David Charles Mainse (August 13, 1936 – September 25, 2017) was a Canadian televangelist, broadcast executive, and evangelical minister best known as the founder of 100 Huntley Street, the longest-running daily Christian television program in Canadian history. Often called “Canada’s pastor,” Mainse spent more than four decades using television to bring faith conversations into Canadian living rooms, building Crossroads Christian Communications into one of the country’s most influential Christian media ministries.
[IMAGE: David Mainse hosting 100 Huntley Street]
David Mainse at a Glance
| Personal | |
|---|---|
| Full name | David Charles Mainse |
| Born | August 13, 1936, Campbell’s Bay, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | September 25, 2017, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (age 81) |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Spouse | Norma-Jean (Rutledge) Mainse (m. 1958) |
| Children | Elaine, Ellen, Reynold, and Ron |
| Grandchildren | 16 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren |
| Parents | Roy Lake Mainse and Norma Hazel Pritchard, former missionaries in Egypt |
| Education | |
| Seminary | Eastern Pentecostal Bible College, Peterborough, Ontario (now Master’s College and Seminary) |
| Ordained | 1960, Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada |
| Ministry | |
| Founded | Crossroads Christian Communications (1962); 100 Huntley Street (1977) |
| Role | Founder, CEO, and original on-air host |
| Retired as host | 2003 |
| Recognition | |
| Honors | Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012); honorary doctorates from Tyndale University and McMaster Divinity College |
Who Is the Founder of 100 Huntley Street?
David Mainse founded 100 Huntley Street, launching it as a daily Christian talk show on June 15, 1977, from a studio at the show’s namesake address in downtown Toronto. The program grew out of a much smaller broadcast, Crossroads, which Mainse had started 15 years earlier as a 15-minute weekly segment following the late-night news on a small Pembroke, Ontario, television station. What began as Mainse delivering a short message while his wife and her musician brothers performed gospel music eventually became a daily national program watched by more than a million Canadians each week.
Early Life and Background
Mainse was born on August 13, 1936, in Campbell’s Bay, in western Quebec. Both of his parents, Roy Lake Mainse and Norma Hazel Pritchard, had served as missionaries in Egypt before returning to Canada, where his father went on to pastor churches in Ontario and Quebec. Mainse split much of his childhood between the Ottawa area and Sudbury, raised in a home where faith and ministry were the backdrop to everyday life.
He wasn’t a naturally compliant kid. At 15, he was kicked out of a religious boarding school, and by his own account, he stayed angry at God until he turned 16. That year, he attended a youth rally, heard what he later described as a simple message about Jesus, and the direction of his life changed. He briefly taught public school before enrolling at Eastern Pentecostal Bible College in Peterborough, Ontario, and was ordained in 1960.
[IMAGE: Small town Pembroke Ontario 1960s]
Ministry Career and Professional Journey
Early Pastoral Ministry
After ordination, Mainse pastored several churches in Ontario within the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada denomination, including a stint in Deep River. It was during this period that he met Norma-Jean Rutledge, whose two brothers had recorded a hit gospel record in Australia. Mainse, always looking for ways to get the gospel in front of more people, persuaded a radio station in nearby Pembroke to play it, a small decision that hinted at the broadcasting instincts that would define the rest of his career.
Launching Crossroads (1962)
In 1962, Mainse launched a 15-minute weekly television broadcast called Crossroads, airing after the late-night news on a Pembroke, Ontario, station. The format was simple: David delivered a short message while Norma-Jean and her brothers provided the music. The response was strong enough that other stations picked it up, and by 1971, the growth of the television ministry led Mainse to resign his pastorate at Hamilton’s Bethel Gospel Tabernacle to focus on broadcasting full time.
