Yorkminster Park Baptist Church — Attraction in Toronto

A prayer ministry with spiritual director Robyn included NO prayers but only paternalistic criticism and contemptuous condemnation of participant from the lower class

I started to attend the weekly prayer meeting to pray for the church's agenda last Nov/Dec. Never asked anyone to pray for myself, argued with anyone, or criticized anything about Yorkminister.

In Feb, Robyn (whom i had never talked to before and had spotted only once at a distance earlier) suddenly asked me to start another prayer ministry with her, citing she was touched by the Spirit when i prayed for the church. I told her i was not spiritual, etc., but she persisted.

We prayed together once in Feb. I prayed for only 3 Bible passages and the Holy Spirit, nothing else. I told her afterwards I could be more authentic with God praying on my own, but did thank her. Never asked Robyn for advice or prayers about myself. In March, Robyn was a no show with no messages left for me. I continued to pray at the church's prayer meeting weekly as usual, but started to minimize contact with everyone and dared not pray aloud (like others did) anymore.

In April, Robyn and I met for the second prayer meeting. I planned to pray with her for only 3 Bible passages and nothing else. But Robyn did NOT pray at all. Instead she kept on interrogating me. When she found out that I prayed--ON MY OWN at home, not asking her or Yorkminister--for a sign from God, she immediately went on a whipping spree to condemn me contemptuously with all sort of accusations.

10 minutes into the prayer meeting, i decided to end it with the assertions that Robyn had no right to diagnose, judge, or condemn "(my) whole life" (her exact words) with all her accusations, and that I did not want to hear her own stories. (The pattern of the entire prayer meeting was I was very bad for being xxx or praying for yyy, and the root cause was zzz, and how i should be changed to be like Robyn, and her stories, where xxx was sins or negative attributes Robyn criticized me for. There was absolutely no prayer but only her condemnation of me and my bad prayers.) In response to my assertion, Robyn said she "did not (see) any point of what (I) said," and justified her continued condemnation of me with the argument that she would have appreciated it if I had criticized her like she was doing to me. (???!!!) So she ignored repeated requests for her to attend her next meeting, my objection of continuing the conversation, and my packing up to leave (with her blocking the exit), but she was determined to thoroughly condemn me at her prayer ministry.

In total, i had talked to Robyn for much less than one hour my whole life (and much of that time was her own talking) before she started her whipping spree, condemning "(my) whole life" with all sorts of negative attributes and sins at her prayer ministry. I had never asked Robyn for prayers or advice. SHE initiated the private prayer meeting because she (not I) claimed to be touched by the Spirit when I prayed, and I clarified right away that I wasnt spiritual. All I did was just praying for the church for several months with no argument, complaints, or trouble. If I were a middle or upper class successful church goer without a strong accent or chronic illness, would Robyn have done the same to me? Did everyone else at Yorkminister submit the content of their PRIVATE prayers for Robyn to review for approval or condemnation? If not, why singled me out when i had never asked anyone at Yorkminister to pray for me?

A prayer ministry with no prayers but only condemnation of how non spiritual you are, how your whole life is a failure and how you have brought this on yourself, and you how inappropriate your private prayers are.

Google account name is changed for privacy, but...

I was born and raised in India, enjoying a carefree life through my early years. However, as I entered high school, I began experimenting with substances like cigarettes and alcohol. What started casually soon spiraled into a lifestyle that would dominate the next 15 years of my life. I continued to drink heavily, and over time, the habit grew stronger. Despite holding a good position in the IT industry and functioning well professionally, my personal life was slowly unraveling under the weight of addiction.

In 2019, I moved to Canada, hoping for a fresh start—but the drinking and smoking followed me. My weekends were consumed by alcohol, beginning Friday evening and often lasting straight through to Sunday night. Most of my time was spent with friends who shared the same habits, while my connection with my family weakened. I was present at work but absent in my own life.

Then came a moment that changed everything. One day, the Word of the Lord entered my heart—through my ears, straight into my soul. It was sudden, powerful, and deeply convicting. I felt an unshakable urge to turn away from my destructive lifestyle. On November 30, 2020, I let go of it all—the alcohol, the smoking, and the bondage I had been living in for 15 years.

As I began to seek more of Jesus, my neighbor lovingly introduced my family and me to Yorkminster Park Baptist Church. From the very first visit, I felt like I had stepped into a glimpse of heaven. The worship touched a deep place in my heart, and I knew I had found home. Yorkminster became a sacred space where I could confess my sins, grow in faith, and experience the eternal life that Jesus promises.

Our lives can easily be led astray by sin, but the grace and truth found in Jesus Christ can redeem even the darkest paths. I’m living proof of that. Jesus is not just my Savior—He is my Lord. When we fully surrender ourselves to Him, He takes care of everything else.

I am forever grateful to Yorkminster Park Baptist Church and to my Lord Jesus Christ for rescuing me and...

Terrible experience! An embarrassment to the the name of Jesus and what He died for. To think I had brought a Muslim friend with me who would have been attending a church service for the 1st time and we had this experience!

What my friend said after the experience: "churches are like that... they're just good to look at". What a testimony Yorkminister Park Baptist Church. What a gospel to share!

Our experience: I had just dropped off my luggage at the air bnb and decided to go to church. I am just visiting Toronto. I checked for the closest church that was open and saw this was open from 11am to 2pm. Just after 12 pm, we took the 4 minutes walk down to the church. The 1st bad sign was that all the doors were locked. We walked around and had to l asked people sitting about how to access the property. This took at least 5 minutes. We were told to knock on one of the doors and someone will open - awesome practice of Matthew 7:7 guys! My friend was the one who knocked. This guy in his suit and tie opened the door and the 1st thing he says: "service is over". He repeated this about 3 times. No hello, no welcome, no how can we help you. Just "service is over". I responded by telling him that online, it says their service is from 11am to 2pm (at the entrance to the church, even the electronic info board also said the same thing). His reponse was something along the line of... "I don't know. The church is closing now. We're just singing the final hymn, people will begin coming out soon". What if we just wanted to pray or have a quiet time with God mister?

This was really an embarrassment to the name of Christ. You guys shouldn't do better. Jesus would...