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AUBURN - 150 YEARS OF HISTORY. PAGE 9 -
Knox United to celebrate 100th this fall
A long history
The congregation of Knox United will be celebrating the church's 100th anniversary this fall.
Located on the south side of Goderich Street, Knox is one of two active churches left in
Auburn. Both the church and the neighbouring manse are the product of the 1925 church
By Elyse DeBruyn
Citizen staff
The congregation of the Knox
United Church in Auburn has been
busy making preparations for the
upcoming 100th anniversary of the.
church building this fall.
Celebrations begin on Oct. 17 at
11 a.m. in the church, located on
Goderich Street in Auburn.
Following the service will be a
reception at the Auburn Hall.
The same day, church members
will formally place objects back into
the cornerstone as part of their 100th
birthday celebrations.
Former church organist, Margaret
Kai, will be leading the choir in two
anthems.
"We are looking forward to
celebrating the life and work of the
Knox congregation. We hope to have
a nice celebration for everyone,"
said Nancy Park. a church and UCW
member. •
A time capsule opening will take
place July 31 at 11 a.m. and
members will symbolically place
something back inside the capsule.
Today, the congregation at the
Knox Church in Auburn consists of
109 families under the pastoral care
of Rev. Pat Cook who ministers at
both Auburn and Londesborough
churches.
Before joining the congregation on
Oct. 1, 2003. Rev. Cook ministered
at the Oakland Pastoral Church near
Brantford.
Prior to her arrival, an interim
minister conducted church services
for about one year after Rev. Paul
Ross left the congregation to purse
other duties.
Knox United Church, on the south
side of Goderich Street, near the
eastern end of the village, is one of
the last two active churches in
Auburn. Both the church and its
neighbouring manse, are the product
of the 1925 church union.
On June 10, 1925 the Methodist
Church of Canada, the
Congregational Union of Canada
and 70 per cent of the Presbyterian
Church entered into a union as well
as the General Council of Union
Churches centred largely in Western
Ontario.
It was the first union of churches
in the world to cross historical
denominations.
The first United Church service
was held July 11, 1926 and was
conducted by Rev. W. R. Alp, who
continued his ministries until 1929.
William Anderson, George Bean,
Walter Cunningham, R.J. Rutledge,
Charles Straughan, George Sturdy
and J,J.Washington composed the
first session at the church.
The 25th anniversary of Church
Union was celebrated in 1950.
Thanks to the hard work and
endless efforts of Mrs. C.C.
Washington, a junior congregation
was organized as well as the
Women's Auxiliary.
Under the leadership of Rev.
Robert Hiltz, an addition was added
to the south of the church Sunday
school room in 1958 with over 140
children enrolled. Four new
classrooms and two washrooms
were constructed and to replace the
wood burning furnace, a forced air
oil burning heating system was
installed. The addition was built by
the church men.
On May 25, 1958, the building
was dedicated to mark the Sunday
school anniversary and members
filled the church for both morning
and evening services. They gathered
to hear special guest speaker Rev.
H.A. Dickinson of Windsor.
The Women's Missionary
Societies and the Women's Auxiliary
were united to form the -United
Church Women (UCW) in January
1962.
Mrs. K. McDougall was the first
president of the new organization
and it was also in that year that Mrs.
C. Lewis organized an
interdenominational Explorer group
for girls ages 9-14.
The church shed, which for year
served as shelter for horses and
vehicles, was later used as a skating
rink, but in 1964 was demolished.
Eventually a parking lot was created
in its place.
The 60th anniversary of the
present building was held in 1965
when Rev. Alp conduced a
rededication service.
Miss M. R. Jackson, the first
women member to join the session,
was elected so in 1968.
Auburn charge had been
composed of the churches at
Auburn, Donnybrook. and Westfield,
but due to the dwindling
membership at Westfield, they
closed their church in June 1969.
The two remaining churches
decided to carry on as a two point
charge and during this time, after a
six month probation period, Rev.
M.R. Roberts, a former missionary
from Argentina, . was accepted into
the full communion of the United
union. (Courtesy photo)
Church of Canada.
The boy Scouts were organized in
1964, with 22 members and Scout
Master was Percy Youngblut with
Elliott Lapp• assisting. Youngblut
received the Gilwell wood badge in
1969, but the troop disbanded the
following year. •
The current church building dates
back to 1904, at which time it was
still owned by the Presbyterian
Church.
The original church on this site
was a smaller structure and the
congregation eventually decided to
replace it. The new building was
dedicated in the winter of 1905 and
was later chosen as the church for
the new United congregation in
1925.
The original Presbyterian Manse,
on the east side of the church, dates
to the 1870s.
In January 1903, Presbytery
agreed to change the name from
Knox Church Manchester to Knox
Church Auburn. Then in March
1904, Rev. Stephen Young of
Clifford conducted the closing
services in the old church and soon
after the building was torn
down.
The building committee for the
new church included chairman
Thomas Straughan, secretary
William King, treasurer Robert
Straughan, John Fingland, George
Youngblut and Jason Young who
supervised the building operations.
The new church's corner stone
was laid May 30 that year followed
by a dedication service on Jan. 15,
1905.
The new building, the one that
remains today, cost $7,000 to build.
Between 1904-05, the church's
choir paid for and installed a new
organ for the whole congregation to
enjoy.
A special congregational meeting
was held in January 1913 to consider
remodeling the manse. Soon after a
committee was formed, which
advised the congregation to sell the
manse property and buy a lot on the
west side of the church.
The land was bought from George
Hamilton and a handsome red brick
manse with modern con ven ie ices
was erected costing $4,200.
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