The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

CHURCH DOORS TO CLOSE FOREVER ard trans- Lic. No. Of The Times Staff | Centre Street United Church Congregation 137 Years Old For 137 years, people have | worshipped at what Centre Street United Church. Tomorrow, the church doors : will close forever. In 1830 they started, just a | few, struggling for their seoa- rate existence and the right to worship as they chose. Finally, they received official recogni- tion and under a great spirtual leader, built their own church, replacing it in 1874 with the present structure. In a month, that building will be destroyed, In the name of progress, the city will tear down the 93-year- {| old spiritual home of more than 300 Oshawa residents. Work on the city hall addition must begin. The Oshawa Christian Church (forerunner of Centre Street United Church) came into being when several members of the Christian church in the United States emigrated to Canada in the early 19th century. The U.S. Christian church was comprised of three different groups of Christain people who separated themselves from the Baptist, Methodist and Presby- terian churches, to form their own denomination. This new sect formulated no creeds, but based their worship only on the Bible, with each member being free to interpret the Scriptures as he saw fit. Christian character was the only test of fellowship in the church. Members of the Chris- tian church favored immersion when baptizing, but it was not obligatory and infants could be 'dedicated' but not baptized. LIBERAL During the Oshawa church's early years, members were often excluded from the meet- ings of other denominations as their theology was considcred too liberal and they refused to adhere to dogmas and creeds so prevalent during the Jast century. The first Christian church in Ontario was founded in Kes- wick, Ontario, in 1821. By 1830, nine churches had been estab- lished, one of which was located in Darlington Township. At the Darlington. church, Elder Thomas Henry was licenced and he soon began hold- ing meetings in homes in Osh- wa, later becoming the Oshawa urch's first minister, The new congregation became desirous of a place of worship of their own and in May, 1843, hy 1 is now ; ig tect, was selected to draw up the plans for the new church and was appointed to oversee the actual construction. On completion of the building, it is recorded that at the open- ing service, more than 400 per- sons were turned away from the church for lack of room. The church's plaster work was described as a 'model of ex- cellence' and the building nad sufficient space around it to provide ample accommodation for horses and carriages. The building was constructed of white brick and the roof and, spire were covered with slate laid in fancy patterns. The main 'audience room' (now sanc- tuary) was entered through a tower, while the basement con- tained a vestry, lecture hall and infants' classroom. Pews in the 'audience room' were of the latest pattern with metal ornamented ends und a heavy walnut rail on the back of leach, complete with bookracks. The minister's platform was a new pel was located on the corner of Church and Richmond Streets (then I 30 inches above the main floor and contained the baptistry, supplied with water # THE CHURCH'S LAST MINISTER, THE RE ---A 90-Year-Old Couch Offers Comfort For A Moment of Reflection H. R. Barber, a local archi-;famous and eloquent preachers, Professor Hathaway and Rev. Dr. Summerbell of Ohio, officiat- ing. . On its day of opening the church had a debt of $7,000 and by Monday, subscriptions to the amount of $3,360 had been col- lected, with several subscrip- tions of substantial amounts still anticipated. The church remained the Osh- awa Christain Church until 1928, when the then minister of the church, Rev. Dr. W. P. Fletcher, proposed union of the church with the Ontario conference of the United Church of Canada. Later that year, the church became a part of The United Church, RENOVATIONS After union with the United Church, many renovations took place in the church building, with electricity replacing the original gas lamps, a new organ installed and the sanctuary re- modelled. The church continued on its way, quietly serving the com- munity until in 1966, city offi- cials told church trustees they wanted the property for expan- ' z= ei £ VEREND ARTHUR W. MAGEE Elder Henry Early Pastor Born at County Caven, Ire- geexee:ecteeey land, Feb. 2, 1798, Thomas © Henry arrived on this continent with his family in 1811, They ; stayed for a time in New York and later travelled to Toronto. During the war of 1812-14, he enlisted and served with the British forces under General Brock. On his 79th birthday, he was awarded a $20 gratuity by Canadian Parliament for his service. The family settled in the then Whitby Township at Port Osh- awa, in 1816, at the time when the land was largely a wilder- ness. His mother died in the same year. On July 30, 1817, Thomas Henry married Elizabeth Davis and together they built a home on 110 acres of land next to his father's property. (His home is oe now Henry House Museum.) At ELDER HENRY Reecoctere ane? TR ca sie: EARLIER VIEW OF THE CHURCH WHEN TREES STILL SHADED CHURCHGOERS .