This column features some of the area churches that I may have missed in previous articles with a brief history. I am currently doing heritage walks of area churches and I thought it might be a perfect time to look at some of these churches. You can access my previous article featuring St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Trinity United Church, the Christian Baptist Church, St. Paul’s Anglican Church, the Quaker Meeting House and the Salvation Army Church on newmarkettoday.ca/remember-this (see related links at the bottom of this article.)
The Church of the Nazarene is located on the northeast corner of Main and Queen streets. Like many churches in our area, its establishment is said to be linked to a visit to our community by a representative of a sister church. In November 1933, Rev. William McGuire, the pastor of Parkdale Nazarene church in Toronto, visited Newmarket with the stated purpose of establishing a local Church of the Nazarene in a building at Main and Queen streets.
The building was then owned by John Roadhouse, who had an undertaking and furniture establishment at the location. The result was the establishment of a local Nazarene Church with 12 initial members.
Rev. McGuire would, in the beginning, commute from Toronto to conduct services and weekly prayer meetings but very soon a young reverend from the United States arrived on the scene, Rev. Richardson. Mrs. Richardson had been a missionary in China, and she brought to this infant church a zeal for organization, establishing a local missionary society.
She would bring guest missionaries from all around the world to this little church on Main Street and they, in turn, inspired the tiny congregation to take up the missionary torch and join the global missionary network, providing parcels, clothing and medical supplies for distribution.
Like the churches that I profiled in earlier articles, there was a constant re-invigoration brought about by a series of dedicated pastors and thus their numbers grew. It was not very long before the church decided to purchase the building in which they had been located; having rented it for all those early years.
From what I have ascertained from my research, the Church of the Nazarene is based on a missionary model and over the years they have featured missionaries from around the world as guest speakers.
The Church of the Nazarene is a Protestant Christian church following the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. It was organized in 1908 and is home to more than two million members worshipping in more than 26,000 local congregations in 156 areas around the world. As mentioned, the church’s foundation is their missionary work and today there are 702 missionaries and volunteers serving around the globe worshipping in more than 212 languages or tribal languages, with literature being produced in 90 of these languages.
They also operate 33 medical clinics and hospitals worldwide. Nazarenes support 13 liberal arts institutions in Africa, Brazil, Canada, the Caribbean, Korea, and the United States, as well as five graduate seminaries, 32 undergraduate Bible/theological colleges, three nurses-training colleges, and one education college worldwide. I must admit that their credo of reaching out certainly speaks to my personal idea of Christianity.
A new parsonage was eventually constructed on the site, and I can remember peeking in as a child while being babysat at Luesby Memorial, the family business across the street on Main. In 1955, a new church would be constructed with a seating capacity of about 300. Like most churches, they have a youth society and a mid-week prayer service.
The next year, at a church conference, Rev. Sperry Snyder was appointed, taking over both the Newmarket and Holt locations. Rev. Snyder soon decided that they must build a new church and began to canvass the town and surrounding area to raise the necessary funds for the project. In May 1913, the new church was dedicated by Bishop W. Sellew on the south side of Millard Avenue where the Newmarket Veterans Hall is now located.
The next fall, Rev. H. B. Luck was appointed pastor, and he would preside until 1916 when Rev. M.S. Benn became their first resident pastor. It would be Rev. Benn who would oversee the purchase of the church parsonage on Church Street.
I became well acquainted with the church when it was located at the foot of Niagara Street at Millard as that was my neighbourhood when growing up. My friend, Robin Graham, and his entire family attended the church, and I would often accompany them to the summer Bible camp, camping at their Pine Orchard grounds. Several of my childhood friends, including the Wrightman family, attended the church.
It is connections through friends and the neighbourhood that often draw one to a particular church. That is, after all, what drew me to attend the various area churches.
In December 1965, they moved from their Millard location just up the street to the corner of Arden and Queen, an area we called Harden’s Hill when I was a child. They also had a daycare as part of their facilities, and I was in awe of their new location. I also remember that I was sad as Harden’s Hill was the place where we all went tobogganing as children, but then again, life must go on. However, I will always remember that church on Millard as it was a childhood fixture for me.
