As you stroll leisurely along Carlton Street to the church on Sunday, you may have noticed these numbers etched into the Credit Valley Stone. They are about two paces east from where the garden fence and the wall meet. They are not secret codes to treasure although treasure may lie inside. Rather they are the dates of the laying of the cornerstones for the two structures that have stood on this corner now for 153 years.
But what treasure might lie inside? When laying cornerstones, we humans are wont to leave curiosities inside such as newspapers, church calendars or coins and in this case 5, 10 and 20 cent coins. Perhaps you are thinking of a quarter or a 25-cent piece but no, actually a twenty-cent piece which must be nowadays very valuable to a collector.
But what is the story that led to a Methodist church being built on this corner? Methodism, as you know, is a spinoff of the Church of England known in Canada as the Anglican Church. The Wesley brothers John and Charles when they attended Oxford University in the 18th century belonged to a group that took their religion seriously, called the Holy Club. The members set aside time for prayer, communion, church attendance, fasting and Bible study and stuck to strict schedules to carry out their commitments. Their colleagues began to call them “methodists” and it was not a complimentary term. Eventually, through their preaching and hymn writing, the Wesley brothers began to grow Methodism although it did not officially separate from the C of E until much later.
BY the time John Graves Simcoe established the town of York in the very late 18th century (1793), Methodism was well established in Britain and the new republic of the United States. Governor Simcoe however was a staunch Anglican and did not welcome the circuit rider preachers that came up from the United States. He distrusted their republican instincts. He was a little more tolerant of the British Wesleyan Methodists as at least they were English.
The Methodists of York finally put up their first church building on the south side of King Street near Jordan about where the big CIBC building stands at Bay and King. It opened in November 1818. Here it is and you will have to imagine it surrounded by orchards, with a peaked roof and clapboard exterior. The main entrance was a double door and as couple entered the men moved to the right and the ladies moved to the left for their seating. The service in the evening required an intermission to change the candles as, halfway through the service, they would burn out.
From this building other Methodist churches sprang up like children and grandchildren around the town. One on Richmond Street gave birth to one on Elm Street just off Yonge that opened in 1855. As early as 1866, this congregation sought to assist in the building of a new church in the growing eastern section of the city above Gerrard Street. In a series of meetings over the year 1871, the details of the new church were hammered out. The cornerstone was laid on October 6, 1871.with a silver trowel and the church was named the Carlton Street Wesleyan Methodist Church. It officially opened on March 24, 1872. For its first three years it shared ministerial staff with Elm Street Methodist.
One observer described it as “a pretty, Gothic church”. It was oriented east/west with dimensions of 54 x 75 feet. The west end was a gallery mostly for the choir while the floor had seating for 300.
Over the next 14 years, the growth in the surrounding area and as a result the church was extensive enough that, despite some additions, the members felt they needed an entirely new structure. The old building was torn down and while the new one was being constructed the congregation worshiped in Allan Gardens. The main building in the garden then had seating for 2000 people.
Given the glacial speed of our own development, it seems striking that the new church was conceived and had the cornerstone laid in 1886 and opened in June 1887. The exterior of Credit Valley grey stone and the two towers remain striking architecture. One clergyman comparing Metropolitan with Sherbourne suggested the former was cathedral like and the latter opera house like.
The new church had a large balcony and could seat 1200 people. The seating was not pews but folding mahogany chairs. Up to 300 more could be seated on camp stools.
By contemporary standards it was not easy to be a Methodist in those days at the turn of the century. No card playing, no dancing, and no drinking of alcohol were the standards.
As the church moved into the 20th century it became known as the “millionaires church”. This nickname was likely quite accurate as there were at least five millionaires and perhaps more. They were George Cox (Canada Life and CBC), Joseph Flavelle (meat packing and banking), Albert Kemp (tin ware), Arthur E. Ames (stock brokerage), and Henry Fudger (department store). Looking back, one cannot help but ask if their Methodism informed their business life or did their business life inform the church or perhaps even both.
Taking just one man as an example, I think Methodist values informed his business life. Mr. Fudger who looks here like a strict high school German teacher ran a highly successful department store known as Simpson’s after its founder. For many years he was the church treasurer and the Sunday School superintendent. In his will he left the church with $30,000, a large sum of money for the era.
In his business, he was one of the first to undertake profit sharing with his employees and started a pension plan. His store employed many young women who were not native to the city. Sensing a need, he bought the former home of George Cox near Sherbourne and Wellesley and turned it into a boarding home for young women. He added recreational, sleeping, and dining facilities to the building. There was a bit of a Methodist zing to it as the young ladies were asked not to appear at breakfast with curlers in their hair.
In 1911, the church built an addition at the eastern end. The bricks and mortar reflected the large and growing Sunday School and acknowledged the roles of the congregation’s women. In what seems now to be almost a fantasy the Sunday School enrolment in 1911 was 815, which likely included about 50 teachers. It wasn’t for lack of competition as similar figures for Jarvis Street Baptist can be found.
A pivotal year for the churches in Canada was 1925 when the Methodist, a big block of the Presbyterian and the Congregational Churches joined together to form the United Church of Canada. The Sherbourne Methodists were strongly in favour of union. This was true of the wider Canadian Methodist Church in general partly because they had managed to pull together their own divisions and partly because it was just a good idea. The day before union a large valedictory service of Methodists took place at our church on June 9, 1925, and this wonderful picture documents the occasion.
