist Church started gathering as a congregation shortly following World War Two in
1946. The congregation met within the confines of a small barracks located in the war time training camp situated in the Newmarket Fair grounds (the curling arena was the camp mess hall). The barracks was then relocated about 400 meters away to the corner of Newton and Arthur. The barracks served the church for a while, until a traditional church structure was built. While at this location, the church in the secluded property, with the church office in the adjacent building on Arthur, there was tremendous growth. Families saw Victory as a great place to worship, and the children often outnumbered the adults.

This resulted in tremendous growth of the church, and the need for new space. The Sunday services were hosted at Meadowbrook Public School, which was brand new at the time, and had an amazing auditorium. This was an early example of a multi-campus church, although it never thought of it as such. Sunday services were at the school, while midweek prayer times were held at the old location, and office space adjacent. After a few years (which probably felt like an eternity to the volunteers) of setting up and tearing down church weekly, Victory Baptist Church became the second owners of a permanent church structure at 373 Botsford, currently the Botsford Day Care Centre. The church building was within the downtown core of Newmarket and met the needs of a church for a while.

The congregation continued to grow and proved that there was somewhere else the church had to go. A congregation of approximately 100 people consistently gathered together seeking the leading of God. A challenge to purchase property and build an entirely new structure was presented to them in the early 1980s. In 1983 the present facilities were opened and a congregation of 90 opened the doors for ministry here. Since then, Victory has had ministry to the surrounding areas of both Newmarket and Bradford.