After 189 years, Bradford United Church will be closing its doors at the end of this month.
Despite the church's legacy in town dating back to 1834, Bill Langford, vice chairperson for the church council, said the closure of the church at 66 Barrie St. is a result of a declining congregation and lack of funding.
“It’s not only the United Church, it’s the church community in general that is struggling,” he said, noting that several churches from surrounding communities have closed over the years.
“My personal feeling is that people were teetering on about still going to church and still not, and I think the pandemic kind of pushed them over. ... The attendance dropped and, of course, the income drops. We were running short like $1,000 a week. Regardless of what kind of business you’re in, you can’t go on like that forever,” he said.
Currently only 80 people remain on the church’s list of adherents, and Langford estimates only about 20 regularly attend service.
“We’ve seen it coming for a while, but it’s hard,” Sheila Armstrong a church trustee said. “My adult life has been here. My children grew up here. I love this building. It’s so unique and it’s such a treasure that I worry about its future. We don’t know what’s going to happen to it.”
Armstrong said the United Church of Canada is retaining the property and the building might be rented out to other faith groups with three currently interested: The Promise Church (who already rent there), a Muslim faith group and a Greek church.
In the meantime, Armstrong has taken steps to help protect the building, by having it recognized by the town as historically important, but so far she has been unable to have the building added to the Ontario Heritage Registry as she was told that could take two to three years.
“All we could get right now, is the town plaque, so it will be prominently displayed under our 66 at the front, and it has to stay regardless of what happens to the building, so we will always be Bradford United Church here,” Armstrong said.
“It’s like a lot of things, you’re always so fearful of the wrecking ball showing up. There’s been many people involved in trying to preserve this place and our fear is that it might begin to crumble,” Langford added.
Armstrong said Mayor James Leduc assured her the building would not be torn down.
“I don’t know if that will go for whoever comes after him too, but I would hope so,” she said.
Langford and Armstrong said that over the years the church used to host rummage sales, dinners, holiday gatherings and other community events as well as providing space for organizations such as Girl Guides of Canada, Alcoholics Anonymous and the Bradford Arts Centre, the latter of which renovated the church to expand the stage.
“Our church services always used to be at 11 and going back to our heyday, back in the ’80s and early ’90s, if you weren’t here by at least 20 to 11, you were sitting up in the balcony because everything was full down there,” Langford said.
Armstrong added that during holiday services, especially Christmas, they had to add chairs to aisles.
The congregation may have shrunk since then, but some members remain dedicated, with long-standing family ties to the church.
“I’ve been here all my life,” said long-time member Bob Evans, adding that both his parents and grandparents also attended the church.
One of the stained-glass windows installed in 1958 is actually dedicated to his grandparents, Thomas W. W. Evans and Edith Graham Evans.
Like Evans’ family, Langford’s grandparents also attended the church and his parents actually met there.
“My mom and dad attended here and then they met and got engaged and married, and myself and my four brothers were all baptized here. My one brother was killed in a car accident in ’62 and his funeral was here, and my other brother’s wedding was here. Then, when my mom died a few years ago, her funeral was here. It’s our second home,” he said.
That sense of loyalty inspired Armstrong and another trustee to begin photographing and cataloguing all of the items in the church, including the hand-carved pews, the dedicated handbooks, the banners, the communion glasses and more — all in the hopes that they can be either re-used elsewhere or preserved.
Armstrong said she’s approached the Simcoe County Museum about the possibility of storing and displaying some items there.
“Things like the pulpit and chair and communion table — I would hope that all of that could be preserved. It would be nice to have a display somewhere that said ‘Bradford United Church’ and special things would be seen by other people, but nothing has been confirmed yet,” she said.
Those documenting efforts led to the discovery of one particularly special item — the Bible originally given to the church on the day the building (what is now known as the Margaret Irene Turner Hall) opened in 1865.
“It’s definitely going to be archived somewhere. It’s kind of interesting how that old Bible was just tucked away on a shelf somewhere. I don’t think half of us even knew it was there,” Langford said.
The book shows significant signs of wear, with loose covers and ragged pages, but the dedication on the inside front remains in swooping calligraphy: "Presented by John Lancaster to the trustees of the Wesleyan Methodist Congregation Bradford on the occasion of the opening of their new Church."
According to a brief history of the church, the first building, known as the Methodist Chapel, was built in 1834, at the corner of John Street West and Moore Street.
The Methodist Church received the property at 66 Barrie St. in 1836, where the Wesleyan Methodist Church was built and officially opened on Aug. 3, 1851.
The current sanctuary was built in 1864 and the original building is now known as the Margaret Irene Turner Hall. The foundation stone for the sanctuary was laid on July 27, 1864 and the new church was formally opened on Jan. 25, 1865.
It became known as the Bradford United Church on June 10, 1925 when the United Church of Canada was created with the amalgamation of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches.
The church building has undergone several additions and renovations over the years. In 1961, the original brick was covered in white stucco and in 1988 the narthex (a large covered porch) was added.
After so much history, it’s difficult for members to see it close.
“It’s a time of sadness, but we’re celebrating our church and our legacy, and we’re hoping that it will be carried on one way or another,” Evans said.
The final service is planned for Sunday, June 18 at 2 p.m.
