It was in the early 1900's when the people of Wharncliffe first began to feel the need for a church in the area. There had already been a cemetery for twelve years, which was started in 1890. It is located on Wharncliffe road just past where the Wharncliffe Church used to stand.

George Wilson was the first person to actually be buried in the cemetery, although an honest attempt was made to bury Nathan Baldwin in the boundaries. When Nathan Baldwin was to be buried, there was no cemetery and the boundaries weren't marked off. But the people of the community knew approximately where the cemetery would be located so they went ahead and buried him before the surveying was done, where they thought the boundaries would be. They were wrong. He was buried just outside where the fence was supposed to go up.

Since they already had a cemetery, the people of the valley found it quite peculiar to not have a church to carry out ceremonies and funeral services in. The construction of the church began in 1902. A committee of local people was organized for the planning and building of the church. Fred Ansley donated two acres of land off the corner of his field, beside the cemetery. William Pugh did the stone work for the foundation of the building, and Tommy Osborne supplied the lumber. In the end a very nice building was produced.

Picture: courtesy of Jane Mundy.

The interior walls were painted white, and it had a pine plank floor. The pews were hand made and covered with a light oak varnish. To complete the entire look and feeling, an organ was donated to be used for services.

At first the church was a part of the Methodist Church Organization of Canada. Then in June of 1925, it joined the United Church of Canada. Church service was every Sunday morning at 11:00am, and there was Sunday school at 2:00pm. Sunday School was taught for many years by Anne Burrows. She usually taught two to three different age groups at a time. Other teachers were Mrs. Fred Ansley and Mrs. Nelson Ansley. The church was also used for funeral services, and hosted various events, such as the annual Christmas Concert.

The church belonged to a group circuit, which included Kynoch and Goldenburg. The minister was shared by all three of the churches. He preached in Wharncliffe at 11:00am, then in Kynoch at 2:00pm, and finally, he did an evening service in Goldenburg. In the summer months a new minister would come to preach in the area. They were student ministers, studying theology, and usually came from Toronto.

For many years there was church year round. However, as the years passed services were only conducted in the summer, by the student ministers. The reason for this is that a lot of the people lost interest in the church and stopped going. Dedicated church goers would travel to Bellingham and Goldenburg for services. Lack of participation in the church events finally lead to the church being sold in 1967. The money was donated to Camp McDougall which is located just off highway 17.

The church was bought by Steven and Margaret Osborne, and in the end it was torn down. The tearing down of the building is not usually mentioned in many writings on the church because the people did not agree with it being torn down. Where the church once stood, there is still the foundation which is now the site of a beautiful flower garden.