NOTE: SouthWest United has left the borough of Verdun to hold services in Lachine, but in our hearts we remain Verduners.
Over 120 years of history
SouthWest United Church is one of only two remaining United Church congregations in Verdun (the other being the Montreal Korean United Church), but it carries the legacy of several churches and congregations stretching back to 1899.
How can that be, since the United Church of Canada was only founded in 1925? Glad you asked.
The origins of Verdun United Church
One of our founding congregations, Verdun United Church, began life as Verdun Methodist, in 1899. It was one of many Methodist congregations that joined with Presbyterians and Congregationalists in 1925 to form the United Church.
Verdun had only been called Verdun for a quarter century when the first meetings about founding a Methodist church were held in the home of Mr. John Way on Church /De l’Église Avenue. By the beginning of the 20th century, Verdun was teeming with young families, and the Verdun Methodist Sunday School could barely keep up with the demand!
The original Verdun Methodist Church was built on Gordon Avenue in 1902-1903. Due to a growing congregation and Sunday School, a larger building was put up on an adjoining site in 1908. Verdun Methodist and then Verdun United used both buildings until 1931, when they built a new church at 650 Woodland Avenue. The Gordon avenue buildings no longer exist. The Woodland building, although sold in 2007 when Verdun amalgamated with Crawford Park, still stands and is in use by a Buddhist group and a daycare. Many Verdun United artefacts, including a triptych of stained glass windows, were preserved and incorporated into the new SouthWest United Church.
The origins of Crawford Park United
Our other founding congregation, Crawford Park United, came into being during another population boom, in the 1940s. Crawford Park was one of several Montreal neighbourhoods designated during World War II for the construction of “veteran’s cottages” - the distinctive pointed-roofed brick homes still very much in evidence in the neighbourhood. SouthWest United occupies the building the Crawford Park United congregation erected in 1947 after several years of meeting in homes and the local schoolhouse.
Both of these founding congregations came to life thanks to the can-do spirit of Verduners of the last century.
Verdun as home to more churches
Over the years, Verdun was also home to Chalmers United, built in 1922 at 177 de l’Eglise. That congregation closed in 1997 but the building was transferred to the Korean United Church which still holds services there today.
Verdun was even home to a French-language United Church, Église Bethanie, from 1922 to 1978. Its building, located at 3099 Wellington, was home for a time to L’Église des montréalais, and is currently used as a private residence.
A shared ministry
Verdun United and Crawford Park United began sharing ministry in the 1970s, with the same minister performing two services every Sunday. Rev. Maurice Nerny led both congregations from 1980 to 1998. He was succeeded in 1998 by Rev. David Lefneski who oversaw amalgamation in 2007 and the opening of SouthWest Mission in 2008. He stayed on as Minister of SouthWest United until 2019.
SouthWest recently began a new chapter with Pastor Beryl Barraclough at the helm. There are many female worship leaders in the United Church of Canada, both ordained and lay ministers, and we have had several of them as visiting ministers at SouthWest. Perhaps that’s why we almost didn’t register the historic importance of calling Pastor Beryl. A long line of ministers stretches back over 120 years, every one of them a white man… until now.
In November 2019, we put together an exhibit of historical photos and artefacts from our 120-year history. Download the commemorative PDF booklet from that event here. See a list of Ministers over the years here.
Sources: The main sources for this brief history are written accounts found in commemorative booklets created for the 50th anniversary of Verdun United in 1949, and from the 50th anniversary of Crawford Park in 1997. Reference was also made to the writings of Serge Durflinger, historian.