Four united church congregations from Medicine Hat and area will gather Sunday morning at Fifth Avenue Memorial to honour the 100th anniversary of the United Church.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
With the United Church of Canada celebrating 100 years since it first came together, four congregations from Medicine Hat and region will come together Sunday for a morning as a greater community.
In 1925, the United Church of Canada was formed from the union of the Methodist Church, the Congregationalist church and roughly 85 per cent of the Presbyterian Church, explained Rev. David Pollard from Fifth Avenue Memorial United Church.
“The church union movement actually began before the First World War, a number of churches were talking about how we could come together,” said Pollard.
“After the First World War, the ones left standing were the Methodists, the Presbyterians and the Congregationalists. There was also a phenomenon on the prairies churches called Union churches, and they were neither Methodist, nor Presbyterian, nor Congregationalist,” said Pollard. “They were just a bunch of people who got together and said, ‘We need a church. We don’t care what the particular denomination is.'”
In a sense, these were the first United churches, before the official, formalized union, creating the church which many members of the Christian community now call home.
Since then, a century has passed, which four church communities from southeastern Alberta are looking to commemorate on Sunday, the closest date to June 10, which would mark the official anniversary.
Fifth Avenue Memorial United Church, Westminster United Church, Gordon Memorial United Church in Redcliff and Peace United in Irvine will all gather under one roof on June 8, said Pollard, the first time they have gotten together on a Sunday morning.
“This is the first time that all four churches in our area have decided that we’d all come together on a Sunday morning to worship, because that’s kind of prime time. Everybody wants the service in their church,” said Pollard. “But for this particular Sunday, we’re showing our unity by coming together and saying, Sunday morning, this particular time, we’re going to worship together, not as our specific churches, but as the United Church.”
As Fifth Avenue Memorial Church is the largest physical building, those attending will meet there for worship, which will include a hymn from each congregation that has a choir, alongside church members explaining why they felt that particular hymn best represented their congregation.
Retired members of clergy and staff will be present, as will organist Brian Eichelbaum. An opportunity to have lunch and socialize will be part of the event, as Pollard noted that sometimes, “There’s more church that happens in the fellowship hall after church, than in actual church.
“After all, people are coming together, they’re renewing friendships, they’re sharing stories, they’re being together over a meal. And so they’ll have that opportunity to get to know our neighbours a little better.”
This celebration, much like the Church itself, is open to all, says Pollard.
“We’ve invited organizations like Saamis Immigration, Miywasin Friendship Centre and the Pride community to send folks, because those are our partners in the community. They’ve either hosted events here or we’ve worked with them on projects, and so we’ve invited them all to come,” said Pollard.
“We’re hoping that we can have a wide swath of our community represented here,” said Pollard. “Because we value not only the people who are in the church, but we also value our community partners and anybody who is interested in who we are and what we do.”
The service will begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday at Fifth Avenue Memorial, though those looking to secure a seat or to enjoy the organ prelude are encouraged to arrive early.
