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History
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Our Strengths
are
Fellowship,
Outreach, Music! |
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St. Matthew's is
known as
the "smaller" United Church within the growing town
of Richmond
Hill. We encourage our members to become a
family in God's
love. Members find good friends in the pews of
this congregation.
Our Strengths are Fellowship, Outreach, Music.
St. Matthew's United Church started in a portable
classroom in
1957. The first activities of St. Matthew's
took place in Walter
Scott Public School in Richmond Hill during the
summer of 1956 when a
church vacation school was organized. The
response resulted in
the formation of a Sunday School.
On the last Sunday of September 1956, the first
church service was held
in one of the portable class rooms at Walter Scott
School. For
several Sundays the services were conducted by the
Rev. C.A.
Myers. In the spring of 1957, a portable
building was erected on
a five acre site on Crosby Ave., where our church
now stands.
This site was purchased by the Toronto Home Mission
Council of the
United Church of Canada. The Rev. E.E. Pugsley
was appointed as
the supply minister.
A service of Constitution was held by the Presbytery
of York on Oct.
29th, 1957 when the congregation was officially
recognized as a self
governing congregation within the United Church of
Canada. The
Toronto Home Mission Council arranged for the
settlement of the Rev.
William Patterson to be the first minister of our
pastoral
charge. He was inducted on Feb. 14, 1958 and
he continued to
serve the congregation until 1963. The Church
Building Fund was
started in 1958 and construction proceeded in 1960.
In 1979, in response to the desperate plight of the
refugees forced to
flee from Vietnam, a Refugee Sponsorship Fund was
established.
The first family arrived in November. In May, 1980,
an additional seven
persons were sponsored. In July, a
co-operative sponsorship with
St. Mary's Anglican Church was undertaken and the
two churches began a
12 year sponsorship for these families.
In 1989, the church decided to begin another major
project: affordable
housing. The project was approved and
construction began in the
spring of 1990. Twenty-three units now share
our property and
provide a comfortable, yet affordable place to
live. During the
construction, renovations to the church itself were
also done doubling
the size of the church Hall and adding a secretary's
office, minister's
office, music room and nursery.
In 1988 the church added hand bell choirs after
hearing a concert
performed in our church. Now the church boasts
three octaves of
hand bells and 3 octaves of chimes.
We continue with a strong focus on outreach
activities that support
many good causes. They've included the
following: the Richmond
Hill food bank (since 1986), Treasures ( a
non-profit second hand store
which provides a place of work for people finding
their way with mental
illness), Yellow Brick House, Leeder House, Richmond
Hill Hospice, and
J.O.B. Works (a program offering counseling and job
search assistance
to those unemployed or underemployed.).
Ecumenical Development
Corporation (OIKO Credit), Pueblito Canada, and
Foster Child Program of
Canada.
St. Matthew's is an active, perhaps small, church
but is known for its
friendliness and working together for a better
community. For a
detailed history click here.
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To
Contact us:
333 Crosby Avenue, Richmond Hill
ON L4C 2R5
(Crosby Ave. is between Bayview Ave.
and
Yonge St. north of Major MacKenzie Ave.)
Phone: 905-884-3606
Email: st.matthewsuc.rh@gmail.com
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