Showing 1086 results

The Grand Falls and Millertown Mission was formed in the Twillingate District of the Newfoundland Conference of the Methodist Church of Canada in 1908. The boundaries of the mission extended from Millertown to Glenwood and included all places on the railway line, including logging camps in the vicinity.

The first Methodist service was held in a school in Grand Falls in 1906. Records indicate that there were 13 church members, and the congregation was ministered from Glenwood and Norris Arm. Probationary ministers were stationed at Glenwood and visited Grand Falls, Scissors Cove, Little Burnt Bay, and Norris Arm. By 1915, Bishop Falls, Glenwood, and Norris Arm were part of the Bishop Falls Mission.

In 1910, a new parsonage was constructed on Carmelite Road in Grand Falls, and Rev. William Muir became the first resident minister. A church was completed in 1911 on High Street and had a capacity of 300.

In 1914, the Grand Falls Circuit had missions in Grand Falls, Bishop Falls, and Millertown. In 1919, Grand Falls became an independent circuit and has remained so ever since.

The population of the town was steadily increasing; by 1922, the local congregation had outgrown the capacity of the old church so a new church was started. The church basement was finished in 1924 and was opened as the Bennett Hall. The church was finished in 1928 and dedicated as the Memorial United Church on 11 November. Rev B. Bugden was its first pastor. In 1923, a new manse was purchased. A third manse on Hill Road was purchased in 1963. The first Methodist cemetery in Grand Falls was opened on Valley Road. In the late 1920s, a new cemetery was opened on Lincoln Road.

The church in Grand Falls was organized from the beginning under the Session/Official Board structure. A Quarterly Official Board, Trustee Board, and a building committee were organized. Other committees dealing with Sunday school and temperance and moral reform soon followed. The Ladies' Aid Society was formed in 1910 and later became the Women's Association. Other women's groups followed, including the Women's Patriotic Association, the Currie Mission Circle in 1920, and the Young Women's Friendship Circle in 1950. The Explorer Group was organized in 1950, and by 1975 there were three groups of Canadian Girls in Training, one senior and two intermediate.

In 1922, a resolution was passed at the Quarterly Official Board meeting to ask the Presbyterian congregation of the town to amalgamate with the Methodist Church. However, the Presbyterians at St. Matthew's resisted the offer and remained opposed to Church Union.

In 1988, a new church building committee was appointed by the Official Board, and on 11 November 1990, the New Memorial United Church and Christian Education Centre was dedicated.

Grand Bank became the headquarters for the Fortune Bay Methodist Mission in the Newfoundland District of the British Wesleyan Conference in 1816. The mission embraced all points from Lamaline to Port aux Basques. Rev. Richard Knight was appointed the first missionary there, and in his two-year term, he "formed classses in both Grand Bank and Fortune."

Evidence of the places ministered by the early Fortune Bay missionaries is anecdotal and sporadic. In a report to the missionary committee in 1819, for example, Rev. John Haigh, Knight's successor noted that he had visited Harbor Briton, Jersey Harbour, and Little Bay. In 1827, another minister reported visiting Gaultos and Bay D'Espoir, and from 1827 to 1830, ministers wrote of ministering to Frenchman's Cove, Harbour Breton, Jersey Harbour, Grand Beach, Lamaline, St. Jacques, and Round Harbour.

The first chapel in Grand Bank was built in 1817. It was replaced with a new structure in 1846 that could seat about 400 people. The old chapel was converted for use as a day school, Sunday school, and hall for social service. In 1876, a new church with a capacity of 1200 replaced the smaller chapel. By 1964, construction had begun on the present day-building, which was opened in 1965.

Various communities were dropped from the visiting roster of Grand Bank missionaries as other missions were established in the area: the Burin Circuit in 1817; Garnish in 1866; Fortune in 1878. Furthermore, Grand Bank was replaced by Hermitage as headquarters for the Fortune Bay Mission in 1840. By 1900, the only community listed in the Grand Bank register outside the main community was Molliers. In 1925, the mission became a Pastoral Charge in the Newfoundland Conference of the United Church of Canada. In 1928, Grand Bank was listed as the only "preaching place" in the charge.

