Century-old homes always need some work and a house of worship is no different.
Collier Street United, one of downtown Barrie’s oldest churches, with its sanctuary dating to back to the days before Confederation, launched its Looking Forward fundraising campaign in September for capital projects.
Its five-year goal is to raise $1 million and so far the congregation is at $385,000.
Rev. Will Haughton, one of the church’s two ministers, said it’s a beautiful building that just needs some work to keep it that way.
“Some old churches could probably go,” said Haughton, who has been at Collier Street for almost six years. “Some of them are not pleasant to be in; they’re dark and dank. But ours is really attractive and really pleasant.”
The oldest portion of Collier Street United Church, located near Poyntz Street, is its sanctuary, built in 1864.
“You have to stay on top of it,” Laurie Crosson, a church member since 1968, said of ongoing repairs. “We’re doing this campaign to try and stay ahead of the game. We have an elevator that is over 30 years old and it needs some attention, so it’s a real challenge.
“You grapple between the ministry and the building, and what do we want to put our resources toward,” she added. “And so much of our ministry is our building. We are a downtown church and it’s used by so many groups, organizations and agencies, so our ministry and our building go hand in hand.”
Barrie’s Methodist congregation can trace its roots back to April 1836. Less than three decades later, growth necessitated the construction of a new building with seating for 600 people.
In 1907, another massive project was started with the widening of the sanctuary and an addition.
“It’s looked the way it looks now since 1907 when they did a really significant reno,” Haughton said of the sanctuary, which includes several splendid panels of stained glass.
A Sunday school wing was also built with office space and a church parlour at the rear of the building.
By 1925, and in concert with the rest of Canada’s Methodists, the Congregational Union and most of the Presbyterian Church of Canada merged into what was known as the Church Union. Since that time, the congregation has been referred to as Collier Street United Church.
Continued growth in the 1970s and ’80s led to more renovations, including demolition of the old Sunday school area to make way for offices, classrooms and meeting spaces located between the 1864 sanctuary and the hall/gymnasium, which was completed in 1986.
Around half of the recent fundraising goal will go toward renovations. Fixing the steeple, which is the calling card for any church, is near the top of the list. It needs to be recovered because its shingles are falling off; the last time it was reshingled was in the mid-1970s.
There are also areas of the church that need to be replastered and new ceiling tiles installed, as well as work on the elevator, parking lot, front stairs and walkway bricks that need to be replaced “to maintain this beautiful church, which is very heavily used,” Crosson said.
The congregants help with donations to support the church’s ongoing ministry, but it also takes a lot to maintain the historic building and for the church to provide community services, said Crosson, such as the Out of the Cold program, which it hosts two nights a week.
“That is very hard on the infrastructure of a church,” she added.
About $350,000 of the campaign goal will go toward the church’s ministries, including programs for children, youth and adults.
The congregation also wants to install screens in its sanctuary and a new audio-visual system.
The church is hosting a fundraiser later this month to help support some of its social service programs.
As a downtown church, they are involved with numerous community groups, including 12-step programs, Scouts and Girl Guides as well as Rainbows for grieving families.
The church’s 23rd annual silent auction will take place Thursday, April 26 from 4-9 p.m., Friday, April 27 from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m., and Saturday, April 28 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The auction features hundreds of items, including furniture, antiques, gift certificates and a used book table for kids. The gala dinner will be held April 26 starting at 6 p.m. Tickets are $35 each.
A special lunch is also scheduled for April 27 from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m., followed by an all-you-can-eat pasta dinner ($10 for adults and $5 for children and teens) from 5-7 p.m. later that evening.
The congregation hopes to raise $25,000 to purchase new items, such as a digital sign out front.
“We just want to let people know what’s going on in the church,” Crosson said. “Really, it’s part of promoting what’s happening on the inside of the church outside. We know about all of the things happening inside our four walls, but sometimes it’s challenging to let the community know what’s going on.”
An exterior sign would allow church officials to change the message daily or even hourly. The current sign, with its plastic sliding letters, is more than a decade old.
A better sign would give the folks at Collier Street United the ability to run through multiple messages in full colour and possibly even a slideshow with enhanced graphics.
“Wouldn’t it be great to talk about the choir school we have going on for children, or wouldn’t it be great to talk about the Scouting program and when registration will be happening,” Crosson said.
How churches communicate has changed drastically, Haughton said.
“It used to be that the community automatically turned toward a church, or churches, and we had this sort of captive audience,” he said. “But now it’s not like that.
“Churches have to learn new skills and find new ways to connect with people. It is a challenge, for sure.”
Haughton said some churches have adapted, while others have been slow to change. Many churches are becoming more keen on social media and issuing daily notices to engage the community, all of which help spread the word.
“Churches have different styles,” he said. “There are more traditional churches that thrive and there are more modern churches that thrive. And vice versa, there are more traditional churches that struggle and there modern churches that struggle.
“It’s not a matter of just having a rock band instead of your classical music,” he added. “There’s more a sense of purpose and wanting to connect with your community.
“If you’re really motivated to connect with your community, you’re going to find ways.”
