Our History
The vibrant community that makes up Yellowknife Alliance Church has had various iterations over the years, each one formed by the changes and challenges unique to living in Yellowknife. We began as a tiny home group in the mid 1980’s, but starting in 1987, when missionaries Dave and Denise Golding arrived by Cessna from Fort McMurray, the church grew quickly. Services were held at the Con Mine Recreation Hall and then at various schools. Many of the first people who made up YKAC moved away between 1989 and 1990, and the church was without pastoral leadership for almost 2 years. As has often been the case in our history, the church was lovingly led by dedicated lay people, who saw the church through the tumultuous times of the early 90’s; the mine strike, the deliberate explosion which killed 9 miners, as well as the partition of the Territories and the creation of Nunavut.
Starting in the fall of 1992 until 1996, Russ and Virgie Mueller pastored the church, coming to us from Lac la Biche, Alberta to pastor at YKAC. As the 7th day Adventist Church was free Sunday mornings, we were able to make it our first semi-permanent home. That was an exciting time in Yellowknife. The gold mines were still in production, and the discovery of diamonds heralded a brilliant future.
In January of 1997, Al Harvey became the new pastor of YKAC, moving from Wimborne, Alberta with his wife Lisa, their two young sons, and a lot of adventurous spirit. Once again, from 1997 to 1999, transition played huge part of YKAC. The city was in a time of flux and nearly half the congregation moved south.
In 2003 Al and the leadership team began to pray about a new, permanent location, and eventually settled on an abandoned dairy barn about 10 minutes from town. As Al once said, “It wasn't the only option we explored, but it was the only impossible option.” Nevertheless, April 2016 marked our tenth anniversary at “The Barn,” a beautiful home that continues to inspire and offer us potential for growth.
After 19 years of service, Al retired, and Steve Swan was called to be pastor in January of 2017. Steve joined us from Winnipeg, Manitoba with his wife Sarah and their two young daughters.