NELSON UNITED CHURCH
"We dare to live the Way of Jesus,
Embodying the Love of God"
Nelson United Church
The 1980s and 90s were difficult years for the United Church. Declining Sunday Schools and attendance, changes in Nelson's social makeup, and re-evaluation of priorities meant challenges for both Fairview and St. Paul's-Trinity congregations. To meet these challenges, it was determined that the two churches should amalgamate.
Sunday, July 2, 1995 — two congregations meet as one
On July 2, 1995, Nelson United Church was constituted by the amalgamation of Fairview United Church and St. Paul's-Trinity United Church, with the Rev. David Boyd as its first minister. The two congregations met appropriately, halfway, in Gyro Park for an inaugural meeting before processing to their "new" church at Silica and Josephine.
With the proceeds of the sale of the Fairview United Church building, renovations and upgrades were made, including new administration, meeting rooms, and storage areas.
On July 1, 2000, Rev. Christine Dudley joined the staff to provide an additional half-time ministry to its congregation.
In August 2011, Rev. Dudley accepted a call to Kimberley United Church.
Rev. Boyd continued in his ministry until his retirement in August 2024.
Rev. Fredrick Thondhlana, a minister of the United Church of Christ, Zimbabwe, accepted an appointment as minister on January 2, 2025.
The Nelson United Church Memorial Organ
Fire has been no stranger to the buildings that have resided at 602 Silica Street. Sadly, the fire of April 1967 completely destroyed the pipe organ, which had been installed in 1923 as a memorial to the men who died in World War 1. Fortunately, insurance coverage enabled the then St. Paul's-Trinity congregation to build a new pipe organ.
The Keates Organ Co. of Acton, Ontario, built the new pipe organ especially for the rebuilt church of St. Paul's-Trinity. The organ has three divisions – two manuals and a division of pedals – of thirty ranks comprising 1625 "speaking pipes" ranging in size from 16 feet to 2/16 of an inch! The metal pipes are built from an alloy and provide excellent tonal production; the wooden pipes are made of California Redwood kiln-dried lumber. The organ is thought to be one of the finest between Calgary and Vancouver.
Tonally, the organ reflects basic principles of design which have been traditional for many years in the great and historic organs of Europe. These principles include the use of moderate wind pressure to avoid stridency and harshness of tone, and a skillful scaling of the pipes within a rank to give each stop a distinctive timbre, while permitting a proper blend when various stops are combined.
On March 8, 2009, the congregation of Nelson United Church celebrated
their Centennial Sunday Event, which included the placement of
our Centennial Time Capsule.
Rev. Christine Dudley and Rev. David Boyd place the capsule in the wall while Rev. Hilary Bitten (President of Kootenay Presbytery), some children and the Chancel Choir look on.
NUC Time Capsule
Trinity Methodist Bell
The plaque on the bell stand reads:
THIS BELL HAS BEEN ON THIS SITE SINCE THE LATE 1890'S. IT HAS WEATHERED TWO FIRES AND ONE CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONAL CHANGE, METHODIST CHURCH OF CANADA TO THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA IN 1925. AUGUST 30TH, 2009, THIS BELL IS DEDICATED TO THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE WORKED TIRELESSLY TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD'S LOVE IN NELSON AND AREA.
Our church bell has come out of decades of storage to be mounted outside our main entrance — thanks to the efforts of Bob Steed, Rich Donaldson and Bryan Reid.The Church Bell foundered at the Buckeye Bell foundry in 1895 and was purchased by Trinity Methodist Church in 1908 from the E. W. Vanduzen Company of Cincinnati. It is made of bronze. All of the records of the Vanduzen foundry were destroyed in the great Ohio River flood of 1937, so it is impossible to find out anything about its origin from that source.We know that the first Methodist Church in Nelson was built in 1908/09, destroyed in a fire in 1915 and rebuilt. In 1925 the merger of four Christian denominations formed the United Church of Canada. Our Church Records dating back to the 1925 merger show a transfer of a bell to the United Church in Nelson with a value of $100. When the church rebuilt in 1917, the bell was stored in the rafters and forgotten about until the building again burned in 1967. The day after the fire, Fred Whitely, Chair of the Church Council, and a firefighter were inspecting the remains while another firefighter tried to cut away smouldering rafters above – not realizing there was a bell resting on them. Fred was about 10 feet away when the bell came crashing down, and fortunately no one was injured. From that point onwards, the bell was moved around from place to place.
The Bell has a very large crack. It is believed that the crack was as a result of the fire in 1915 that destroyed the Methodist Church and the headstock was later destroyed in the fire of the St. Paul's Trinity United Church in 1967. The crack has been repaired and done very well. Experts are surprised at the quality of the repair. Carl Zimmerman of Bell Talk –The American Bell Association International, Inc., is an expert in Bell History states, "The repair is unusual because very few welders have the sense to be able to handle cast bronze properly." The Bell was never installed in the rebuilding of St. Paul's-Trinity United Church and had remained in storage since the time of the fire. Thanks to vision, determination, and the hard work of Bob Steed, Rick Donaldson, and others, the bell has an honoured place again in our church. It was placed beside the front entrance to Nelson United Church as part of the Centenial Celebrations and was rededicated on August 30, 2009.