100 Huntley Street Goes Daily (1977)
In 1976, Mainse committed to something no one else in Canadian religious broadcasting had attempted: a daily Christian television program. He secured a 20-year lease on a building at 100 Huntley Street in downtown Toronto for $100,000 a year, and the show launched under that address on June 15, 1977. From the beginning, Mainse built the program around open conversation across denominational lines, featuring guests that included a Jesuit priest alongside clergy from a wide range of Protestant traditions. His efforts to secure broadcasting rights for religious programming also led directly to changes in Canadian broadcasting law.
[IMAGE: 100 Huntley Street television studio Toronto]
Over the decades, 100 Huntley Street featured more than 16,000 guests and fielded more than 11 million phone calls from viewers seeking prayer, reaching an average weekly audience of over 1.3 million Canadians. In the summer of 1981, Mainse took the show on the road for his “Salute to Canada” tour, broadcasting live every day for a month from Victoria to Charlottetown, delivering a message of national unity that made broadcast history.
Crossroads Christian Communications
Alongside the flagship program, Mainse built Crossroads Christian Communications into a broader ministry umbrella, producing children’s programming like Circle Square, which aired in more than 50 countries, and developing an international relief and development arm that responded to natural disasters around the world.
Later Years and Retirement
Mainse stepped down as CEO of Crossroads and host of 100 Huntley Street in the summer of 2003, but as Crossroads chairman Gil Scott later put it, “he never really retired.” He continued appearing on air periodically, kept up a daily Bible-reading blog, and in 2010 launched two new programs, Really Good Medicine and A Living Witness to Amazing Grace. That same year, he marked his 50th year in television ministry with a “Thank You Canada” tour spanning 150 Canadian cities. In June 2012, coinciding with Crossroads’ 50th anniversary, Mainse received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
David Mainse’s Wife
David Mainse married Norma-Jean Rutledge on September 28, 1958, and the two remained married for 59 years, until his death in 2017. Norma-Jean was far more than a supporting spouse; she and her musician brothers provided the music for the earliest Crossroads broadcasts back in 1962, and she went on to co-host segments on 100 Huntley Street for decades. Norma-Jean is still alive and has continued to make occasional public appearances and social media posts reflecting on faith and life since her husband’s passing.
David Mainse’s Children and Sons
David and Norma-Jean Mainse had four children: daughters Elaine (married to Bruce Stacey) and Ellen (married to Nizar Shaheen), and sons Reynold (married to Kathy) and Ron (married to Ann). By the time of David’s death, the family had grown to include 16 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Ron Mainse
Ron Mainse, the youngest of the four children, was born the year after his father launched Crossroads. He grew up volunteering alongside his dad, running old printers and stuffing envelopes, before earning a degree in Biblical Studies and Business Management from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, where he also met his wife, Ann. Ron worked full time with Crossroads starting in 1985 and remains an ordained minister with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. He and Ann later founded Heart to Heart Marriage & Family Ministries, focused on marriage and family issues, and have appeared together on 100 Huntley Street in that capacity.
Reynold Mainse
Reynold Mainse also spent years working alongside his father at Crossroads and 100 Huntley Street. Following the 2009 controversy detailed below, Reynold stepped away from Crossroads and moved into a different ministry, working alongside his wife, Kathy.
Controversies and Public Moments
In 2009, Ron and Reynold Mainse were named in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, and later an Ontario Securities Commission case, connected to an alleged $14 to $15 million Ponzi scheme run by Gordon Driver through a company called Axcess Automation. Regulators alleged the brothers had made personal investments with Driver and received referral commissions for recruiting other investors, some of whom were fellow Crossroads supporters. Crossroads leadership stated clearly that ministry donor funds were never used in the scheme and that the investments were personal and private. Both brothers stepped down from their on-air roles while the matter was reviewed. Ron was later cleared, cooperated with regulators, and returned to 100 Huntley Street; Reynold moved on from Crossroads into a separate ministry.
Separately, in 1979, Mainse publicly protested outside Toronto’s city hall against a gay publication, using language that reflected the era’s more combative tone around LGBTQ issues in religious broadcasting. It remains a documented part of his public record from that period.
