HISTORY of HILLCREST UNITED CHURCH
Scroll right following the arrows, then tap on the topic you want. There are 8 topics/tabs here;
Ministers, Church Suppers, Tower, Building, Big Move, Stained-Glass, History 1997-2021 & Hist Pre-1997,
Scroll right following the arrows, then tap on the topic you want. There are 8 topics/tabs here;
Ministers, Church Suppers, Tower, Building, Big Move, Stained-Glass, History 1997-2021 & Hist Pre-1997,
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The Building,
For pre-1997 information, text & more photos CLICK HERE to read the entire 1997 BOOKLET about HILLCREST UNITED CHURCH and its PREDECESSORS. MORE RECENT TOPICS WILL APPEAR as you CHOOSE TABS as you SCROLL RIGHT; History 1997-2021, Stained-Glass, The Big Move, The Building, Bell Tower, Church Suppers, Ministers. |
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SELECT HISTORY 1997-2021
to ENJOY again, through photos & text, some highlights of Hillcrest's 1997 to 2021 activities: Dinner Theatre Nights, The Good Morning Group, Guess-Who's-Coming-to-Dinner, The Gospel Group, Messy Church, Bring-Your-Pet- to-Church, and Farmers-Helping-Farmers Twinned Schools G |
To View all our Stained-Glass Windows and Read about Them, Click on any one of These Photos.
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The Big Move
In the late 1960's, many farm families in Valleyfield were selling their farms and moving to Montague, or beyond. Many of the farms were sold to immigrants whose religeous affiliations were not with the UCC. It was becoming increasingly difficult for the congregation there to maintain its building, programs, and minister. In 1969 the Lower Montague United Church had closed and the congregations merged with that of Trinity United in Montague. The church building was too small for the resulting congregation. Many people now claim responsibility for coming up with the idea to close Trinity, moving the Valleyfield church to Montague and forming one wider congregation. There are motions recorded in the minutes of various committees and congregations; but they don't reflect the long process of discussions. On May 16, 1971, the last service in the Valleyfield United Church before being moved to the present location and being rename Hillcrest United Church. At a meeting on March 23, 1971 the name for the new church was discussed and voted on. The name “Montague-Valleyfield” passed. The next recorded meeting, on October 3, 1971 was called to discuss the opening services of “Hillcrest United Church ...”. Sometime, somehow between March and October the name changed to “Hillcrest”. In June 1971 when the first section of the Valleyfield Church was travelling on the flatbed across the Valleyfield River at Sutherland's Hill, there were people praying that the bridge would give out and the section would crash into pieces in the river, bringing to an end a project which did not have their blessing. But there were even more people praying for the opposite, that it would make it, and beyond that, that the congregations would make it too, so that one strong congregation would result from the adventuresome move. |
Not only was it an act of vision and faithfulness to move the church in 1971 from Valleyfield to Montague, it was also a financial cost, $100,000. But the project proceeded under the assumption that the three congregations of Lower Montague, Montague and Valleyfield would pull together, pay the bills and become one. They certainly did. The years have shown that the building, in pieces, did survive the move, and survived it well. In 1974, three years after the church building was moved to Montague, a stone cairn was built in Valleyfield on the site of the original log meeting house. Inscribed on it are the church buildings and dates from 1842 to 1971. It also includes this quote from Psalm 119.90 A in Gaelic and English: o linn gu lino tha d'fhirinn “Your faithfulness endures through all the ages” T To continue reading this History of Hillcrest, scroll to the top of this page and choose the next tab THE BUILDING. |
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BUILDING UPGRADES:
There have been many upgrades to Hillcrest since it found its spot on the hill in 1971. In 1984 a $204,000 addition was built along 20 of the 50 foot north wall. A primary purpose was to add space for Sunday School classrooms. It also permitted the addition of more general meeting places, a larger choir room and choir loft, and a larger minister's study. Then in 1991, in preparation for the arrival of a second minister, the addition was extended along the remainder of the north wall. During the same period, $50,000 worth of stained glass windows, choir gowns worth $10,000 and a new organ valued at $40,000 were also added. Anne and David White donated our beautiful grand piano in 2006, dedicated to the memory of Anne's mother and long time congregant Fran Shaw. In 2009, Edgar Dewar built a beautiful floor to ceiling choir cabinet, with a place to store music for every member of the choirs. In 2013 a $50,000 lift was installed, making Hillcrest truly accessible. The dream started in 2003 with an endowment from the Wigginton family in memory of Muriel Wigginton. Many years of research, UCW bake sale fund-raising and a major federal grant later, the dream became a reality. In 2021, a UCC Faithful Footprints grant enabled Hillcrest to install six heat pumps, an electric hot water heater, all new LED lighting, and four new basement windows were installed. In the course of completing this project it was discovered that our 30 year old oil boiler was in desperate need of replacement; so two smaller efficient boilers were installed. The newly formed technology team also replaced aging computers and began purchasing equipment to offer better digital streaming of services and events. The upgrades do not include the many smaller building projects carried out over the years by tireless volunteers, keeping the building in good repair and adapting it to changing needs. To continue reading this history of Hillcrest, scroll to the top of this page and choose the tab THE TOWER. |
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From 2015 to 2019 Stewards & Trustees carried out a major campaign to repair the bell tower and reclad the entire building with vinyl siding, including a layer of rigid insulation and many new windows and doors. The bell tower has its own fascinating history, including a lightning strike which split the filial in half on Valentine's Day, 1991. Keir MacLeod's repaired the damage and turned a new filial. The old one has a place of honour just outside the choir room.
