Olive Branch

Lead Pastor

Even if you can't guess which of the above is Ken Davis -- you'll still have a pretty good idea of what he likes to do in his spare time!

Ken was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he comes from a family of pastors. His father pastored churches for over 50 years in Western Pennsylvania - and both his brother and his brother-in-law are pastors. Guess what they talk about when they're together? Ken attended Nyack College just north of New York City, Canadian Theological Seminary in Regina, Saskatchewan, and Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. In 1992 he received his doctorate from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. His dissertation tracked the five-year story of 101 churches - all planted on Easter Sunday in 1987 with the goal of reaching the undecided and modeled after Rick Warren's Saddleback Community Church.

Ken's wife and ministry partner, Lori, was born in Toronto and her ancestors were among the founding families of Markham in the early 1800's. Lori has been actively involved in almost every aspect of ministry, especially in music. She's on staff at TOB working in the areas of communications and graphic design. They have four kids, a crazy Sheltie named 'Jaz', and a guinea pig that looks like a mop with eyes, named 'Molly'. Boy... is the Davis house a noisey, happenin' place!

Ken led and taught in several churches in Pennsylvania before moving to Markham where he served as Senior Pastor at Unionville Alliance Church for 11 years. His main passion is teaching and helping people who are spiritually undecided make good decisions. Ken has also done a little writing on the side.

He also likes to fish... NO -- HE LOVES TO FISH!

Ken also dabbles in cooking -- and his best known creation is chocolate & maple fudge... he even won 1st Prize for his maple fudge at the Markham Fair a couple of years ago! This isn't that marshmallow creme, "anybody can make it" kind of fudge -- this is the real thing! The kind that if you don't get it out of the pan at the right temperature, at the right moment, you bury the pot in the backyard. Because Ken is such a funny guy, he occasionally treats those at TOB with fudge tosses during the services. Yes, you read it right... he asks tough question, then throws wrapped pieces of fudge out into the audience in the 'general direction' of the called-out answers.

At The Olive Branch we have witnessed otherwise intelligent, civilized people trampling one another to grab one of these edible projectiles. It is truly an amazing sight - and one that you're not likely to see in many churches!