St. John's Presbyterian Church, Coulson Hill

 

1857    

Permission was given for the building of a frame church in 1857 to the north of Bradford at St. John’s Hill – a location now known as Coulson Hill.  It’s members were supporters of the Church of Scotland and shared a minister with the Auld Kirk.

1859    

The land grant paper work was completed.  The new church was to be known as St. John’s Presbyterian Church.  In time it was referred to as St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Coulson Hill.  A frame building was erected on that land a few years later.

1861    

One of the points discussed at the Sabbath School Tea Meeting on October 3rd was the great need for a union of the Presbyterian Churches in Canada.  This event came to fruition in 1875.

1866    

A speaker at the Sabbath School Soiree referred to the band of cutthroat marauders who were terrifying the countryside – these were the Fenians from Upper New York State.  Local residents enlisted in a militia unit known as the Bradford Volunteers.

1875    

The different branches of the Presbyterian Churches amalgamated under the official name of The Presbyterian Church in Canada.   All churches were not enthusiastic about the union.

1889    

A service was held to dedicate the new church.  The frame church had a new basements, a new roof, new furnishings – and it was brick clad.  It has been reported that a Mr. McAfee was killed in the raising of the vestibule.  A dedication service was held on November 10, 1889.

1909    

Church union with Methodists, Congregationalists and Presbyterians was voted on.  The congregation, as did  the other churches in the Bradford Charge, voted in favour of such a union.  The topic would come to the fore again 16 years later.

1925    

Church union with Methodists and Congregationalists continued to be a controversial topic.  St. John’s rejected union by a vote of 56 to 6.

1966    

On September 20th, St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Coulson’s Hill closed and the congregation was asked to join Bradford Presbyterian Church.  At this time, the Bradford building became known as St. John’s Bradford Presbyterian Church.

 1966    

The Women’s Missionary Society of St. John’s, Coulson’s Hill disbanded.

At first glance, the reason for St. John’s Church closing was simple and straightforward.  Declining attendance, declining revenues and rising costs brought about the inevitable.  But was that the whole story?  The reasons may well be caught up in changing times.  St. John’s was a rural church.  Once farmlands were filled, membership was bound to level.  Perhaps their children had other careers in mind; some may have left the farm and the area.  As some church supporters grew older, they may well have sold their farms to immigrants who flooded into Canada after World War II and who may have been supporters of other denominations.  Automobiles and better roads allowed people to travel greater distances.  A person moving to the Coulson Hill area could worship in Bradford or Churchill as easily as at home.