David Mainse was a religious television pioneer
100 Huntley Street founder wasn’t shy about controversy
Just after his famous religious daily show launched in 1977, David Mainse would sit in his living room in tears, sifting through hundreds of prayer requests from his viewers across Canada.
Seeing him nestled among the letters, which lay across the living room, in the early hours of the day while everyone slept, is Ron Mainse’s most vivid memory of his dad.
“It kind of just spoke to how he wasn’t in it for the notoriety and the fame or to get his face on TV,” said Ron, one of four kids. “He really cared and he believed what he was doing from the depths of his being.
David Mainse, a broadcasting pioneer and founder of Canada’s longest running religious daily television program, died Sept. 25 at age 81.
The television host and founder of “100 Huntley Street” died after a five-year battle with myelodysplastic syndrome leukemia at the Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton.
His daily show featured a mix of upbeat gospel music, visiting celebrities and interviews with local religious leaders. The program also encouraged viewers to phone in for prayer requests and support.
Mainse didn’t shy away from controversy during his career as a televangelist. His campaign to push the CRTC to allow religious groups to own and operate stations inspired his viewers to send hundreds of tear-stained letters to the broadcast regulator.
His team’s arguments before the CRTC in the early 1980s led the regulator to amend the Broadcasting Act and eventually call for applications for religious channels.
“Since day one, David had to blow past barriers for no gospel broadcasting,” said Lorna Dueck, CEO at Crossroads Christian Communications, the media organization Mainse founded.
“It was something he just modelled: Don’t let the barriers stop you, keep letting your light shine, that was David.”
Mainse was also directly involved in campaigns to oppose same-sex marriage and gay publications. He stepped down as CEO of Crossroads and host of “100 Huntley Street” in the summer of 2003 to focus on his work to support the Indigenous community and advocate against same-sex marriage.
His son said Mainse loved everybody and he was never one to condemn anyone or to speak hate of any kind.
“Dad was a very special man, his love for Jesus spilled out to every other area of his life and fuelled him as a pastor and then a TV administrator and a visionary leader,” Ron said. “He was able to be uncompromising in his beliefs but he would do it in a loving way, he came from a place of sincere love for the individual and humility.”
Mainse’s first program was a weekly black-and-white, 15-minute broadcast that aired after the nightly news on a small Pembroke, Ont. television station. His media work grew to include a religious broadcaster called YES TV, a broadcast school and a national prayer centre that staffs more than 100 volunteers to answer 30,000 calls each month.
“I’m sure he never imagined how popular and important and impactful it would be over the years to have now over 10,300 of episodes over the years and so many calls to the prayer lines of people looking for help and prayer,” his son said. “The impact on lives is beyond what he ever imagined.”