Staff Bios
Mike Stone – Lead Pastor
Mike has served as the Lead Pastor at ForestView since the Fall of 1996. He received his B.R.S. from Ontario Bible College and his M.Div. from Ontario Theological Seminar (Tyndale).
After 3 years as the Youth Pastor at Divine Street Gospel Chapel in Sarnia Ontario, he moved to Simcoe in 1989, where he served as Associate Pastor at Simcoe Gospel Chapel for the next 7 years.
Mike & his wife, Sharon, celebrated 20 years of marriage in the Spring of 2006. Their three kids - Aaron, Matthew and Natalie - provide them with lots of fun and deep sense of joy (though some days they feel like cabdrivers).
When there’s nothing else to do Mike enjoys cooking, traveling, theological exploration, cleaning up his backyard, spurts of fitness (more off than on), and critiquing movies.
Lydia Elliott – Director of Children’s Ministries
Lydia joined the FV staff on a half time basis in September 2005 as Director of Children’s Ministries where her primary focus is the pastoring and discipling of children and being a support to those families. Lydia has been actively involved in children and youth ministries at FV since 1995. She and her husband Rob have 2 children Bryanna and Alex.
Lydia is a graduate of Ryerson (BSc.). In her spare time she enjoys bargain hunting and spending time with family and friends.
Mark Evans - Youth Pastor
Mark joined the staff at ForestView in September 2006. Along with being the Youth Pastor at ForestView, he is also the Boys’ Camp Director at Ontario Pioneer Camp in Muskoka. Mark graduated from the University of Ottawa (BSc.) as well as completing his Masters of Divinity in Pastoral Studies at Tyndale Seminary. Mark grew up in Ottawa where he also served for four years as the Jr. High Youth Pastor at Kanata Baptist Church.
Mark was married to his wife, Catherine, in January 2005 and they have been living in Burlington since then. Mark is a lover of sports (the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Blue Jays in particular), music, movies, reading, summer Camp, theological reflection, and cooking.
Mark Massecar – Intern – Youth Ministry
Mark recently moved to Burlington to accept an internship at ForestView working alongside Mark Evans in youth ministry. This last April Mark graduated from Briercrest College in Saskatchewan with a B.A. in Theology. This year he will be working with the youth of ForestView and primarily with the Jr. High Reality group.
Mark's interests involve sports and the outdoors but most of all his interest lies in music and a good road trip.
Cole McFarlane – Media and Neighbourhood Specialist
Cole joined the ForestView team in September 2008 as a youth/worship intern, after graduating from Briercrest College with a B.A. in Christian Ministry.
As of September 2009 Cole is now a part of the ForestView team as the coordinator of Visual Media for Sunday services and as a co-coordinator of the “Church in the Neighbourhood” initiative. Cole is excited to be a part of two new areas of ForestView Ministry and is particularly excited about wrestling with what it means to connect with those that live outside our walls and in our neighbourhoods. Cole has been playing video games for 20 years, and is a big fan of film, music and Helvetica.
Paul Millar – Director of Community Outreach
Paul joined the staff of ForestView in 2005 coming with his family from Edmonton, AB. Paul has a professional background in Social Work and has a particular interest in connecting the church to the forgotten people within our local community. Aside from his work at ForestView, he enjoys his occasional teaching in the Social Service Worker program at Sheridan College.
Paul lives in Burlington with his wife Elizabeth and they have five children - Alexandria, Gabriel, Hazel, Sophia and Simon. His current interests are native gardening and hiking the Bruce Trail with his family.
Nancy Skinner — Administrator
Nancy joined the staff of ForestView in November 2003 where her current responsibilities include administration and ministry systems coordination. She and her family have been part of the ForestView family since 1995 and over the years Nancy has been involved in many Forestview ministries. Nancy is the proud mom of 3 great kids. Alanna & Brad are in university and Grant is in high school. It seems like there is never a dull moment in their household.
Nancy is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University(BBA) and is working towards a Masters in Theological Studies at McMaster Divinity College. In her free time she enjoys golfing, gardening, reading, watching her kids play sports, and spending time with family & friends.