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Thanks were already being extended to Mr. Chapman in January of 1949 for his "untiring efforts in the installation of the new organ". A Wurlitzer electronic-reed organ had been purchased at a cost of $4,495 and installed in the church. The console was located at floor level beside the west end of the stage, facing the congregation. The old organ pit was built up flush with the platform floor. A remote amplifier and speaker cabinet rested on a platform built above the inside vestibule door; and its output directed into the sanctuary through an opening cut through the rear wall. The newly installed instrument had a pleasing tone and its registration combinations far exceeded those of its predecessor, which was given an estimated value of ninety dollars and given to St. Marc's United Church. Wesley's organist and choir director was Allan Hundevad, a high school student and gifted musician who retained the post until September, 1949 at which time the position was filled by Mr. Leslie G. Smith. Allan Hundevad was partial to the music and service of the Anglican Church and during his short term of about a year, organized a boys' choir which with the permission of Session, applied for membership in the Royal Boys' Choir Association. He left, however, before arrangements were completed and his leaving saw the demise of the choir. Although short lived, the choir performed several times at Wesley and its members were honoured to sing at a military wedding at Ottawa's Christ Church Cathedral.

The organ account was paid in full by 1950; this at a time when besides contributing to the regu-lar expenses of the church, the congregation was giving closer attention to the Building Trust Fund which at the close of 1949 had accumulated $11,OOO. Commendable as these efforts by Wesley's congregation were, they were paltry in comparison with what it would be asked to accomplish just a few years later.

Due to Philip McCready's studies in pursuit of the ministry, he found it necessary to resign in November of 1949. His final sermon as Wesley's pastor was delivered on the Sunday before Christmas. with no minister chosen to succeed him and no prospect in sight, the Session was happy indeed that, at the close of that service, a visitor, the Rev. Major M.J.D. Carson introduced himself as a military chaplain and was successfully prevailed upon to minister to Wesley until February of the following year. He served again for a few months during 1952 following the departure of Rev. JS, McKenzie; a minister to whom the congregation looked for stability, but another pastor who stayed but a short time. Rev. McKenzie had been inducted as Wesley's full time minister to take permanent charge of the congregation on June 29, 1950 at a salary of $2,500. By December of the following year, he was on his way to another charge in Weston, Ontario. Ottawa Presbytery appointed the Rev. A. J. Love, assistant minister at Chalmers United Church, as interim moderator while Major Carson filled the pulpit and Wesley once again went shopping for a new minister. The Pulpit Supply Committee was authorized to offer a salary of $2,600 plus nine hundred dollars in lieu of a manse. Arthur J. Love was chairman of the meeting at which the authorization was granted and he answered Wesley's call himself at the above salary and free accommodation. 3

The Rev. AJ. Love came to Wesley as its minister in June, 1952; a man who was an energetic leader and a person used to being obeyed. Such a minister is what the congregation needed at the time for the decision was made - Wesley would build a new church on the adjacent property, and it would face Main Street. A sign announcing that decision was accordingly placed on the lawn.4 It read:

"THE NEW WESLEY UNITED CHURCH WILL BE ERECTED ON THIS SITE"

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VIII

The following two chapters are adapted from A. H. Halvorson's Building The New Wesley Church, with his kind permission.

The Building Trust Fund opened in 1944 with the initial donation of two dollars by Mr. and Mrs. Clark McLeod, reached a total of $2,272.87 by the end of that year and $19,111.20 by December 31, 1952. Input to the fund came by way of personal contributions, banquets, special events, bond and bank interest, stock dividends and. as might be expected, the women's organizations. Although Robert Carson, Clark McLeod and Archie McWade undertook to manage the fund at its inception, responsibility was transferred to the church treasurer in 1947.

It was at the Congregational meeting of May 1, 1951 that the church population came face to face with the reality of the beginning of the new Wesley Church project. The minister, Rev. J.S. McKenzie, explained that the meeting had been called for the purpose of bringing all pertinent data regarding the building of a new church to the congregation. Mr. Balharrie, a local architect, was on hand to comment upon the options and possibilities of a church building and presentations concerning potential growth., location and raising of funds were given by members of the Building Committee. As a means of intensi-fying interest and encouraging greater involvement in the building project, the Building Committee was expanded to include all members of Session, the Board of Trustees and the Committee of Stewards.

