Burlington, Ont. — (CANADIAN CHRISTIAN NEWS SERVICE) Rev. David Mainse passed away on September 25, 2017 at 81 years old after a five-year battle with MDSleukemia. Rev. Mainse lived the last years of his life (even while he fought the disease) as he’d lived his entire life: proclaiming the Good News – to any and all who would listen – that Jesus loved them.
“David’s greatest hope was not rooted in this world, but in eternity,” says Crossroads Chairman. “His desire to see others come to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ was his highest calling. He will be dearly missed by the Crossroads family, and by the millions of Canadians whose lives have been touched by his public ministry.”
Under Rev. Mainse’s leadership and direction, what began in 1962 as a weekly black-and-white, 15-minute broadcast that aired after the nightly news on a small Pembroke, Ont., TV station grew to become an expansive family of ministries that included international multimedia programming, an international relief and development organization, a broadcast school (that trained Christian communicators from more than 80 countries a round the world) and a national prayer centre that fields over 30,000 calls each month, providing 24/7 telephone prayer support to Canadians. To date, more than 11 million calls have come in to the prayer lines during which some 120,000 people have made decisions to become Christians, and 14,000 people threatening suicide have been counselled.
“He was passionate about people, about Canadian unity, and about ecumenical dialogue,” says Lorna Dueck, Crossroads Chief Executive Officer. “That passion led to innovation. David used the platform of daily television to model open, respectful conversation on faith among citizens from coast-to-coast. And his cross-Canada tours, designed to encourage Canadians, made broadcast history.”
When Rev. Mainse launched 100 Huntley Street in 1977, he did so with an on-air team that included a Jesuit priest and clergy from a spectrum of Protestant denominations.
It was as a result of Rev.Mainse’s vision (which was motivated by a desire to see Christian programming in primetime) and his team’s arguments before Canada’s broadcast regulator in the early 80’s, that the CRTC determined there was merit to the idea of allowing religious groups to own and operate broadcast stations, an opportunity that had not existed in Canada for 50 years. The CRTC subsequently amended the Broadcasting Act and later called for applications for religious channels.
Rev. Mainse subsequently founded this country’s most-watched religious broadcaster YES TV (formerly CTS) consisting of television stations in Burlington, Calgary and Edmonton. Several spin-off ministries were also launched by Crossroads, including the Circle Square Ranch children’s camps (which Crossroads gifted to Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship in 2011) which have provided spiritual nurturing and skills training to hundreds of thousands of Canadian children.
Crossroads Emergency Response and Development Fund (formerly ERDF now “Crossroads Relief and Development”) was established in 1982. Since then, it has disbursed more than $37 million to humanitarian projects worldwide.
“On behalf of the board of Crossroads, we mourn his passing, and extend our deepest sympathies to his family,” says Chairman Gil Scott. “But we also celebrate, confident in the belief that David is with his Savior and Lord.”
Crossroads will honour the life of Rev. David Mainse with special programming all week on 100 Huntley Street. The website davidmainse.com has been created to honour Rev. Mainse. It includes a guestbook to offer condolences to the family, as well as information regarding visitation and funeral arrangements.
Rev. Mainse requested that after his passing, a memorial fund be established in his name to support four charities especially close to his heart, including Crossroads and three charities led by his children. If you or someone you know has been touched by the life of this servant of God, memorial gifts can be made to The David Mainse Memorial Fund, administered by Crossroads Christian Communications, Inc. For more about the fund or to make a donation, visit davidmainse.com.
David was a beloved husband to Norma-Jean for 59 years (as of September 19th) and also leaves behind four children, daughter Elaine and her husband Bruce Stacey, daughter Ellen and her husband Nizar Shaheen, son Reynold and his wife Kathy, and son Ron and his wife Ann, as well as 16 grandchildren with many spouses, and 13 great-grandchildren.