Giles Boulevard United Church

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• I think it is a beautiful church, although that bright blue door is unfortunate.

  My family attended Giles for years. My parents were married there in 1950 and I was Christened there a few years later. When my own children were very young, their babysitter took them to St. Mary's Learning Centre, which operates in that new addition and in the lower level of the main building. I forget when it closed as a church. Was in in the 90s sometime?

• i think it's beautiful too. Growing up in the area and having freinds living near by, i spent a lot of time running across the lawn and thinking it looked neat, but that's it. it seems like it's had quite alot of bricks replaced on the upper reaches over the years.
  i also remember someone years ago......a grandma/grandpa type figure....telling me of a real bad car accident that ended up on the front lawn of the church on the corner, and if i remember right, a little girl was killed in the process. i don't think she was in either vehicle, she may have been on the sidewalk.

  as a side note...did anyone notice the telephone poles in the alley switched sides?
  would that happen to accomidate the new extention of the church?

  thanks for the post Andrew!

• Isn't it Giles Blvd?

  I always liked this church as well.

• Yup.

• wasn't there supposed to be a post today? am i getting the post-dates mixed up?

• I was born the year that this brochure went out and attended sunday school in the new addition. Our family attended from the late 20's til the church closed in the 90's. I was also married here and have some lovely wedding pics of the interior and exterior at the time. Wish I could zoom in on the photos to see if I could recognize some of the people.

• Any idea where the records went? Baptisms, marriages etc.

• I pass this every day on my way to work, and I've noticed the roof is just disintegrating; there are holes in it, or will be soon. I can only imagine what that is doing to the interior. The sad thing is that even if a group was able to purchase the building the cost of repairs would probably be beyond their means.

  BTW, this style of church is called a Dayton, with the tower/entrance in the corner--very popular with Methodist churches in the US. As the United Church was formed from Presbyterian and Methodist churches, I'm betting this was formerly (pre-United Church days) a Methodist church.

• Hello ,

  I am the Ex Director of St.Mary`s Family Learning Centre and we have been in the former Giles United Church since 1986 ...we are a non profit charitable organization providing parenting /early years / speech and language /infant hearing /blind low vision programmes for familes with pre-school children in windsor and essex county . The church building provides the community with a warm welcoming space and we have an excellent reputation in the local and provincial area for providing quality services . The roof will be replaced this summer as well as landscaping around the building . Funds are scarce but we have done our best over the years to maintain . However an old building has its challenges (acessibilty /lack of parking /heating /cooling costs ...the list goes on . I invite anyone to come along and see what goes on in this space ...check our website http://www.smflc.ca
  Best Regards Linda Edwards

• My grandparents attended Giles Blvd United possibly from the 1920's. They lived on Moy Ave from 1922. My parents were married there in 1940. I was baptized there in 1942 and my sister in 1946. I now live in California and am happy to see this site. I well remember attending services in the church as a child (my father was gone to war and I spent lots of time with my grandparents). At a certain point in the service (before the sermon) children were called to the front of the sanctuary and lead to the small wooden building on the side street to attend Sunday school. Fabric curtains were pulled across to separate the various classes for lessons. We sang hymns as a group and often they would sing "I'm going to let my little light shine" and one verse would include "all over Detroit" for my sister and me. We received a paper stamp for attendance and my collection was kept at my grandparents. I am sorry to read it is no longer there.