Grace United Church

Grace United Church stands on the north-east corner of Main Street North and Church Street in downtown Brampton, a Gothic Revival church of buff and red brick with a bell tower. It was built for a Wesleyan Methodist congregation, which the church dates to 1822, when its members met in a log meeting house beside Salisbury’s Tavern. The city’s walking-tour guide records that the present lot was bought on 23 December 1865 and that the church, built by the local mason Jesse Perry, opened in 1867; it was enlarged in 1870, 1887, 1924 and 1959-60, the 1887 work adding the north and south wings and the wraparound gallery.

Since 2009 the parts of the building outside the sanctuary have housed Grace Place, a community resource centre where other organizations offer their services. The congregation calls itself ‘the church with a heart, in the heart of the city’.

Sunday worship is at half past ten, in the sanctuary and online.

What to expect

Doors open at ten for the half past ten service, which is led by the Praise Team, with a sermon; the congregation says it praises God 'through a variety of music, prayer and drama'. Nursery care is provided for children from birth to three years, with church-school classes for older children and youth, and coffee and conversation follow at 11:30. There is limited parking on site and on the surrounding streets; the church is steps from VIA Rail, GO Train and Brampton Transit.

What United Church members believe and how they worship