The architectural firm of Abra, Balharrie and Shore was asked to prepare preliminary sketches which were revealed at the annual congregational meeting of January 10, 1952. On May 12th of that year, the congregation was brought together to grant permission to build a church specifically designed to accommodate at least four hundred persons. Its design would be similar to the recently built Roseda1e Church in Montreal with the addition of a basement, church parlour and a nursery. Not unexpectedly, serious discussion took place with some doubt expressed as to the ability of the congregation to finance the building of the proposed structure. Helpful suggestions from the architect pointed out ways in which costs might be cut and attention was given to such things as the maximum number of Sunday School students and the largest number to whom Communion had been served on a Sunday, compared to the proposed capacity. Eventually, the Wallace-Thompson motion for construction of the new church as described was carried by majority vote and the Rev. A. J. Love, chairman of the meeting. expressed his feeling that Wesley must build. not for the glory of the congregation, but for the glory of God and therefore, all pessimism must be avoided.

Slides of what was to be the new church were shown to the congregation on September 8, 1952. They included views of the exterior, the grooud floor plan, basement and balcony. The draft of an explanatory brochure was also presented and ratification of the plans was duly moved. seconded and carried.

The decision to build was complete. The plans and specifications were accepted and the one most important item now facing the Building Committee was how and where to raise the necessary money. After considering several options, it was agreed to hire a professional fund raising firm. On November 20, 1952, an agreement was reached with the Wells Organization of Canada, Ltd. to engage in a

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fund raising canvass for an amount in excess of $60,000. between January 5, 1953 and February 14, 1953. The cost of the service was to be $3,000. plus operating expenses, (clerical, postage, telephone, printing, etc.) estimated at not more than $1,500. Wells representative, Richard Sears, became supervisor of the canvass operation and an office was established in the church basement with a telephone and a clerk - typist in the person of Verna Strindlund.

A structured canvass organization was formed of church members and officials who were trained so that each person knew his or her specific responsibilities and how to cany them out in order to ensure success. 1 The canvass as a project in itself had an overall theme:

Faith - in the need and in our ability to meet the need

Prayer - the collective and individual prayers of all our members and friends.

Sacrifice - of our time, our funds, our talents and our ideas.

This was the basis of the plan and it recognized the fact that to be involved in the building of a church is a privilege extended to relatively few in the total population of the Christian Church.

Expectations and goals remained high throughout the canvass period which involved many meet-ings, a Loyalty Dinner for all church members and an intense visitation program carried out by the teams of canvassers having first made their own sacrificial pledges. A standard of giving formula of one dollar per week for each thousand dollars of annual income was suggested, lasting for 150 weeks. Six weeks of concerted effort resulted in unqualified success and at the conclusion of the canvass, announcement of its success was made at the Sunday morning service where a pleased congregation stood and heard a re-corded performance of the stirring Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah.

Possession of the required signed pledges gave the Building Committee the opportunity to seek funds from some willing financial institution. However, it was only after several unsuccessful attempts that the Bank of Nova Scotia was approached and persuaded that the Wesley congregation was a dependable risk. The bank agreed to make available financing up to $60,000, given the signatures of twelve members of the congregation. The signatures were obtained and following a reduction in the size of the Building Committee in February of 1953, it moved swiftly towards construction.2

The architect was authorized to call for tenders which were opened March 30th and the lowest one accepted. The successful bid was submitted by F .E. Cummings Construction Company, Ltd. in the amount of $89,272. The contractor was notified of his success on April 12th and the committee chairman purchased a spade which was plated and used by Mr. Clark McLeod to turn the first sod at a ceremony on Sunday, May 3, 1953. In attendance with the regular congregation and the choir, attired in their white collared black gowns, were invited clergy: the Rev. John Macaskill, Chairman of Presbytery and the Rev. Drs.Coburn, Norman Coll and Milliken. 3

Next morning, a power shovel began digging and construction of the new building was under way. At the same time, Rev. Love showed up to record the first bite of the shovel on movie film and by the time the church was completed, he had compiled a comprehensive filmed account of the highlights of

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construction. As a personal physical contribution to the project, the minister mounted a scaffold and laid the final brick atop the chimney.

The corner stone was laid on Sunday, August 9. 1953. It was laid by Mrs. Clark McLeod in place of Mr. McLeod who, because of illness, was unable to accept the honour. Beneath the new corner stone was placed a stone taken from the foundation of the old church. Chiselled into that stone was the inscription "1908" in recollection of the founding of the Wesley congregation. The older stone was prepared by George Chapman and laid by Robert Carson. the church's longest serving member at the time. The outdoor service, held at the southeast corner of the partially completed building, was impressive and well attended. Many people not connected with the church observed the proceedings from across Main Street and the Lees Avenue intersection. They saw and heard the smartly uniformed band of the Salva-tion Army Slater Street Citadel perform for the occasion and the choir, standing where the steps approaching the front doors would later be. Others taking active part in the ceremony besides the assembled congregation. were the Rev. Robert MacLauchlin of the United Church Ministerial Associ-ation, the Rev. Ralph D. Wright, Council of Churches; the Rev. Charles Donald of Southminster United Church; Wesley's Rev. Love and Messrs. Weldon Carson. Ted Clark. George Chapman and Fred Waterman. A 4"x 4" x 12" copper box containing lists of the names of original Trustees and current church officials, copies of Ottawa newspapers, a copy of the United Church Observer, first insurance policy and sundry other relevant papers pressed into a wax-sealed package by Mr. Chapman was placed into a pre-pared recess within the new corner stone.

