HISTORY @ DUBLIN
A group of dedicated volunteers passed along the following information to over 200 visitors at Doors Open Guelph on Saturday, April 21, 2007.
The information was researched by Evelyn Bird, our church historian.
Front of the Church Building
Imagine that you are in the booming business town of Guelph in 1872. The Board of Directors of Norfolk First Wesleyan Methodist Church decides that their church is too crowded and a new residential church should be constructed.
So the comer of Dublin and Suffolk is selected for the new church. Three houses are demolished to make room. The Board at Norfolk wants to use the same yellow bricks used in the house at the end of the block but it is too expensive so the grey limestone blocks will have to do. The church goes up quickly and by 1875, despite there being no telephones with which to do business with the architects in Toronto, it is finished except for the finial at the top of the church. Dublin’s structure is neo-Gothic in design. The church costs $26,000 for the land, building and organ.
Most corner stones are located in a low corner of a building, but characteristic of Wesleyan Methodist churches the first “corner” stone at Dublin is round and above the front door. A second stone was placed in 1955-56 at the corner of the addition of the gymnasium, offices, kitchen and Hallman Room.
The yellow brick house at the end of the street has a varied history. It was once the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Campbell McLaughlin, a busy engineer whose wife hired and supervised the bricklayers and carpenters – an unusual activity for a woman in those days. In 1959 it was purchased and used as our manse. In the 1980's the living and dining areas of the house were converted to the Shalom Room for quiet gatherings, and the upstairs to meeting rooms. As well, a connecting corridor was added to join this to the church building to accommodate our church offices.
Now imagine the back of the church in the late 1870s. Here we would find horse sheds as people either walked to church or came in their horse-drawn buggies. What else would you see “out back”? – a privy!
When Dublin was built the church there were no electric lights but rather gas lights, no water and no telephone. Water was provided by a pump in the back yard and boys carried water to the kitchen.
Casting your mind to 1875 you might see members coming to church – Brother J.W. B. Kelly who operated a planing mill on the Speed River, Brother F.J. Chadwick who was the Land Registry agent and had a farm at Dublin and London Roads, and Brother Chipchase the constable who helped clean out the “house of prostitution” which was located opposite the Woodlawn Cemetery. He is now buried in that cemetery.
Narthex
As one comes up the stairs from the street to the level of the sanctuary we note many characteristics of Wesleyan churches. Originally, the pulpit raised the minister high above the congregation but at Dublin this philosophy was changed so that the speaker was closer to the level of the people.
The beautiful bluish windows in the front and side Gothic arches are old replacements. Warmth on the south windows softened the lead and caused some of the stained glass to become loose. One would expect these windows to have been especially designed but surprisingly they came from a catalogue!
Because Dublin was originally Wesleyan, we have placed a picture of John Wesley at the stairwell. A church Book of Remembrance is in a glass case at the centre of the narthex. It was printed by Stephen Lewis who is an artist and member of Dublin. The book is engraved, “In memory of John Wesley Sowan Kelly and Elizabeth Ann Kelly”.
The church membership initially consisted of 200-300 people. Membership increased in the 1930s to about 900; currently we have about 400 families.
Sanctuary
The sanctuary seen today is much the same as in 1877, except for the pews which were benches originally. It is interesting to note that the ends of the pews show nail marks where the number or names of members were shown, as they “rented” their pews. The amount of this contribution was published with names. As men removed their hats when entering the sanctuary, a spring-loaded hat rack was available under the seat in each pew. One still remains in the last row of the centre pews next to the south aisle.
Dublin was originally named the Second Wesleyan Methodist Church but that was shortened to Dublin Wesleyan Church and with the formation of the United Church of Canada in 1925, became known as Dublin Street United Church.
One of the great strengths of Methodist traditions is music so it is not surprising that the placement of the organ and choir within the sanctuary has been important. The greatest change in the church from the 1870's has been the placement of the organ. In the typically Wesleyan style, the organ and choir were placed level with the gallery. The organ was pumped by air with a young lad paid $15 a year to pump the bellows. In 1914 a new organ was purchased and the choir moved down from the gallery in its present position. In 1945 a new organ was requested from the Board but such an expense was refused. However, at the choir’s annual concert to raise money for the organ, one of the notes stuck so the concert was cancelled. The local newspaper reported a glowing concert – the reporter obviously either did not attend or left early! Shortly thereafter the purchase of a new Casavant organ was approved. The wonderful music of the church continued with the refurbishing of the instrument in the 1970s and with the conversion from a pneumatic to an electronic console in 1994.
The windows of the church are typically Wesleyan in that there are no human figures; hence the plainness of the downstairs windows. The very colorful window at the back of the church is probably more recent.
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