I love the sign in front of the church that features inspirational phrases that appear to be a little “tongue in cheek” but very effective.
Our second featured church congregation is the Grace Church. The Grace Church got its start in 1932 in one of our historic buildings, the old Temperance Hall on Millard Avenue. The congregation was then known as the Gospel Tabernacle and the group was led by John McLeod, who would remain for approximately seven years before a series of pastors replaced him. Then in 1948, the Rev. A.R. Yielding arrived from Toronto.
I learned from oral history interviews that Rev. Yieldings children’s Bible stories became a mainstay at the Old Town Hall Friday evenings with up to 500 children gathered to listen to Rev. Yielding read from the Bible and enjoying the gospel music.
As was the case with many of our local churches, their attendance continued to grow, and it was soon necessary to find new accommodation. In 1953, a new church was begun on the north side of Botsford Street near John Street and was named the Grace Church, becoming part of the Association of Gospel Churches. I attended on several occasions with friends, and it was indeed a beautiful and lively church.
On Nov. 23, 1975, a new Grace Church was dedicated on James Street, just off Carlson Drive featuring a daycare as part of its mission.
The Free Methodist Church is currently on Queen Street, west at Arden Avenue. In 1911, Rev. L. Slingerland, who was then serving as the pastor of the Holt circuit, would open services and a Sunday school in the old Temperance Hall on the north side of Millard Avenue just west of Main.
The next year, at a church conference, Rev. Sperry Snyder was appointed, taking over both the Newmarket and Holt locations. Rev. Snyder soon decided that they must build a new church and began to canvass the town and surrounding area to raise the necessary funds for the project. In May 1913, the new church was dedicated by Bishop W. Sellew on the south side of Millard Avenue where the Newmarket Veterans Hall is now located.
The next fall, Rev. H. B. Luck was appointed pastor, and he would preside until 1916 when Rev. M.S. Benn became their first resident pastor. It would be Rev. Benn who would oversee the purchase of the church parsonage on Church Street.
I became well acquainted with the church when it was located at the foot of Niagara Street at Millard as that was my neighbourhood when growing up. My friend, Robin Graham, and his entire family attended the church, and I would often accompany them to the summer Bible camp, camping at their Pine Orchard grounds. Several of my childhood friends, including the Wrightman family, attended the church.
It is connections through friends and the neighbourhood that often draw one to a particular church. That is, after all, what drew me to attend the various area churches.
In December 1965, they moved from their Millard location just up the street to the corner of Arden and Queen, an area we called Harden’s Hill when I was a child. They also had a daycare as part of their facilities, and I was in awe of their new location. I also remember that I was sad as Harden’s Hill was the place where we all went tobogganing as children, but then again, life must go on. However, I will always remember that church on Millard as it was a childhood fixture for me.
I was blessed when growing up to have had friends who attended a variety of local churches, and it was completely normal for my family and I to attend the various churches for a service or some sort of entertainment event. Whether it was the choir at Trinity United, a soloist at the Grace Church, the Free Methodist summer camp, Sunday School at the Christian Baptist Church, or perhaps a function at St. John’s just around the corner on Ontario Street along with my Catholic friends, the churches of Newmarket were part of my childhood experience, one that I remember fondly to this day.
The various ‘church tours’ that I have been part of over the past few years find their roots in my childhood, experiencing all that the local church scene had to offer.
I think that I have now profiled all the local churches as part of my series on NewmarketToday but if I have missed your church, please contact me and we will remedy that omission promptly.
Sources: The History of Newmarket by Ethel Trewhella; The Newmarket Era – Churches of Newmarket and Who’s Who around Town featured articles; Oral History Interviews conducted by Richard MacLeod; Previous Articles from the Remember-this series on NewmarketToday; The Personal Remembrances of the Author; Newmarket Centennial 1857 – 1957 by John Luck; The websites of the Various Churches
Newmarket resident Richard MacLeod, the History Hound, has been a local historian for more than 40 years. He writes a weekly feature about our town’s history in partnership with NewmarketToday, conducts heritage lectures and walking tours of local interest, and leads local oral history interviews.