The Ottawa Presbytery arranged a $10,000. loan on Wesley's behalf, and the first installment of $5,000 was received in October as the Committee considered the purchase of pews and a Communion table. Globe Furniture Company of Waterloo was given the order for nave and chancel pews; cupholders and bookracks at a cost of $5,835. A separate order was made for a Communion table which was later received as a memorial gift from Miss Elaine Love in honour of her parents, Rev. and Mrs. A. J. Love. Lighting fixtures were chosen following visits to several churches. Enclosed, flat-lensed square box units similar to those seen in the contemporary Canadian Martyrs Church on Main Street at Evelyn Avenue. were installed. The balcony was furnished with suitable pews taken from the old church, thus maintain-ing a visible link with the first building.

Grey vinyl roll flooring was chosen for the nave and the same in red for the chancel. A gift from Harry Hayley & Sons, Ltd., (a now defunct manufacturer of concrete products) of cast stone steps re-placed the originally specified brick steps rising to the chancel. Golden yellow tile was laid in the vestry, parlour and basement hall. A used desk and tilting chair were donated by H. H. Popham & Co.. Ltd. and placed in the vestry, while a 10 - burner propane range was installed in the kitchen.

Unassembled pews which were cut, fitted and installed by the manufacturers representatives, ar-rived on February 5, 1954. Two hundred nesting chairs were received shortly thereafter, and with an ambitious collection of volunteers scrubbing, dusting and polishing the new church building was mad ready for the official opening services on February 28, 1854.

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IX

Forty-five years after its founding, the Wesley congregation dedicated its second church building. The president of Conference, the Rev. C. Ferguson conducted the service which as in 1909, was attended by a congregation that filled the church and this time overflowed into the basement hall where the proceedings were heard via a public address system provided and temporarily set up by Mr. Fred Green. The processional hymn, "The Church's One Foundation", was preceded by the singing of "All People That on Earth Do Dwell" to the familiar Doxology tune: "Old One Hundredth", to begin the service. With the choir members robed in their new maroon gowns and those assisting Rev. Ferguson in their places, the church keys were presented by the builder, Mr. F .E. Cummings, to Mr. T.A Clark. Chairman of the Building Committee. Mr. Clark, in turn., delivered them to the President of Conference with the request that the church be dedicated:

"In token that this building has been erected for the United Church of Canada, I deliver to you the keys thereof and pray you now to dedicate it to the worship of Almighty God. "

Appropriate prayer, the reading of Scripture by the minister, the Act of Dedication, presentation and dedication of offering plates, choir anthems and a solo by Mr. T.I. Davies, the sermon delivered by Rev. Ferguson and benediction by Rev. Love, comprised the first service of worship to be held in the present church building. The same evening, another overflow congregation heard Rev. Ferguson preach a sermon entitled "The Power of Growth".

Gifts for use in the new church were received from several sources to whom the Session returned letters of appreciation. The Women's Association was given formal thanks for providing the opening dinner. Thanks were also extended to Mr. Green for the P.A system, the choir director, Lt. Col. C.A McRory and the organist, Mr. William Keizer, to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hill for entertaining the Rev. and Mrs. Ferguson and to Mr. Austin Cross, well known local journalist and broadcaster, for his supportive newspaper (Ottawa Citizen) and radio articles. .

The Building Committee was dissolved in 1954. At that time, all bills for the construction of the building had been paid. The total cost had reached $103,252.55. To enable repayment of funds supplied by the Bank of Nova 8Gotia; it was decided in late 1956 to arrange a $20;000. mortgage. The mortgage was placed by the Canada Permanent Mortgage Corporation effective April 1, 1957, and final payment of $18,000. was given the bank on July 10th. A sub-committee of the Committee of Stewards (the Mort-gage Retirement Committee) advised the Trustees on April 2, 1962 that sufficient funds totalling $10,089.46 were available to discharge the mortgage. The sum was promptly paid and the church freed from debt.

Wesley's third mortgage burning service was held October 23, 1962. It took the form of a congregational dinner with the minister, the Rev. Dr. H.W. Pointen - presiding. The Rev. Arthur Waite, president of the Montreal and Ottawa Conference; the Rev. R.L. Bacon, chairman of Ottawa Presbytery and Lt. Col. the Rev. M.J. D. Carson, Assistant Chaplain General, participated in the service and brought greetings to the Wesley congregation. The retired Rev. A. J. Love recounted his personal recollections of the building of the new church and screened his filmed record of construction. At its conclusion, he