GLAD TIDINGS CHURCH CELEBRATES 75 YEARS

First recorded meeting in 1845

By Joop Gerritsma, Tribune Reporter

[Welland Tribune, 25 May 1979]

Glad Tidings Church of God will celebrate its 75^th anniversary the weekend of May 22-27 and the week of May 30 to June3 with a series of special services, during which former pastors of the church will speak.

But the work of the Church of God in Canada actually began before Confederation, the current pastor of the church, John Hearp, said.

The first recorded meeting took place in Bouk’s School House in 1845 in Fonthill. Thirteen years later in 1858, the congregation built a church just east of the Village of Fonthill and church gatherings were held in this building until 1890, until it was sold.

In 1891 the congregation moved into Fonthill itself, when meetings were held in Dalton’s Hall, a building now occupied by Howey’s Jewelry Store on Pelham Street.

It was not until 1904 that the congregation saw a need for a full time pastor and F.L. Austin was called to serve both the Fonthill church and the Church of God located in Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Records show there were 25 members of the church in Fenwick, who, however, did not formally affiliate with the Fonthill church until 1908.

PROPERTY BOUGHT

In the fall of 1908 construction was started on a new church building in the centre of Fonthill. It was dedicated Feb. 14, 1909. The cost of building the church was $3,500, a phenomenal sum in those days, but the debt was paid in 1910. The building became known as “The Church in the Heart of the Village,” located as it was on Highway 20 in the core area. The building is now used by Frontier Sport and Marine.

During the years that followed, various departments were incorporated into the church. The first choir director was appointed in 1915. A junior group was started in 1923.

In 1931 Clyde Randall became minister of the Fonthill church. He was to remain in this position until 1948, when he retired. Recently, however, he was the editor of the Restitution Herald, the international publication of the Church of God General Conference, with headquarters in Oregon, Ill.

NEW EXPANSION

The next expansion for the church was the purchase of a permanent parsonage on Church Street in 1942 at a price of $4,500. A major expansion followed in 1948 when the congregation at Niagara Falls, N.Y. transferred its membership to the Fonthill church. However, records are silent about the number of people joining the Fonthill church on that occasion.

In the same year the Dorcas ladies society was formed by church members to serve as a community organizations.

Some much added additions to the church building were completed in 1951 and 1952, but opportunities for real expansion and an increase in parking space were non-existent and the congregation started looking for another location. This was found and purchased in 1961, when three-and-a-half acres were acquired on Hillcrest Road, later renamed Pancake Lane. The first sod was turned in March of 1968.

In 1961 Rev. Edward Goit took over the congregation, but he left the following year and was succeeded by Pastor Emory Macy, who was the church’s pastor during the years it struggled to get its new building on Pancake Lane. Mr. Macy left in 1971.

Also during Mr. Macy’s tenure, the Fonthill Church of God had accepted an invitation from the former Ohio Conference of the Church of God to join them and they formed the Church of God Northeast Conference.

In the same period of time the Mary Marthas women’s group was formed. The funds raised by this group during the years have been donated to the church for its many projects.

NEW BUILDING

The first service in the new church building was held Sept. 1, 1968, and members staged a parade from the former church to the new one that day. At this time the new building was, however, only partially completed. The present church was dedicated the following Nov.17 and in 1973 the debt on the new building was paid for. This was marked by a ceremonial bond-burning May 27.

Growth continued and junior church services were started in 1975 as part of the organizations of a nursery to better minister to the entire family. In the same year a memorial fund was established, which has resulted in many gifts of lasting duration for the Lord’s work, Mr. Hearp said.

In 1976, a women’s fellowship group was formed and a new public address system was installed in the church, followed by the purchase of a new digital computer organ in the fall of 1977. It was dedicated at a special service Dec. 11.

Construction of a new parsonage adjacent to the church was started April 23 and was completed later in the summer of that year.

This year saw the introduction by the Glad Tidings Church of God of a new busing program, offering transportation to those who were unable to get to the church by themselves.

Mr. Hearp said it was impossible to name all the people who labored in carrying on the Lord’s work through the channel of the Glad Tidings Church.

“We look to the past with appreciation,” Mr. Hearp said. “The present is bright with opportunities to service to God and others,” among them, the approximately 100 active members and about 60 others who are inactive.