1667 Housey"s Rapids Road
1667 Housey"s Rapids Road
The Free Methodist church in Ryde Township was started in 1882 by two ladies. Meetings were held in a school house south of the present location and later at Brace’s General store in the village.
The first church (across from the present location) was built in the summer of 1892 and is now a private home.
The parsonage was built under Rev. Emerson Snider who was the pastor and also a carpenter. Mrs. Snider collected the necessary funds and the church officials co-operated with their teams of horses. The lot had to be cleared of logs and stumps, the cellar dug and lumber brought from Bracebridge. To complete the work, Mrs. Snider sawed the boards while her husband did the fitting and nailing.
In 1977 the new and present church was built to keep up with the needs of the community. Dedication of the current building was done on Sunday, September 10, 1978 still under the name of Housey’s Rapids Free Methodist Church. In 1979, 100 years after the founding of Ryde Township, the name was changed to Ryde Centennial Free Methodist Church.
On November 2, 1998, the antique school bell which had previously called children to the Sunny Brae School in Housey’s Rapids (1901-1962) was hoisted into its new position on the church.
As of 2013 Rev. Sterling Cooper, a member of one of our pioneer families, continued with the longest period of service as pastor of this church. He has since retired in 2017 and resides in the community. There is a weekly service.