HeritageOur Heritage 1843 - Present
Our congregation was founded in 1843. Worship services were first held in a barn on the Clark farm. It was located on the southwest corner of the Inglewood Side Road. The congregation’s first building was constructed on the west side of Highway 10 across from the existing church. Dedicated in 1850, it was a modest low frame building described by John Smith, MPP, as having a door at one end and three windows on either side. During these years, a portion of a large tree trunk served as a pulpit and the congregation sat on primitive pews made from rough, hand-hewn planks of wood balanced on wooden blocks. All the men sat on one side and the women and children sat on the other!
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Our Roots
Highlights:
Our Heritage 1843 - Present Opened Debt Free Local Craftsmen Rebuild after Fire Cast Iron Coal Oil Lamp Session Discovery Interesting Notes on Claude Heritage Designation The Cairn Accessibility Library Favicon |
Opened Debt Free
As the years passed, the congregation of Claude grew and eventually, a larger church was needed. In 1870, the site of the present church was purchased from James Campbell for $135.00. Local architects, carpenters, and bricklayers, designed and constructed the church for the total sum cost of $2,300.00. The building they created featured many characteristics of vernacular Gothic church architecture, including its polychromatic brickwork; Gothic style windows, a 120-foot tower and steeple, and it opened debt free! The steeple was originally clad of tin, but was re-clad with copper in the summer of 1991.
Local Craftsmen Rebuild after Fire
The original design of the church had a centre aisle down the middle however in the 1880's a decision was made to switch to two side aisles and to accommodate the change, it was necessary to add the two side porches that we still have today.
The original Sunday School for Claude was located across the road from the church. It was destroyed by fire in 1914. A year later, a new Sunday School/Church Hall was added to the rear of the church at a cost of $3,044.00.
Local craftsmen using the beautiful red bricks from Cheltenham Brickyard built this new addition.
The original Sunday School for Claude was located across the road from the church. It was destroyed by fire in 1914. A year later, a new Sunday School/Church Hall was added to the rear of the church at a cost of $3,044.00.
Local craftsmen using the beautiful red bricks from Cheltenham Brickyard built this new addition.
Cast Iron Coal Oil Lamp
A cast-iron coal oil lamp from the original church building can still be seen in our church today. It is hanging in the front entrance. In 1907, brighter, brass, coal oil lamps were purchased. Two of the original 1907 lamps hang in the front of the sanctuary. They were converted to electric lamps when electricity was installed in the church in the 1930’s.
Session
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On the congregational level there is the Session which is made up of elders (ruling elders) and the minister (teaching elder) who serves as Moderator (chairman). The elders are elected by the members of the congregation. The Session supervises the spiritual life and order of the congregation. It has power to receive, dismiss and discipline members, to determine hours and modes of public worship, to control use of Church premises, and to supervise all groups and organizations in the church. The Session is not responsible to the congregation, but to God, and under Him, to the Presbytery and higher Church courts. Elders are ordained to their offices by the minister. Ordination is for life, but the exercise of the office may be for a term of years.
Interesting Notes on Claude
The church originally operated out of an inn in the small hamlet of Claude, once known as Craig's Corners. The settlers of Craig's Corners, mainly Irish and Scottish immigrants, boasted a post office, general store, blacksmith's shop, a Conestoga wagon factory, a few simple homes and an Inn. The Inn was on the west side of highway 10 and served the men who drove the wagons filled with grain and other freight from Toronto (Muddy York) north to Owen Sound. However, the bar room on the Inn wasn't the most ideal place for the women and children to worship!
There was no running water at Claude Church until 1963, when the well was drilled. Water for cooking was brought into the church in milk cans.
Claude Church ran its first Vacation Bible School in 1963 with an enrolment of 75 children divided in four age groups.
The Church organ required extensive repairs in 1979 because it suffered massive damage from lightning during a storm.
The concrete platform and retaining wall in front of the church was constructed courtesy of Bell Telephone in 1984 to replace the lawn they tore up to lay telephone cables.
Annual "Fowl Suppers" were held in the Sunday School room for almost 60 years. Members of the congregation supplied the poultry and the birds were carved in the basement. There even developed a "take-out" section on the south lawn of the church where people brought their plates to be laden with food. There were lights strung between the take-out booth and the church and local and professional talent entertained the crowds.
There was no running water at Claude Church until 1963, when the well was drilled. Water for cooking was brought into the church in milk cans.
Claude Church ran its first Vacation Bible School in 1963 with an enrolment of 75 children divided in four age groups.