David Mainse’s Net Worth
No verified net worth figure exists for David Mainse. Crossroads Christian Communications operated as a registered not-for-profit ministry throughout his leadership, and his personal compensation was never publicly disclosed. Any specific net worth figures found online should be treated as unverified estimates rather than confirmed fact.
Awards and Recognition
- Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012)
- Honorary doctorate, Tyndale University, Toronto (2003)
- Honorary doctorate, McMaster Divinity College (2011)
- Christian Film & Television Commission Movieguide Award for Lifetime Faith & Values (2005)
- Multiple excellence-in-television-production awards from the National Religious Broadcasters (USA)
- Served as a judge for the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, at the invitation of Sir John Templeton
Influence and Legacy
Mainse is widely credited as the pioneer of Christian televangelism in Canada, and his push to secure broadcasting rights for religious programming reshaped Canadian broadcasting regulations more broadly. Both Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney publicly recognized his contribution to Canadian civic and spiritual life during his lifetime. His insistence on ecumenical, cross-denominational conversation, hosting Jesuit priests alongside Pentecostal and mainline Protestant guests, set a tone of openness that distinguished 100 Huntley Street from more combative American televangelism of the same era. The ministry he founded, Crossroads Christian Communications, continues today under new leadership.
David Mainse’s Death
David Mainse died on September 25, 2017, in Hamilton, Ontario, at the age of 81, following a five-year battle with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) leukemia. He continued public ministry work, including a daily Bible-reading blog and occasional on-air appearances, throughout much of his illness. Crossroads honored his life with special programming across 100 Huntley Street the week following his passing.
Interesting Facts About David Mainse
- He was kicked out of a religious boarding school at age 15 and stayed angry with God until a youth rally the following year changed his direction.
- Both of his parents served as missionaries in Egypt before returning to Canada.
- He personally negotiated a 20-year lease on the Toronto building that gave 100 Huntley Street its name.
- His 1981 “Salute to Canada” tour broadcast live every day for a month, from Victoria to Charlottetown.
- He judged the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion at the personal request of investor Sir John Templeton.
David Mainse Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1936 | Born August 13 in Campbell’s Bay, Quebec |
| 1958 | Marries Norma-Jean Rutledge |
| 1960 | Ordained with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada |
| 1962 | Launches Crossroads, a 15-minute weekly broadcast in Pembroke, Ontario |
| 1971 | Resigns his pastorate to focus on television full time |
| 1977 | Launches 100 Huntley Street as a daily program in Toronto |
| 1981 | Leads the month-long “Salute to Canada” cross-country broadcast tour |
| 2003 | Steps down as CEO and host of 100 Huntley Street |
| 2009 | Sons Ron and Reynold Mainse are named in a Ponzi scheme investigation and step back from on-air roles |
| 2012 | Receives the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal; celebrates Crossroads’ 50th anniversary |
| 2017 | Dies September 25 in Hamilton, Ontario, at age 81 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the founder of 100 Huntley Street?
David Mainse founded 100 Huntley Street, launching it as a daily Christian television program in Toronto in 1977, after building the smaller weekly broadcast Crossroads since 1962.
Is Norma-Jean Mainse still alive?
Yes, Norma-Jean Mainse, David’s wife of 59 years, is still alive and has continued to make occasional public appearances following her husband’s death in 2017.
When did David Mainse die?
He died on September 25, 2017, in Hamilton, Ontario, at age 81, after a five-year battle with MDS leukemia.
Who is David Mainse’s wife?
Norma-Jean (Rutledge) Mainse, whom he married on September 28, 1958.
Does David Mainse have children?
Yes, he and Norma-Jean had four children: Elaine, Ellen, Reynold, and Ron.
Who are David Mainse’s sons?
His sons are Reynold Mainse and Ron Mainse, both of whom worked alongside their father at Crossroads and 100 Huntley Street for years.
What is David Mainse’s net worth?
No verified figure exists. Crossroads operated as a registered not-for-profit ministry, and his personal compensation was never publicly disclosed.
