Almonds United Church anniversary services were held on Sunday afternoon and evening (Sept. 17) with Audley congregation joining in the service. A lovely autumn day made a lovely setting. The church was very tastefully decorated with flowers, fruit and vegetables. Rev. Martin Jenkinson, Pickering, occupied the pulpit at both services. The choir of some thirty voices, under the direction of Mr. Robin Nicholson, of Whitby, helped much in the service of song.
History records that the late James Almond, after whom the church was named built it about the year 1836. There had been, however, a congregation worshipping at Almonds before that and it is figured in the absence of accurate records, that Sunday next (Sept. 24) is the 103rd anniversary of the church.
The present building, it is reckoned, has been in use for about 90 years, and little has changed from the day it was finished by strong hands of pioneers, who it is reported, contributed free of charge their labor and brought the timber from the woods. It was, however in the summer of 1934, redecorated inside and out and electric lights were installed. In 1853 a deed was given by Mr. Almond of the property, then known as the Whitby chapel of the Wesleyan Methodist Church to the Trustee Board. James Wilson, grandfather of Mr. Arthur Wilson, of Whitby, was the first clerk of the Board. It is said that prior to the building of the church, the pioneers worshipped in a barn on the property now owned by Mr. Chambers on the Kingston Highway, and it was in this barn that a decision was reached to build a church.
In the early days of the Wesleyan Church there was a large circuit which included such charges as Whitby, Almonds, Brooklin, Kinsale, Myrtle, Salem and other places. Ministries in those days, because of the scarcity and long distance one must travel on, roads unknown to the generation, were not always available for every Sunday and local preachers took their places. Ministers would visit every place on the extensive circuit about three or four times a year. It is recorded of the late James Almond, who for many years was class leader, Sunday School Teacher and janitor, that he would take the place of a minister who failed to turn up at an appointed time rather than disappoint the worshippers who had come long distances by vehicle and on foot to “worship God in the beautiful holiness.”
