Kors Pater to lead RR Covenant Church flock

By Ken Johnston
Editor

There is a new family in Rainy River and this one comes to deliver a special message to the community.
Kors Pater, his wife and three children have moved to Rainy River from the Sarnia, Ontario area. Pater is the new Pastor at the Rainy River Evangelical Covenant Church.
On November 3, 2008, Pater replaced Gord Armstrong who retired this spring and Mark Mast who was only a part-time pastor at the church. Pater has been a pastor for the past decade and spent about five years in Sarnia and before that five years in Toronto.
While he has spent his life in Southern Ontario, having grown up in the St. Catherines area, Pater said, “I knew of Northern Ontario and saw the posting for the position here. Then the Lord affirmed it for me and reaffirmed it that I needed to minister to this church and the community.” Admittedly he was pleasantly surprised when he discovered Rainy River was as far south as it is in Northwestern Ontario. “We like it here so far.” As for how long he and his family will serve the Lord, here he said, “When the Lord calls you away you don’t know how long it is for. It could be 10, 20 or even 40 years. Who knows we may even retire here!”
Their first visit to Rainy River was during the Rainy River Walleye Tournament and they just loved it. He himself loves to follow sports and he hopes to take up hunting and fishing.
His children range in age from 18 months to 6 years old. His 4 year old is attending Junior Kindergarten in Rainy River and his six year old is going to school at Sturgeon Creek Alternative Program in Stratton.
They are currently shopping for a home to buy and are living in the Vivian Smith home on Sixth St. in Rainy River.
Pater said that he did not always want to be a preacher. In fact he wanted to own his own sporting goods store after high school. “Then the Lord got a hold of me.”
He is excited about the new church the congregation has been working on in Rainy River and looks forward to the changes it will bring over the next year.
While this congregation is relatively small compared to the last posting he had, he said that the change is good. In Sarnia there were 450 members, here he said there are about 80 that attend regularly on Sundays. “I was not the lead Pastor there, but this is a nice change and it is similar in size to my first one in Toronto.”
He said that he and his wife have found the community to be very friendly and supportive. “We are looking forward to being here for the community and seing what the Lord has in store for me.”
Pater said anyone can call him when in need at 852-4359.