Born in Stratford, Ontario, Zach Sloane lived with his family near Ingersol and as a child pretended to be a pastor while growing up, and although he was a man of faith, it was not what he wanted to do first.
He moved to England at the age of 16 to play professional soccer as a team scouted him.
Sloane played for a year and then tragedy struck when he blew out his knee and needed surgery. It was at this point he was told that he was never going to play soccer again.
Loving the sport of soccer, he attempted to play once more, only to have the same injury, ending his career in the sport.
Finishing high school, he took a personal training course and joined the British Royal Marine.
During this time, he struggled with his faith, and he asked God, if he was real to help him to find the right path.
Sloane returned to Canada and met up with Jen Sloane, his now wife. He has known Jen since grade five and they married in 2006.
It was at this time that Sloane’s faith began to become strong and in 2011 he attended the Huron University College and took the Master of Theology Studies.
They joined the Impact Church and he took his mentorship under the pastor in that church.
Upon going to a conference, they changed churches and joined the Apostolic church. They felt the surroundings were better suited to what they felt was needed in their faith.
Churches, although all believing in God, have different rules on how they feel a church should be run.
In 2017 Sloane became the National Team leader and also the pastor of a small church group.
They now have three teenage children that Jen has home schooled since they were of school age. Her days are filled with schooling as they felt the one-on-one learning was better for their children.
One day the couple said they needed to speak to each other on a serious matter. Sloane told his wife that he had received word from God that they should move to the west. At the same time Jen also received this calling to move west. They spoke to their children and everyone agreed to the move. At the time they did not have the funds for this move and they prayed that the funds would come into place, and it did, so they packed up and went to Lethbridge, Alberta.
At the time Sloane did not have a job and had planned to work anywhere he could, but he received work through the campus as the campus pastor.
With his first dedication, the same pastor that dedicated him in Ontario, was at the church that day. “It was a special feeling,” said Sloane.
After being there for a year and a half he felt the need to have his own church to lead and began looking for such.
The Stoughton Apostolic Church had been without a pastor for over two years, and he saw the job posting and sent in his reply.
Sloane traveled to Stoughton and presented his sermon and spoke to the people of the congregation. He felt it was a warm and welcoming place.
The second time Sloane came with his wife and children. Jen was on board to move, but at first their children were not so sure. They talked about the move and prayed and in the end they all agreed that this was going to be a great thing for the family.
They moved here in October and they are happy they did. Sloane said they had met a lot of great people and that the church and community were very welcoming.
This is the first church that Sloane is the lead pastor. “This church has a lot of history,” he said. “I want to honour that history.”
They hope to make this home for a long time and to share the love of Jesus through the church and in their lives.
“I want to share my love for God with the people,” said Sloane. “God is good, and he forgives us. No matter what, we just have to keep the faith.”
“We all have struggles, we just need to bring it to God and believe that he will help us,” Sloane said.