+-At 93 Years Of Age, The Tower Soars Proudly Over Surrounding Buildings SS, Ope She Sires OSHAWA, ONTARIO, SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1967 Hil Steelworkers | | Duke of Richmond Street). The sion of the civic building. i first church building was erected Som. seer Ee RN. After lengthy discussion, trus- ga nig aie WREAR #0 1840 Pastor bd at a cost of $2,400. $16,000 COST tees agreed to sell the property; e ect act On May 6, 1871, a Mr. and| As a crowning touch to their/to the city for $160,000. CONVERTED them, but he refused, taking | Mrs. Cade donated a section of land to the church for the erec- tion of the present building and three years later construction started. According to records from that period, the first building was amply large and in good re- pair, but local villagers con- tended that the church was "'not effort, members installed a bell in the tower, 70 feet from the ground. Cost of the building was between $15,000 and $16,000. Three weeks after the church was completed, the minister, Elder Jesse Patton, died after an illness that lasted several weeks. The new church was dedicated on Sept. 5, 1875. Four services in keeping with the town or the people worshipping in it." were held that day with two Attempts by church members to re-locate their' church in an- other section of the city failed and the congregation decided to amalgamate with Westmount United Church, to form a new congregation. Closing services for the 93- year-old church will be held Sunday, April 30, conducted by the. church's last minister, Rev. r|the Bible as his guide and re- jecting the dogmas of other de- In May, 1825, he met Elde: Joseph Blackman, a young u Christian Church minister, /n0minations. while on a trip to Toronto and} In 1825, Elder Baily organ- later heard him preach at Portjized a Christian Church in Dar- Oshawa. As a result of thatjlington, with the help of sev- chance meeting, he was con-jeral Christian Church ministers verted to Christianity and bap-jfrom New York State. Thomas tized by Elder Baily. Henry was one of the original After his conversion, he was|28 church members. greatly sought after by various} In September, 1825, the first A. W. Magee. denominations .to join with|Christian Church Conference Thomas Henry attended, never missing a conference until his death in 1879. PUBLIC SPEAKER The Christian Church in Osh- awa had its beginning in the home of one of the adherents and in June, 1829, the church congregation gave him a letter of recommendation as a public speaker, With Elder Jesse Van Camp, he travelled throughout Whitby, Darlington, Clarke and Hope townships, preaching the Gospel. His wife died in November, 1829 and on Nov. 30, 1830 he married Lurenda Abby, in Port Hope. Thomas Henry was ordained into the Christian Church min- istry in Darlington in 1832. Dur- ing the next five years, ne labored on his lands as well as fulfilling his pastoral duties, PETITION At the annual conference in 1835, he was authorized to cir- culate a petition to be present- ed to the government, that would permit the "Christians" to solemnize marriages and own church property. The gov- as = was held in Ontario, which | 3 EXQUISITE MEMORIAL WINDOWS . - ~ Will Be Installed In Another Church 'With LASCO More than 350 steelworkers at|said Mr. Ross, "is that we want Lake Ontario Steel] Company, Whitby, voted last night to re- ject a proposed new contract between LASCO and the United Steelworkers of America. The proposed contract pro- vided for a general increase of 76 cents, over a three - year iperiod. It was rejected by 80 per cent of union members at the meeting at the United Auto Workers Hall in Oshawa. Keith Ross, international rep- resentative of the Steelworkers union, said today the contract was unsatisfactory mainly be- cause of its wording. He said LASCO had slanted the phras- ing of the contract to their own legal advantage. Mr. Ross will notify the con- ciliation officer of the depart- ment of labor that no agree- ment has