To continue reading this History of Hillcrest, scroll to the top of this page and choose the tab CHURCH SUPPERS. |
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The Hillcrest Annual Congregational Turkey Dinner These congregational dinners, organized by the UCW, have been an institution since Hillcrest's inception. They were also a long tradition at Trinity and Valleyfield before theY merged to form Hillcrest. The first and long-time “Boss” aka “General” of the kitchen was Lois MacLeod. Overseeing this annual feat, which sometimes fed up to 600 people, was not for the faint of heart. In fact, it was such a tremendous effort that it took three people to take over the reins after Lois retired her apron! Margaret Campion and Miriam Nicholson took over the kitchen and Lois Matheson organized the troops for serving, clearing and desserts. The intrepid Donald Nicholson sold tickets and guarded the movement of diners from the waiting area in the Sanctuary to the coveted dinner table in the Valleyfield room. A bazaar was set up in the Chapel to distract rumbling stomachs from the delicious aroma of food wafting up from the basement kitchen. The turkey torch next passed into the capable hands of Elizabeth LeLacheur and Margie Tesselaar. They are still at it, with support from the UCW and so many capable and generous volunteers. Although Covid 19 has meant pivoting to take-out, even a world- wide pandemic couldn't stop the beloved Hillcrest Annual Turkey Dinner! To continue reading this History of Hillcrest, scroll to the top of this page and choose the tab MINISTERS. |
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MINISTERS WHO HAVE SERVED
HILLCREST AND ITS FOUNDING CHURCHES VALLEYFIELD CHURCH MONTAGUE METHODIST CHURCH 1850 Rev. Alexander Munro 1872 Rev. John Astbury 1885 Rev. Roderich MacLean 1874 Rev. William Fenna 1907 Rev. A. S. Stewart 1877 Rev. Douglas H. Lodge 1916 Rev. J. M. MacLeod 1880 Rev. E. Bell 1920 Rev. J. A. MacLennan 1882 Rev. Joseph Pascoe 1928 Dr. D. M. Sinclair 1883 Rev. William Wass 1936 Dr. A. J. Ebbett 1884 Rev. John F. Estey 1941 Dr. J. Milton Fraser 1886 Rev. John Goldsmith 1944 Rev. A. D. Sterling 1890 Rev. Richard Opie 1947 Rev. E. C. Evans 893 Rev. William Lawson 1948 Rev. A. C. Fraser 1896 Rev. H. Penna 1955 Rev. Fred MacKinnon 1900 Rev. F. Frizzle 1961 Rev. Supply Ministers 1903 Rev. L. J. Wason 1963 Rev. Graeme Fraser 1907 Rev. F. A. Wightman 1967 Rev. Russell Burns 1910 Rev. B. O. Hartman 1969 Rev. David Shaffelburg 1913 Rev. H. Miller 1916 Rev. William J. Donville MONTAGUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1919 Rev. Christopher Graham 1922 Rev. H. A. Brown 1876 Rev. Peter Melville 1924 Rev. E. A. Westmoreland 1877 Rev. John MacKinnon 1884 Rev. W. H. Spencer TRINITY UNITED & LOWER MONTAGUE 1902 Rev. Robert Sinclair 1909 Rev. David Wright 1925 Rev. John Sterling 1919 Rev. John D. MacKenzie 1931 Dr. J. R. Saint 1924 Rev. John Sterling 1932 Rev. Gordon Pringle 1935 Rev. Arthur Long 1939 Rev. S. E. Hayward HILLCREST UNITED CHURCH 1943 Rev. A. S. Adams 1949 Dr. A. D. MacKenzie 1971 Rev. David Shaffelburg 1952 Rev. J. Murdock Fraser 1972 Rev. William A. Amey 1962 Rev. Russell F. Burns 1977 Rev. Ron Vincent 1969 Rev. David Shaffelburg (for 6 months in 1980 as part of a Clergy/Church exchange – Rev. Ron Elliott of Australia was minister) 1986 - 96 Rev. Lloyd Burrows 1990 - 92 Rev. Paul Vavasour 1997 - 2003 Rev. Lorna McQueen 1997 - 2004 Rev. Melaney Matheson 2003 - 10 Rev. Scott Hillier 2010 - 18 Rev. Martin Dawson 2019 -21 Rev. Bonnie Fraser 2022 Je-Sep Jim Harbell (student minis.) 2022 Nov - Timothy Wisnicki (student minis.) Use this LINK to see photos and text about amazing OUTREACH and CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 1997 TO 2021 |
