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Our Church Story

This congregation began in 1811 when Barton Union Church was opened on Mohawk Road West for the joint use of the Presbyterians and the Lutherans, at the instigation of William Rymal, a Lutheran. When that building was declared unsafe in 1844, the Presbyterians began, in June 1845 to build our present stone church, dedicating it on February 7, 1847.

Until 1850, all the ministers were American Presbyterian. From 1850 to 1868, the Congregational Missionary Society supplied the ministers. The congregation entered Hamilton Presbytery of Canada Presbytery Church in 1868.

In 1920, Wesley Methodist Church on Limeridge Road merged with this congregation, and this merged congregation entered the United Church of Canada in 1925.

In 1916, a small Sunday school room was added to the west end of the church building, and it was much enlarged in 1937. The present Christian Education Building was opened in 1957 to meet the needs of an expanding community.

In 1973, the Sunday school room attached to the Church building was razed, and in its place, a new western entrance was built to give easy access to the parking lot. At the same time, the seating in the church was reversed and other interior repairs made.

It can be seen that this congregation, through the years, has been very flexible, adapting to changing conditions. We can believe that, in the future, it will continue its adaptability.

Ministers

1811 - 1815 Rev. Lewis Williams

1815 - 1819 Rev. Daniel Ward Eastman

1831 - 1837 Rev. Edwards Marsh

1837 - 1838 Rev. Charles Furman

1838 - 1839 Rev. David Dyer

1839 - 1840 Rev. Ludwick Kribs

1841 - 1843 Rev. Levi Rose

1843 - 1844 Rev. J. Harvey Rice

1844 - 1850 Rev. John Frederick Augustus Sykes Fayette

1851 - 1854 Rev. Stephen King

1855 - 1861 Rev. William Henry Allworth

1862 - 1868 Rev. Anthony Gill

1870 - 1872 Rev. James P. Baikie

1872 - 1875 Rev. Duncan D. McLeod

1876 - 1877 Mr. Alexander Armstrong Scott

1877 - 1878 Mr. J. Campbell Tibb

1878 - 1879 Mr. Malcolm McGregor

1879 - 1880 Mr. Samuel Carruthers

1881 - 1882 Mr. Herbert C. Howard

1882 - 1883 Mr. William A. Duncan

1883 - 1884 Mr. John Alexander Ross

1884 - 1885 Mr. James Hamilton

1885 - 1886 Mr. W. C. Mathews

1886 - 1887 Rev. A. Kennedy Caswell

1887 - 1888 Rev. Thomas McGuire

1888 - 1889 Rev. James Murray

1889 - 1890 Mr. John A. Clark

1890 - 1900 Rev. Thomas G. Thomson

1900 - 1902 Rev. Anton G. Jansen

1902 - 1903 Rev. E. B. Chestnut

1903 - 1906 Rev. Robert McDerment

1906 - 1908 Rev. Thomas McLachlan

1908 - 1910 Rev. F. W. Ketchum Harris

1910 - 1915 Rev. Andrew E. Neilly

1915 - 1919 Rev. Austin I. Budge

1919 - 1920 Rev. Joseph Rolph Morden

1920 - 1923 Rev. John E. Peters

1923 - 1925 Rev. Judson Truax

1925 - 1926 Rev. Austin W. Guild

1926 - 1930 Rev. Frank Alfred Crigton

1930 - 1934 Rev. Stanley A. Moote

1934 - 1939 Rev. Arthur W. Brown

1939 - 1945 Rev. Charles Jolliffe

1945 - 1951 Rev. Joseph L. Guinn

1951 - 1954 Rev. J. Malcolm Johnston

1954 - 1958 Rev. Robin Bell Smith

1958 - 1968 Rev. J. Bruce Underhill

1968 - 1977 Rev. Robert Wallace

1977 - 1982 Rev. Roy Harwood

1982 - 1991 Rev. Ian Kirby-Smith

1991 - 1992 Rev. Betty Shupe

1992 - 2002 Rev. Andrew Comar

2002 - 2003 Rev. Alison Nicholson

2003 - present Rev. Karen Inkster