been reached. The re- port will be passed to the minis- ter of labor who may, or may not, appoint a board in an ef- fort to reach an agreement. "J don't expect a board will be set up," said Mr. Ross, "which means 14 days after notice comes back from the government, we can legally strike." The union wants several changes in the contract in addi- tion to re-phrasing. "One of the main things," a safety committee established in the plant." Besides a safety committee, the union wants assurance that shift workers will not be trans- ferred indiscriminately from night to day shifts and that days off will not be staggered to the extent that a man could work seven days in a row, have |two off, work three more and have two more off Mr. Ross described the rela- tionship union and management at this point as 'poor'. He held out no hope that future negotiations would be successful before a strike.is called. -- "The company will now have to take the first step in opening negotiations in order to avert a strike at the plant," said Eugene Satve, secretary of local 6571. between AVOIDS SOCCER GAMES RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Brazil will not be represented in the soccer competition of the Pan-American Games in Winni- peg next July, it was announced Friday. An official of the Bra- zilian Olympic Committee said most of this country's top players are professionals and that the available amateurs would not make a representa- tive showing in the Games. ernment finally approved the petition in March, 1845. i During the rebellion of 1837- 38, Elder Henry aided many who became outlaws after the rebellion was supressed, He hid them on his property and ar- ranged their escape to the Unit- ed States. Had the authorities found out what he was doing, he could have been arrested as a traitor, Elder Henry became pastor of the Oshawa Christian Church in 1840. The church at the time was considered a branch of the Darlington church, but was later reorganized as a separate body. He had no salary, but re- ceived donations of money, food and other articles. During Elder Henry's tenure as minister of the Oshawa church, a chapel was built and dedicated on May 28, 1843. In 1856, he was appointed one of the trustees of the Starkey Biblical Seminary in New York State, and he was obliged to re- VICTORIAN WIT People in 1867 enjoyed jokes and anecdotes printed in the Oshawa Vindicator which made a regular attempt to provide its readers with humor. Although somewhat remote from today's sense of humor, the Victorian wit can still be appreciated. The paper relates a short story about a "bills and flowers" in- cident that aptly portrays 1867 humor: "When I am in pecuniary dif- ficulties," said a pensive bank- rupt, "my garden, my flowers, all fresh and sparkling in the morning, console my heart." "Indeed, responded his sym- pathizing friend. "I should have thought they would remjnd you FOR READERS 1867 Humor Found In Paper and a lawyer were conversing about the doctrine of trans- migration of the souls of men into animals. "Now," said the judge, "suppose you and I were turned into a horse and an ass, which would you prefer to be?" "The ass, to be sure," replied the lawyer. "'Why?", asked the judge. "Because I have heard of an * ass being a judge but a horse, never!", was the answer. The Vindicator also records another little story this way: "A plain spoken woman re- cently visited a married woman and asked her how she amused herself all day. 'Amuse,' said the other, starting. 'Do you not know that I have my housework clude you must have some other way of passing your time.' " The paper also philosophied that tongues, like teeth, may be stopped with gold. "A man with a rich wife is often silenced by her throwing her money in his teeth." The Vindicator took a light approach to reporting a suicidal case, 100 years ago. 'An ingenious man has dis- covered an entirely new method of committing suicide," the paper said. "He filled i with water after char with gunpowder and wadding, then placing it to his head, pulled the trigger. The experi- ment was perfectly successful-- ZS -- : ed ee eee sign from the Oshawa church. of your pecuniary troubles, for ' i ietely 7 ANT r OT Elder Henry died at Oshawa like your bills, they are all to do?' his head was blown complet SANCTUARY TO BE DISM LED AND DISTRIBUTED AMONG OTHER CHURCHES on Sept. 23, 1879 after a two- dew." 'Yes, I see you have it to do off. Verdict: Died of water om ee. New Organ and Minister's Platform Recently Purchased year intermittent illness. Im another anecdote, a judge but as it's never done, I con- the brain, if any."