Additional Information about the Old Hay Bay Church in Adolphustown

March, 2016

It has long been called “The Cradle of Methodism in Upper Canada” for its precedence, and as the centre of the first and largest circuit in the province. The Bay of Quinte circuit reached a peak of 966 members in 1826. Since 1860, the building has had no congregation or appointed minister.

To give some idea of the church as a tourist attraction, in 1997 we had 1500 visitors—a lower number than usual—in the 101 days we were open. Two-thirds came from Ontario, while others came from six other provinces, 20 states, and thirteen other countries including Great Britain, Australia, China, Ukraine, Holland, Norway, Finland, Italy, Germany and Nigeria.

Its history can be summarized thus:

1791 – Rev. William Losee organizes first circuit in Upper Canada.

1792 – Subscription list commits twenty-two persons to build a “Meeting-house or Church for the more convenient assembling of ourselves together for social worship before the Lord.” Size: 36′ x 30′.

1805 – First Canadian camp meeting held in Adolphustown. Mississauga Indians first attend in 1826.

1819 – Tragic drowning of ten youths crossing Hay Bay for Sunday services.

1835 – The church enlarged to its present size, 36′ x 45′.

1860 – Church abandoned; congregation builds new church a few km. away, now known as Adolphustown United Church.

1867 – Sold for $50 to farmer who uses it for grain and implement storage.

1910 – General Conference of the Methodist Church meeting in Victoria, BC, agrees to repurchase the church as an historic site. (This G.C. also voted in favour of Church Union.)

1911-12 – Minimally restored, crowds attend re-opening, addressed by Dr. Albert Carman, General Superintendent of the Methodist Church; Dr. Nathaniel Burwash, Chancellor of Victoria University, and others.

1942 – General Council of The United Church of Canada, meeting in Belleville, travels to Hay Bay for service marking 150th anniversary. Moderator Dr. J.R.P. Sclater speaks.

1947 – Annual Pilgrimage Service inaugurated; the Very Rev. Jesse Arnup preaches.

1957 – Historic plaque erected by Archaeological & Historic Sites Board of Ontario.

1992 – Bicentennial celebrations. Dr. Charles Yrigoyen, of the General Commission on Archives & History, United Methodist Church, U.S.A., speaks and unveils their marker (see below).

2000 – Declared a National Historic Site by The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.

The Old Hay Bay Church is:

– the first Methodist church erected west of the maritimes, and the first in Upper Canada. Although Methodists erected a few meetinghouses in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (and possibly in Newfoundland) before 1792, none remain. Another meetinghouse was begun in nearby Ernestown township in 1792, but was never finished.

– the oldest building belonging to the United Church of Canada.

– the second oldest church building still standing in Ontario. Her Majesty’s Chapel of the Mohawks at Brantford was built in 1785.

– the site of the first Camp Meeting held in Canada, in 1805.

– the oldest extant “foreign mission” building of American Methodism, and the only Canadian site on the Register of Heritage Sites of the United Methodist Church (U.S.A.)