In 1929, the church completed another very large renovation. The size of the congregation had been dwindling for several years, and the trustees had entertained a union with Metropolitan United that had been devastated by a terrible fire in 1928. But it was Mr. Flavelle in particular, one of the church trustees who felt this site should be maintained. The remodeling of the sanctuary resulted in a smaller balcony, a changed chancel and preparation for the Cassavant organ. New oak pews replaced the pull up mahogany chairs, but pew fees were charged. (Finally discontinued in 1951.)
Another new change was the introduction of kneeling pads. Here is the subtle invitation to their use by the church elders:
“Kneeling is of course not a matter of obligation; but it has a certain seemliness which a mere crouching position does not possess. It is much hoped that kneeling will become a common practice. “
This renovation was aimed at reaching out to the surrounding community as well as its members. There was a new Boys Club room, a Sunday School Hall with spacious classrooms, a playroom with a badminton court layout, and a room for carpet bowling.
“Hundreds of persons, men and women, boys and girls of all ages have at one time or another used these rooms and no doubt in the corner of their memories, they still have recollections of their leaders, the programs and the friendships found there. “(Ernie Edmonson)
I am going to fast forward now through the great depression of the thirties and the second World War to October 30, 1959, on a Friday night, at a service, Sherbourne United and Carlton United were joined together to form a new charge of Saint Luke’s United Church and this is the anniversary we are celebrating today. (66 years).
Carlton Street United had roots that were Primitive Methodist. Like Sherbourne it was a great grandchild of prior buildings. It was built in 1874 on the south side of Carlton just east of Yonge in what was called a Norman Gothic style. Like Sherbourne it quickly grew to have a large Sunday School. It too experienced rapid growth and needed enlargement.
“The Church’s interior was upholstered and carpeted in bright red; this, with the delicate coloring of the fresco work, gives it a bright, pleasant, cheerful appearance that is very restful and comfortable, as well as inspiring and helpful to a true spirit of worship. “
It was the original House of Friendship and had a large sign announcing this. Supporting this claim is a very endearing story about Carlton and the role it played during the Second World War. You may know that after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour, Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry in British Columbia were seen as suspect aliens and were moved inland forcing them to give up their businesses and homes. Some made their way east to find work on beet farms on the Niagara peninsula as they were banned from coming to Toronto proper.
Nevertheless a few filtered into the city taking pains to cause little fuss. A Japanese Canadian medical student from BC sought out the assistance of Jim Fiinlay the minister at Carlton in finding shelter for his parents and two siblings. in an extraordinary act of hospitality Mr. and Mrs. Finlay who already had four children of their own took them into their home. This set in train a long relationship of Canadians of Japanese descent with Carlton, many of whom joined Saint Luke’s at the time of the union of the two churches. (Nana Davies and Burt Ashikawa come to mind.)
Finally let me mention one last spiritual blessing to Saint Luke’s. Many years ago, in 1963-4, I was interning at St Michael’s Hospital. Your intern year is highly charged emotionally because you are full of “book learning” with minimal practical experience. You are often very dependent on the wisdom of experienced nurses. It was well after midnight one night when I was called to the medical ward. My mission was greatly helped by a nurse whose features I could not quite place geographically. It was, of course, my first encounter with a Filipino nurse. Her name was Lolita Bayon and she was in the vanguard of the Filipino diaspora to Canada. Over the next several decades, the country welcomed citizens of the Philippines many of whom were nurse or nannies bringing husbands and children later.
It was perhaps a bit later when some Filipinos sought out St Lujke’s and were welcomed enough that they really became the glue that kept the church together as they filled the Sunday School, the choir, and the nursey.
Well, what can we make of all this? It is easy to see that the church has reimagined itself several different times over the years on this site. There is a history of partnering with other churches either temporarily or in full union. There has always been a sense of making the building conducive to worship whether it be the bouquet of flowers by Vilma, the stained-glass windows, the famous mahogany chairs or bright red interiors. And there is always this thread of looking outward running through time. Whether it be Missionary societies, carpet bowling and badminton courts, Sunday School facilities, Meals on Wheels or OOTC programs, they pop up in their contexts and nurture their communities.
Champion Thomas Edward. The Methodist Churches of Toronto: A History of the Methodist Denomination and its Churches in York and Toronto, with Biographical Sketches of many of the Clergy and Laity. The G. M. ROSE & SONS COMPANY, Limited, Toronto 1899. Accessed September 19, 2025 https://ia601407.us.archive.org/32/items/methodisttoronto00unknuoft/methodisttoronto00unknuoft.pdf
Bliss Michael. “FLAVELLE, Sir JOSEPH WESLEY,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 16, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003. Accessed September 20, 2025, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/flavelle_joseph_wesley_16E.html.
https://jamiebradburnwriting.wordpress.com/2023/07/19/h-h-fudger-the-modest-millionaire/ Accessed September 30, 2025
https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cox_george_albertus_14E.html Accessed September 30, 2025
Edmonson E A History of Sherbourne Street United Church Carlton Press 1987
St John Judith Firm Foundations: A Chronicle of Toronto’s Metropolitan United Church and Her Methodist Origins 1795-1984. Wood Lake Books Inc. WInfield BC 1988
