British Methodist Episcopal Church (Toronto, Ontario)
Christ Church - St. James, BME, known as "the BME Church," one of the oldest Black
congregations in Canada, suffered a tragic loss when its building at 460 Shaw Street was
destroyed by arson on April 16,1998.
The British Methodist Episcopal Church traces its origins back to the 1830s, when ministers from
the U.S.-based African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church came to Canada to preach to recent
Black settlers who had fled the US via the Underground Railroad. In 1856, the Canadian AME
Assemblies decided to sever their ties with the US and the new British Methodist Episcopal
(BME) Church was formed. The Toronto congregation itself dates back to 1845 and has
occupied church buildings at several locations; in 1955 it moved to 460 Shaw Street upon
amalgamation with the Afro Community Church.
Here, the BME Church not only ministered to its congregation, but was a vital force in the greater
Community. Its many social, educational and recreational programs included orientation for new
immigrants, Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, seniors get-togethers, and services for residents at
the Castleview Wychwood Towers nursing home. At the time of the fire, the congregation
numbered over 300, with some 50 children on the Sunday School roll. The BME Church had just
renovated its kitchen facilities prior to launching a new Seniors Nutrition Program, but this
project, and all the Church's activities, were suddenly interrupted by the devastating fire.
The Youth Group, Sunday School, Seniors Group, and Choir lost their meeting place.
Weddings planned for this summer have had to be relocated. The new instruments recently
acquired for the Church's Music Program were completely destroyed, as was a Library of some
200 books, including a set of new Bibles and a set of religious encyclopedias dating back to the
19th-century.
The BME Church will stand again!
|