Reflections on the heritage, life & work of faith communities in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario
God doesn’t forget us, even when we forget Him. These words are not about a loss of faith; they acknowledge the quiet suffering of those struggling with Alzheimer’s, dementia and other forms of memory loss. It was the first time I ever heard a hymn speak so explicitly and movingly to those losing their ability…
I visited Almonte United Church on a breezy, brisk Sunday and met Reverend Heather Kinkaid who took the time to greet every single person in the pews before beginning the service. Her interaction with the faithful was more than a passing hello. She exchanged a few sentences with everyone, she listened, knew about what was…
I will never look at pretzels the same way after my visit to St. John’s United Church in Kemptville on October 19 — an unseasonably warm day that was as bright as the mood of this cheerful congregation. Built in 1869 to serve as the spiritual home of local Methodists, a fire in 1888 destroyed…
Alexandria United Church in North Glengarry is precisely what this publication is all about: discovering historic churches about which there is very little information online, and encouraging our readers to explore these hidden gems for themselves. I visited Alexandria United Church on Thanksgiving Sunday and attended their 9:00 AM service. A plaque next to the…
With Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada no longer providing funding to house 130 asylum seekers in Ottawa hotels, people of faith in the nation’s capital have stepped up to assist newcomers facing homelessness. Volunteers and clergy from Kitchissippi United Church, including Council Chair Denise Bonomo and Reverend Daniel Addai Fobi, have helped 20 asylum seekers…
Completed in 1955 in the Neo-Gothic style, Rideau Park United Church remains a vibrant congregation with a particularly robust music ministry — something that became clear to me when I visited on the last Sunday of the summer season, September 21, at the 10:00 am service. Close to 100 people were in attendance that Sunday….
When one visits a church and hears that the congregation’s clergywoman is sometimes known as “the little Pope from Brockville,” the risk of tuning out the sermon is greatly diminished. I had the chance to visit Wall Street United Church in Brockville on a couple of occasions this summer and in each instance, I found…
When I was a kid, my dad would haul me out of bed early on a Sunday morning, order me into my ‘Sunday best’ including tights without holes and shoes that pinched my feet because I only wore them occasionally, and pack all of us into the VW van to go to church. We were…
Sixty years ago, new churches were springing up like wildflowers in the sprawling suburbs of metropolitan Ottawa. On April 4, 1964, an Ottawa Citizen article by J.A. Hume on this church boom gives a sense of the energy that surrounded bustling and growing faith communities in the sixties, especially in the case of the United…
Reverend Lynne Gardiner ministers at Bethel United Church in Perth, where the current church has stood since 1895. Rev. Gardiner began her ministry in Perth in 2019, having completed her Master of Divinity from Queen’s University in 2015, followed by ordination in 2017. In the piece below, Rev. Gardiner reflects on the unique gifts and…