The Church organ required extensive repairs in 1979 because it suffered massive damage from lightning during a storm.
The concrete platform and retaining wall in front of the church was constructed courtesy of Bell Telephone in 1984 to replace the lawn they tore up to lay telephone cables.
Annual "Fowl Suppers" were held in the Sunday School room for almost 60 years. Members of the congregation supplied the poultry and the birds were carved in the basement. There even developed a "take-out" section on the south lawn of the church where people brought their plates to be laden with food. There were lights strung between the take-out booth and the church and local and professional talent entertained the crowds.
Discovery
In 1992, extensive renovations were made to the interior of the church and at that time additional features from the early days were identified. The scrollwork that is displayed across the front of the church was discovered and restored. The inscription, taken from Habakkuk 2: 20 reads – “The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him.” The scripture text is written in 12-inch letters highlighted by a shaded ribbon. Painted over for nearly forty years, it was restored by two members of the congregation. The wainscoting used in the front porches is local three-quarter inch pine.
Other restorations completed in 1992 included the stripping and refinishing of the floor, walls, wainscoting, ceiling and the pews. The wainscoting and the pews -- both date back to the 1880’s. The vertical boards of the wainscoting are ash, while the trim is oak and the top plate is cherry wood. The pews were built from ash, and have a concealed pull out section in the bottom of each pew, that pulls out into the aisles for children to sit on.
Other restorations completed in 1992 included the stripping and refinishing of the floor, walls, wainscoting, ceiling and the pews. The wainscoting and the pews -- both date back to the 1880’s. The vertical boards of the wainscoting are ash, while the trim is oak and the top plate is cherry wood. The pews were built from ash, and have a concealed pull out section in the bottom of each pew, that pulls out into the aisles for children to sit on.
Heritage Designation
Claude Presbyterian Church obtained Heritage Designation from Town of Caledon Heritage Committee (see also Caledon Heritage Foundation) on September 21, 1992.
The Cairn
John Mason of Caledon and his sister-in-law built the Cairn in 2005-2006. Wikipedia tells us that: Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the Irish: carn (plural cairn) or Scottish Gaelic: càrn (plural càirn). Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas. They vary in size from small stone markers to entire artificial hills, and in complexity from loose, conical rock piles to delicately balanced sculptures and elaborate feats of megalithic engineering. Cairns may be painted or otherwise decorated, e.g. for increased visibility or for religious reasons. In modern times, cairns are often erected as landmarks, a use they have had since ancient times.
Accessibility
This heritage building was improved with a ramp for increased accessibility at the exterior south east entrance and in the main worship area.
Roadside Sign Goes Viral
Bill Horton's clever message on the Claude roadside sign went viral!
Library
David Clarkson built a mobile library in 2008 and Faith Clarkson arranged for new books and cataloguing.
Favicon
The Old Latin "G", which also later included the "C", became our chosen Favicon in 2012.
Our Favicon is chosen for two reasons in particular: it represents "C" for Claude and imitates the shape of a boomerang.
Wikipedia reports - “A boomerang is a thrown tool, typically constructed as a flat aerofoil, that is designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to circle back to the thrower.”
Isaiah 55:9-13 reports - "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."
Our Favicon is chosen for two reasons in particular: it represents "C" for Claude and imitates the shape of a boomerang.
Wikipedia reports - “A boomerang is a thrown tool, typically constructed as a flat aerofoil, that is designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to circle back to the thrower.”
Isaiah 55:9-13 reports - "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."
| the_ontario_church_property_commission_claude_united_church_agreement.pdf |
| claude_church_a_landmark_-_brampton_conservator_-_1939.pdf |
| information_gleaned_from_session_minutesb.pdf |
| diamond_jubilee_services_at_claude.pdf |
Domain Address Change
On July 7, 2018, our domain address changed from claudechurch.com to claudechurch.ca
In celebration of
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On Sun Oct 28, 2018 at 10:30 am, Claude Church celebrated our
175th Anniversary with Guest Speaker, Dr. Victor Shepherd followed by potluck lunch and festivities |
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New Roadside Sign
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In Autumn 2019, David Clarkson brought to fruition all his efforts to secure a contractor, design, permits and installation of a new roadside sign.
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CLAUDE PRAYER GARDEN
In autumn 2019, in the backyard facing east, the portico to the Claude Prayer Garden opened with many thanks to the sharing of ideas among many and the expert design, selection of materials, installation and labour of Markus Knecht and woodworking of David Clarkson.
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