Methodist Church bell’s first chimes usher in 20th century

This month’s contribution is a continuation of the story of the Methodist Church, now St. John’s United Church. We have so much about this congregation because they preserved their record books. I understand they are all now in the church archives.
Life at the end of the nineteenth century was flourishing at the Methodist Church so they decided to buy a bell for the elegant steeple on the church. The bell rang for the first time January 1, 1901 to usher in the twentieth century.
This brick church on Mill Street was a Methodist Church until 1926 when it was named a United Church. This name change was a result of the church union, which united Presbyterians, Methodists and Congregationalists. More about that later.
In the meantime the activities at the church continued to flourish especially in the matter of improving the building itself. After the fruition of the idea to install the bell came the plan to buy a new pipe organ, that is, if it could be done for less than $300. By June 1904 it was purchased and set up. This was no easy chore as some of the bricks from the back wall had to be removed.
A larger plan for improvement was the building of the gallery at the east end and the raising of the floor of the church so the pews were gradually elevated towards the back. This was in 1910. It was estimated to cost $397. The church was closed until it was reopened in early May. The cost turned out to be $525.65 and unfortunately there wasn’t enough money on hand; they had to borrow some additional funds.
The regular Sunday services were seldom reported in the newspapers. Perhaps they were just taken for granted or perhaps the newspaper’s editor found reporting for four churches too much for one person. Some special services were mentioned. One was a service for young men with a choir of twenty-six voices. The sermon was about manliness, a man who had “morals, courage, unwavering purpose, strength of service and a firm trust in the power from on high.”
Revivals were popular in that era and a series of Methodist revivals were no exception. A report tells of their success in May 1921. “The Revival Meetings held nightly during the past week by Dr. Crossly and Mr. Leonard are meeting with great success. On Sunday evening the church was crowded to the doors to hear Dr. Crossly speak on Unpardonable Sin.” The meetings would continue.
Missionary work in many foreign countries was a large concern of the Methodist churches in Canada. The desired result was a conversion of the many religions in the world to Christianity. Many young people devoted their lives to such work. To support these missionaries the Canadian churches did much fund raising and educational work. One such group was the Epworth League. Most churches, large or small, had their Epworth League. In Creemore in 1902 the president was Alburn Dickinson who had four vice presidents to help him, each with separate responsibilities. Locally one fundraiser this group hosted was called a Cobweb Social. Reports indicated a merry time with proceeds going to the Christian Island parsonage.
The Epworth League met annually for a convention. In 1907 the Collingwood district met in Creemore. A detailed program published in the Creemore Star indicated two busy days with speakers. The speeches included such topics a “The Sunday School and Missions” and “Echoes form the Whitby Missionary Conference” About half the time was devoted to the running of the business of the Epworth League.
Another church group was the Women’s Missionary Society. This group met regularly, learned about missions and raised funds. Occasionally they had socials for their own entertainment. One was held in 1904 in the parsonage. The evening consisted of parlour games, vocal and instrumental music and a debate, “School days are happier than courtship days.” The supporters of courtship days won.
It was quite common in the early 1900s for all the Creemore churches to bring in Christian missionaries. They told of their experiences in foreign countries, their successes and failures. Some of their attitudes and comments we now would find offensive. One racist remark came from a Miss Morris who spoke in the Methodist Church. She commented that “Chinese were not worth the labour being expended upon them and Miss Morris showed where the religion of Confucius came short of satisfying the needs of the soul.”
The local women were also running socials to raise money for the upkeep of the church. One July plans were underway for a lawn party at the “Locusts,” home of Simon Plewes. This is the home across the river that may be seen at the south end of Mill Street. The day’s fun would include games, music, amusement for all and a baseball game between the benedicts, a term used for young marrieds, and bachelors.
The end of June in that era saw many strawberry socials. Taking the idea of a strawberry social further the Methodists decided to have a peach social in September 1909. “The peaches and cream, of course, were out o’ sight.” After indulging in the treat the evening was spent enjoying piano solos, a quartette and vocal solos.
Another interesting idea the women developed was that of a Japanese Tea Garden held on the church lawn. Unfortunately the newspaper report does not describe what made it a Japanese Tea Garden but tells us they had a musical evening with selections from the choir, the orchestra and the Creemore Citizens’ Band all delighting the large crowd. (to be continued)

Helen Blackburn is a retired teacher, avid gardener and a long-time contributor to the Creemore Echo. She writes about local history.