Epworth (Spoon Cove) became a mission of the Methodist Church of Canada, Newfoundland Conference, in 1894. Its first pastor was Rev. C. Howse. The Epworth Mission was geographically small, covering an area of less than 20 miles, with congregations in Epworth, Burin Bay Arm, Lanse'eau, Lewin's Cove, and Creston. It had a population of 1200, of which one-half were Methodist.

Originally, Epworth had been part of the Burin Mission. By 1840, Epworth had a chapel and school house. In 1890, a new church was dedicated there. By 1899, the exterior of a new church at Lewin's Cove had been completed and a new school house was under construction to serve the congregations in Lewin's Cove, Mud Cove, and Epworth.

Today the pastoral charge is comprised of congregations in Epworth, Lewin's Cove, and Winterland (which became part of the charge in 1981).

The Englee Mission was established in 1906. Englee had originally been connected with the White Bay Mission. When the White Bay Mission was divided, the Northern section of the White Bay Mission became the Englee Mission. The first minister, Rev. L. Halfyard, was appointed to Englee in 1908.

Although the area covered in the Englee Mission wasn't specified when it was separated from the White Bay Mission, records show that in 1935 the Englee Mission served the needs of the people in the following communities: Roddickton, Hooping Harbour, Williamsport and Little Harbour Deep.

In 1968 Englee was designated by the Fisheries of Canada as a place of centralization, a place for fishery growth, development and social improvement. During the past three years, its population had increased as more than 50 families had resettled from such places as Roddickton, Main Brook, Canada Harbour, Hooping Harbour, and Williamsport.

Each of the communities under the Englee Mission had its own little place of worship, often in the form of a school chapel was the case at Pigeon Cove. The church at Pigeon Cove was at first a school building, owned by the church. In 1971, the school was turned into a church for the use of the families there. At Hooping Harbour, a new church was constructed in 1955 on the site of the old church which was destroyed by fire a few years earlier. The church at Flower's Cove was constructed a little earlier than the others, in 1956. At Roddickton, a new church was started in 1974, and the Opening and Dedication Service was held on November 24, 1974. The church was named the John Wesley United Church. The earlier church was accidentally destroyed by fire when a building near the church burned and ignited the church.

The Englee Mission boundary was changed in 1976 and several preaching points were dropped and Englee now had five peaching points at Englee, Flower's Cove, Main Brook, Pigeon Cove and Roddickton. Englee, Roddickton and Main Brook are situated on one side of the Northern Peninsula while Pigeon Cove and Flowers Cove are located across the Straits. For the next ten years, the Englee Mission took in the same preaching points.

By 1987, the boundaries of the pastoral charge had diminished and now covered Roddickton to Main Brook on the Eastern side and Pigeon Cove to Flowers Cove on the Western side.

Deer Lake Pastoral Charge was formed in 1925 in the Humber Presbytery, Newfoundland and Labrador Conference of the United Church of Canada. The first minister was Rev. Stanley Tiller, and his appointments were Deer Lake and Howley. The Deer Lake congregation had been part of the Bay of Islands Mission since 1915.

Deer Lake is central between the Bay of Islands Mission and the White Bay Mission; congregations from both areas were, therefore, brought into the Deer Lake Pastoral Charge at its formation. The Howley congregation was part of that original charge. The first church was dedicated in Howley in 1929. Before that, church functions and services were held in the school house. With the exception of 1962-1977, when it was part of the Hampden Pastoral Charge, Howley remained in the pastoral charge until 1982 when it became part of the Pasadena-Howley Pastoral Charge.

