A regular Gospel ministry was started in the spring of 1946 under the leadership of Hugh and Mamie Campbell. It operated as a Mission outreach, partially funded by Bethany Baptist church, Winnipeg. The Campbells held weekly Sunday Services and Bible studies at the Durston School, the Banks School, and the Fred Wilson home as well as a Youth ministry on Friday nights.
They also organized a summer Bible camp at the Geertsema property on Lake Dauphin which was the start of a camping ministry which was continued by the local church, and, several years later, by The Canadian Sunday School Mission, under the name of Dauphin Bible Camp.
The second year of summer camping (1947) was planned for the same location, but the Lake was unsuitable due to algae, so it was moved to Durston Park, located at the south end of Durston Park Road, on the northern edge of the Riding Mountain National Park. This site was the property of Wm. H. Durston, who had developed it for public use. Summer Bible camps have been conducted on this location continuously since 1947.
It was on April 25th, 1952 that a public meeting was held at the Banks School - the purpose of the meeting was to elect a church board to have supervision of the work in general. The following persons were elected: Ken Bennett, Mrs. Elsie Durston, Dean Durston, Claude Kaufman, Mrs. M. Wilson and Mrs. H. Wright.
On April 7, 1953, a Sunday School was organized with the following officers: Superintendent - Barry Durston, Secretary - Mary Fee, Treasurer -Conrad Durston.
On September 28, 1953, it was decided to organize into an inter-denominational independent church, called Parkside Gospel Church. A Statement of Faith was put in place, and a Constitution was drawn up to govern the ministry. Following the evangelizing ministry of the Campbells, Carl Frost, the first locally supported pastor, provided leadership in developing both the Statement of Faith, and the Church Constitution.
Four years later, on June 3rd, 1957, the church accepted an invitation to join the Associated Gospel Churches of Canada. This meant the Statement of Faith would be that of the Association, although the Constitution already in place would continue to govern the Ministry.
Other pastors followed the Campbells and Frosts - Don Hogman, Gerald Dykema, John Unger, Bob Rother, Charles Gibson, Richard Libby, John Evenson, and Tim Diack. They each brought their own personalities of course, and spiritual gifts which have contributed to the ongoing ministry in various ways.
