In the Beginning
It was a small body of Christ's faithful people who, in January, 1885 began a Missionary ventured destined to become the Parish and Church of The Messiah. But the first parishioners did not always worship in the church which we see today - a stronghold in stone, on the south west corner of Dupont Street and Avenue Road.
This early community of people, few in numbers, but great in their dedication to God, met Friday evenings in a rented upper room at the Church of The Redeemer, then located at 147 Davenport Road, and this early church was called The Church of The Redeemer Mission Chapel.
Mr. Robert L. Sims was in charge of these services and Miss Jones, daughter of the Rev. Septimus Jones, then Rector of the Church of The Redeemer was organist.
During its second year, the Davenport Road Mission was under the leadership of Mr. J.E. Robinson, who was assisted by his colleagues at Wycliffe College. This early and strong liaison between Wycliffe College and the Church of The Messiah has continued throughout the years.
During the decade of the 1880's the population of Toronto increased by 88%; as the city grew so did the need for churches. In his charge to Synod in 1887, Bishop Sweatman reported, "Negotiations are in progress between authorities of the Church of The Redeemer and Christ Church, Deer Park, with a view to the provision of a new church between them..."
In 1888 at the seventeenth Annual Vestry meeting of The Church of The Redeemer, the Rev. S. Jones reported that lands had been obtained on the corner of Dupont Street and Avenue Road, and that liberal subscriptions had been promised for the erection of a Mission Chapel. the Rev. Mr. Jones reported, "...the services of an ordained Minister, the Rev. M. Griffin have been virtually secured for three years..."
The course of the Mission was redirected in 1889 when the Rev. Mr. Griffin suffered a long illness. Yet the moment of crisis became the hour of a widening horizon, for the Rev. John Gillespie generously volunteered his services.
Through the kindness of Mr. J.H. Kerr, Q.C., the vacated Methodist Church on the corner of Yonge Street and Davenport Road was secured, free of cost.
This Methodist Church, built in 1866 by the Primitive Methodists was left vacant in 1886 when the various denominations of the day united for their worship in the newly built church at Avenue Road and Avenue Place, now Boswell Avenue. This is today the site of St. Paul's United Church. the joining of hands with St. Paul's and the Mission, now the Church of The Messiah, has continued to this day in a shared Bible Vacation School and an annual exchange of clergy.
On its new location, the Mission stretched its branches and was blessed by God to become once more a fruitful parish.
Two devoted men of God, Mr. William Sunter and Mr. J.E. Crowley were members of this Mission and today Mr. Sunter continues as a faithful member.
At this time Mr. Grant Helliwell became the Sunday School Superintendent, a position he faithfully fulfilled for thirty-three years. During these early years, a lending library was established for the boys and girls in the Sunday School.
Again the Mission faced a crisis when the widening of Davenport Road necessitated the demolition of the old Methodist Church. This moment of necessity became the Mission's opportunity to build it's own church on the land obtained in 1888.
At the Bishop's Mandate, in 1891, a small roughcast church was built, to be known as the Parish of the Church of The Messiah with its Rector, the Rev. John Gillespie. At this time, this was the only building on Dupont Street, between Avenue Road and Davenport Road. This building stood until 1921 and was used as the Sunday School of the Parish after the completion of the main Church.
It is interesting to know that a "Toll Gate" for horse drawn vehicles was located at Davenport and Avenue Road at this time with a fee of 5 cents asked of those passing through. the original toll gate building is still standing and is part of the store structure on the east side of Avenue Road just south of Davenport road.
On September 27, 1891 the first services were held with the Ven. Archdeacon Boddy preaching at the morning service, with the boys of Upper Canada College in attendance; the Rev. H.W. Watters of New Orleans preached at the evening service.
Mr. William Sunter believes that the stone of our present church originally came from near Kingston. He recalls that the stone was brought to the building site and cut right on the location.
It is of financial interest that the site of land on which the church now stands originally cost $5,000; the new church was estimated to cost $19,000, $14,000 of which had been subscribed, leaving a debt of $10,000, "And this stone...shall be God's House."
On Monday, October 19, 1891, the cornerstone of the present church was laid, with his Lordship the Rt. Rev. Arthur Sweatman performing the ceremony. Slightly more than a year later the new church was opened. Mr. Grant Helliwell was the Architect who designed the church to stand with a timeless beauty. In the dedication services, Bishop Sweatman remarked with prophetic accuracy that the churches of Christ were being drawn closer together in Christian love.
The early environs of the parish were pastoral. Cows were tethered in the large orchards to the north and west. Bi-weekly, cattle were driven north on Avenue Road to the abbatoir. Avenue Road, then a cedar block road, was much steeper; its hill was a popular site for sleigh and toboggan rides which ended their course in Ramsden Park. A creek made its way across Avenue Road en route to the Don River.
Roxborough Street was a mud road through an open field. To the west, a popular sub-division called the Annex was burgeoning. Transportation by horsedrawn coaches and carriages was supplanted in 1895 when electric street railway proceeded from Yonge and Bloor Streets, west along Bloor and as far north as Avenue Road as the C.P.R. tracks of today....
(Published in The Church of The Messiah, Toronto: 1891-1962 by Mrs. R.B. Salter in 1962.)