GODERICH – Three local United Churches have voted to become one single church.
Benmiller United, North Street United and Victoria Street United had been holding joint worship services in the North Street building since July and voted Nov. 25 to create one church.
This was prompted by the destruction of the Victoria Street building by the 2011 tornado and a decision by the Benmiller church to close their building and have it demolished. Both of these congregations made decisions to not disband their churches but to find alternate methods to continue without their previous buildings, according to a press release issued by the United Churches of Goderich and Area today.
In November 2011, representatives of all three United Churches met to discuss the possibilities. The favourable outcome led towards some more activities and worship services together, all leading to the historic vote. On Nov. 25 the three congregations worshipped together and held communion before splitting into voting stations for each. The combined vote results were 159 in favour of amalgamation and 2 opposed. A target date for the official amalgamation is set for Jan. 1, 2013 but is contingent upon the new church working out a form of governance by that time.
The United Church of Canada was formed in 1925 from the union of Methodist, Congregationalist, and some Presbyterian churches to form the largest protestant denomination in Canada. Each congregation has the freedom to make decisions about its own building, governance and clergy. These still need to be addressed by the newly formed church. Even the choice of a name is being decided by the members. A temporary name of The United Churches of Goderich and Area has been used since July but is not official. All three founding churches still exist until amalgamation is formalized next year.
