Beaches Presbyterian Church celebrates 100 years of serving the community
Earlier this month, Beaches Presbyterian Church (BPC) celebrated 100 years of service in the community.
The church officially opened its doors on July 17, 1926, and the congregation decided to combine the celebration with Thanksgiving on Sunday, Oct. 11; once everyone returned after the summer holidays.
As part of the 100th annivesrary celebration, BPC member Bruce Dinsmore shared the church’s history with Beach Metro Community News.
“The church was formed when about 30 per cent of the Canadian Presbyterians chose not to join the newly created United Church of Canada, and voted to continue being Presbyterians,” he said.
The United Church of Canada was inaugurated on June 10, 1925, in Toronto when the Methodist Church, Canada, the Congregational Union of Canada, and 70 per cent of The Presbyterian Church of Canada created a union. At that time, the church on Wineva Avenue that is now Beach United Church was called Kew Beach Presbyterian Church and then after the formation of the United Church of Canada, it was called Kew Beach United Church.
However, the 30 per cent of the congregation that wished to remain Presbyterian, then had to find a new place to hold church services back in the 1920s.
“Two hundred ninety-nine people left what is now Kew Beach United Church, with little more than their convictions, and started a new church,” said Dinsmore.
The new Presbyterian congregation met two weeks later on Queen Street East in what is now an RBC bank branch The members then rented space at Williamson Road School for two services on Sundays — one in the morning and the other in the evening.
“Most everyone in the Church was a Beach resident, and they were determined to worship here. The congregation bought land at the corner of Queen Street East and Glen Manor Drive, and began to build. The first structure was a frame ‘bungalow’ that was used as a temporary Sunday school for all the Beach children who wanted to come,” said Dinsmore of the beginnings of Beaches Presbyterian Church and its present home.
Next, the congregation wanted to build a brick building with 450 seats, which cost $8,882 at the time.
Since it was built in the late 1920s, the congregation lost members to a number of world historical events including the Great Depression, the Second World War, and the Korean War.
“It survived the swinging ‘70s and everything else time threw at it,” said Dinsmore.
In 1985, Drew Strickland became the minister, and the “Beaches renaissance” began. It’s said that the first thing Strickland did was go to Home Hardware on Queen Street East and buy a couple of screwdrivers and replace the pews in the “U” shape the church enjoys today. Also part of that renaissance was to build a music program that helped with the introduction of the new Presbyterian hymn book in 1997.
Today, it remains a welcoming, inclusive congregation and is always thinking about new ways to serve the Beaches community, said Dinsmore.
He said its been a blessing for members of the congregation to be part of the community’s daily life and to do important work supporting others for the past ten decades.
Beaches Presbyterian Church is located at 65 Glen Manor Dr. To learn more about the church, please visit https://beacheschurch.org/
