A brief history of Sydenham’s Grace United Church

May 06, 2010

Grace United Church in Sydenham. 

On May 16 at 2pm the Grace United Church will be holding its final service before it closes its doors for good. The service will bring an end to a Sydenham landmark that this month will be just one year short of its 150th birthday.

The stately stone church, once a hub of religious activity in the area, came about when services of worship began in the area in 1792. The services were conducted by “circuit riders”, young men with powerful, convincing manners of speaking and “an ability to identify with pioneer settlers in the area”. Services were held in barns, halls and homes and included a number of denominations including Episcopal, Methodist, Primitive and Wesleyan.

As the population increased so too did the need for a permanent structure and in 1861 two buildings were constructed. One, a stone church (now Grace United), was built originally by Episcopal Methodists. The second, a frame chapel, was erected on Amelia Street by the Primitive Methodists and both churches held religious services. At 40 ft. x 60 ft. Grace Methodist was noted as being “one of the most spacious and best furnished churches in County Frontenac". Sunday worship services were regularly held there and in 1925 the church became Grace United Church.

By 1952 came the need to put all church activities under one roof and a project began to build a basement in Grace United that would house a Sunday school, central heating, a kitchen and a community meeting room. Over 70 churchmen worked after hours excavating the basement using hand shovels and after 18 months the job was finally done. Master craftsman Ole Jonassen completed the wood carving that now graces the altar, pulpits and panels in the church’s sanctuary.

In 1961 Grace United and Perth Road United became the Sydenham-Perth Road Pastoral Charge and in that same year Grace United celebrated its 100-year anniversary. In 1978 and again in 1988 a major refurbishing took place at the church. In 2000 Perth Road and Grace United separated and continued on their own paths.

A number of community outreach programs including Rural Visions, the Diners Club, and Loughborough Christmas Committee, to name a few, have made their homes in the church.

Kathie Nichols, who has been a member of the congregation for 26 years and secretary of the church since 1998, is saddened by the fact that the church will be closing its doors due to lack of financial and human resources. “It’s sad that it’s closing after so many years” she said, but she also sees the reasons why. "It seems to me that the church doesn’t play the role that it used to in people’s lives. When I was growing up the church was a focal point of the community and people’s social lives really revolved around it but these days that is not always necessarily the case and people are now getting that sense of community in other ways."

Kathie also notes the irony- that after scraping by for 20 years and after finally paying off the mortgage in August 2009, the church is now in a financial position where it can no longer afford to remain open. On December 3, 2009 members of the congregation met and voted for its closure, which many felt was an unfortunate but necessary step. For Kathie what bothers her most is not knowing what the future will bring and she regrets that the church, which has become such an asset to the community as a meeting place and concert venue, might see it doors closed for good. Personally she is hoping that some organization will step up and take over the building so that it can remain a gathering place for the community.

Kathie is stresses that the final service at the church is planned to be one of celebration rather than sorrow. It will be officiated by Rev. Mac Stienburg and Rev. Stephen Ambury and The Frontenac Women’s Chorus will be performing.