TERRACE, B.C. – This Sunday, Knox United Church in Terrace will be filled with music, food, and fellowship as it marks the 100th anniversary of the United Church of Canada with a special service and a community open house.
The celebration begins with a worship service at 10:30 a.m. on June 8, led by the church’s 37th pastor, Paul Allard. Following the service, the church will host what Pastor Allard calls “a very United Church thing”—a potluck lunch.
While the event celebrates the centennial of the national United Church, which formed on June 10, 1925, by joining Methodist, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist congregations, Terrace’s Knox United has its own even longer history.
“As noteworthy as 100 years is, the Knox church itself has been in existence in Terrace for 102 years,” says Christine Eide, a Knox member and the congregation’s historian. She notes that Methodists and Presbyterians were worshipping together here well before the official union, with Knox Presbyterian formally established in 1913.
The church’s history is full of memorable stories, including that of its iconic bell. The original church building, located on Lakelse Ave., burned down in 1949. To inspire the congregation to rebuild, member Madsy Brandis, who grew up in the Netherlands, promised to find them a bell from her home country.
“She said ‘I’ll find you a bell in Holland’ and she did and had it shipped over here,” said Eide. The bell first rang on Easter Sunday in 1950 in the rebuilt church’s new bell tower.
When the congregation moved to its current, larger location on Lazelle Ave. in 1964, the bell was put into storage. It wasn’t until the late 1980s that a group from the congregation, with welding skills from George Hagen and a crane donation from Raincoast Cranes, built a new tower. The bell rang out once again on Easter Sunday 1990 and is now rung every Sunday by a child from the Sunday School.
The public is warmly invited to the afternoon open house to share in this history. The celebration will feature guided tours, a 100th-anniversary cake cutting, and a United Church history game.
Starting around 2 p.m., the church will be filled with music, including a performance from the Terrace Symphony Orchestra, two ukulele groups (Skeena Strummers and Kitchen Party), classical guitar duo Anne Hill and Dieter Marder, and pianist Rebecca Lockerby.
“We’re also going to have a 100th anniversary cake cutting… the afternoon is meant to be one where the public can enjoy an informal open house atmosphere,” said Pastor Allard.