In 1935, the congregation of South Brook was added to the Deer Lake Pastoral Charge. Midland was listed as part of the charge in the United Church yearbook of 1937, and Humber Valley was listed in 1948. Hampden also became a congregation of the charge in 1948. It separated and became the Hampden Pastoral Charge in 1962, but was re-united with the Deer Lake charge from 1977 to 1980. In 1980, it formed part of the Pasadena-Hampden Pastoral Charge, and then was incorporated into the Hampden-Sop's Arm Pastoral Charge. Meanwhile, Cormack was transferred from the Hampden Pastoral Charge to the Deer Lake Pastoral charge in 1973.

In 1955, a second church, St. Paul's United Church, was opened in Deer Lake. The congregation of that church grew over the next three decades to such an extent that by 1984, it comprised the only congregation in the Deer Lake Pastoral Charge.

Creston-Red Harbour became a pastoral charge in the Avalon Presbytery, Newfoundland Conference of the United Church of Canada in 1975. It was a successor body to the Creston-Marystown Pastoral Charge, with congregations at Boat Harbour, Creston North, Creston South, Little Bay East, and Red Harbour. Rev. R. Neil Newbury was appointed its first minister.

Historically, Creston had been part of the Burin Mission. In 1894, it became part of the Epworth Mission. Red Harbour and Little Bay East had also formerly been associated with other missions in Placentia Bay and Fortune Bay. The Little Bay East congregation had been part of the Congregationalist Fortune Bay Mission until 1941. In that year, the mission was received into the United Church of Canada, and Little Bay East became a congregation in the Pool's Cove Pastoral Charge. The boundaries of that pastoral charge remained the same until 1970, when Little Bay East came under the newly formed Creston-Marystown Pastoral Charge. Meanwhile, Red Harbour had originally been a congregation in the Port Elizabeth Pastoral Charge. In 1972, after the resettlement of Port Elizabeth, the Red Harbour Pastoral Charge was formed and included both Red Harbour and Little Bay East.

The First United Church congregation at Corner Brook was formed 15 March 1925 under the ministry of the Bay of Islands Methodist Mission. The congregation was composed of Presbyterian and Methodist families. This date not only constituted the forming of the congregation but the opening of the new Church Hall for church services and functions.

The roots of Corner Brook's Presbyterian congregation can be traced to Bay of Islands in 1877, when Rev. David Creelman and others organized a congregation in Petries. This group received church membership from the Sheet Harbour Presbyterain congregation in Nova Scotia through the connections of Christopher Fischer, who had come to Corner Brook from Sheet Harbour in 1871 to run a sawmill at Humber Arm. The congregation established the first Presbyterian Sunday school in Petries (located in the west end of Curling) in the early 1870s. In the early 1890s, Presbyterian families held services in a school house until a church was built on the corner of Park Street in 1898. This was the first church erected in the original settlement of Corner Brook. Catechists to the church were supplied from Halifax and supervised by the minister of the Grand Falls Presbyterian Church. Appointments included Nicholsville, Corner Brook, Petries, and Mount Moriah.

By 1907, Methodist families had begun to attend services at the Presbyterian church, and by 1914, Methodists were being asked for co-operation in arranging services. In 1919, Rev. William J. Morris, pastor of the Methodist church at Curling, started holding services there; The increased demands on the church facilities in the Corner Brook area eventually led to the formation of new congregations and pastoral charges in Humbermouth and Corner Brook. The construction of the Corner Brook Paper Mill began in 1923 and resulted in an influx of hundreds of people into the area. The increased demands on the church facilities necessitated the construction of the Church Hall, which opened in 1925.

The next year, the congregation became a self-supporting entity as the First United Pastoral Charge of the United Church of Canada, Newfoundland Conference, Grand Fall's Presbytery. However, the Church Union was not totally successful in the Corner Brook area. A separate Presbyterian congregation continued there; by 1955, it was known as the St. Paul's Presbyterian Congregation.

The United Church congregation built a new manse in Corner Brook in 1927. The ever-increasing population placed greater strains on the Church Hall, and in 1936, under the tenure of Rev. G. L. Mercer, the idea for a new church was conceived. Fund-raising began, and in 1946, the First United Church was dedicated.

