Maranatha Christian Reformed Church has been loving and serving
God since 1949. In 1946 a few immigrant families from the Netherlands came to
Canada when the Canadian government opened up its borders in 1946 in a bid to
have families come and work in agriculture. Many immigrants came and settled in
area. Most of these families started worshipping together in each other's
homes. In 1948 Reverend C. Spoelhof was appointed to be the Woodstock home
missionary. He led weekly serves and as the church grew, they moved to the
Ingersoll YMCA on November 14th, 1948. At this time they began talking about
organizing and becoming a church. On May 29th 1949 a group of 24 families
formed the Christian Reformed Church in Ingersoll-Woodstock.

As the group continued to grow a larger meeting place had to be found. At that
time Woodstock was a more central location for the worshipping families and
they began meeting in a club room on Finkle Street on August 7, 1949. With the
continued rapid growth, the Christian Reformed Church in Woodstock purchased a
lot on Fifth Avenue. With limited funds and God's grace they began by building
the basement portion of what would be their new church building. The first
worship service was held on February 3, 1952. Reverend Jacob Hoogland was
called to be their minister.

On October 2, 1953, 24 Ingersoll families left to start their own church closer
to home. 100 families remained and then took on the name First Christian
Reformed Church of Woodstock.

In 1954 the congregation realized they had outgrown their current facility and
a new building project was begun. In October 1955, 51 acres on the northeast
corner of Hwy 59 and the future 401 was purchase. The families felt that the
need for a Christian School was greater and so they began building John Knox
Christian School. The school was dedicated on May 18, 1961. In May 1973, 40
families left to form the Second Christian Reformed Church of Woodstock.

In 1977 the two congregations joined to form Maranatha Christian Reformed
Church. It was decided that 116 families would remain at Maranatha and serve
the south end of Woodstock, while 88 families would form Covenant Christian
Reformed Church and serve the north end of Woodstock.

On August 7, 1979, a tornado struck Woodstock and destroyed both
the church and John Knox Christian School. Knox Presbyterian Church of
Woodstock graciously shared their facilities with us following the tornado
until we could rebuild.  On August 8,
1980, exactly one year after the tornado struck, the cornerstone was placed in
the front wall of the building. Three months later, on November 20th
we held our dedication service.

 
Over the years God continued to bless us and we grew, soon we out grew our facility. 
So once again we undertook a building project, this time on the other side of Juliana Drive.
On May 24, 2009 we held our dedication and ground breaking ceremony.  We are now in our new
building and again are being blessed with many families, children, young people and 
programs for everyone.  Come check us out and join us one day celebrating God’s Grace.