Rev. George L. Mercer was appointed to the charge in 1929 and quickly brought its organization into line with the Session/Stewards/Official Board structure outlined in the United Church Manual.

The congregation continued to grow in Corner Brook West, and by 1956, a church expansion programme was initiated. The First United Hall on Park Street was opened in 1958, and the Oakland House Sunday School-Church Hall was opened in the Country Road area in 1958. (Oakland later became a separate pastoral charge.) By 1959, a second manse on Park Street had also been purchased and was in operation.

The Oakland United Church Pastoral Charge was formed in 1984 in the Humber Presbytery, Newfoundland and Labrador Conference of the United Church of Canada.

The first organized church work had begun in the Country Road area in 1956, when a Sunday school was organized in the local school building. In 1958, the First United Church opened the Oakland House as a Sunday school facility. Other church-related organizations soon formed at the facility, including a woman's association, a junior choir, an Explorer Group, and a Cub pack. By 1959, worship services were being held there. The Oakland Church opened in 1965 as a preaching station of the First United Church Pastoral Charge.

The Humber Pastoral Charge (Corner Brook East) was formed in 1948 in the Humber Presbytery, Newfoundland and Labrador Conference of the United Church of Canada. From 1925 to 1948, the congregation had been part of the Curling Pastoral Charge, and before 1925, part of the Bay of Islands Methodist Mission.

People had begun to settle in Humbermouth, especially after it had become an eastern divisional point for the railroad in the early 1900s. The first Methodist church was built there in 1903 during the pastorate of Rev. Peter Bryce. This was a small building located on Humber Road in what is now the Old United Church Cemetery.

The pulp and paper industry in the area was developing rapidly, resulting in increased population growth. In 1925, Curling and Humbermouth were united in one pastoral charge with a resident clergyman at Curling. In 1926 a hall/school was opened in Humbermouth as a place of worship and for other church-related functions. It was the first United Church school in the community.

In 1948, Humber and Curling became separate pastoral charges, although the minister at the time, Rev. Barrett, continued to serve them both. A house at Humbermouth was purchased from Albert Pear to serve as a manse. The first independent minister to the Humber charge was Barrett's successor, Rev. Woolfrey. During his tenure, a new manse was built on Station Road. The Humber United Church was built on Clarence Street and was officially opened on May 20, 1956.

The Pasadena congregation, which had originally been part of the Humber United Charge, became part of the Pasadena-Hampden charge in 1980.

The first reference to the Curling Pastoral Charge appears in the United Church yearbook of 1928. In 1929, other preaching stations within the ministry included Humbermouth, Spruce Brook, and Summerside; Prior to its formation as a charge, Curling had been the head of the Bay of Islands Mission. That mission had formally been established in 1903; however, Methodism in the area can trace its history back to the formation of the Fortune Bay Mission in 1816, with headquarters in Grand Bank. As Methodist missionaries spread westward from Grand Bank, new missions were formed along the south coast and, later, the west coast: in 1839, the Western Shore Mission; in 1851, the Channel Mission; in 1873, the Bonne Bay Mission; and in 1883, the St. George's Mission. The St. George's Mission extended into Bay of Islands and, from 1889 to 1903, shared its title with Bay of Islands. Its appointments included Curling, Lark Harbour, Summerside, Wood's Island, Humbermouth, Corner Brook, Petries, Georgestown, Middle Arm, and Goose Arm. Deer Lake was added by 1915.

The first Methodist church/school in Curling was built in 1890. The first separate church was dedicated in the late 1890s. It burned in the early 1940s and was replaced in 1944 by the Curling Memorial Church. The construction of the Corner Brook Paper Mill began in 1923 and resulted in an influx of hundreds of people into the area. The increased demands on the church facilities in the Corner Brook area eventually led to the formation of new congregations and pastoral charges in Corner Brook. In 1948, the Humbermouth congregation also became a separate pastoral charge.

Currently, the pastoral charge is composed of congregations in Curling (Memorial) and Summerside (Bethany).