About Eden

A Brief History of Eden United Church

In 1824 a group of Methodist families from County Tipperary Ireland settled on a grant of land on the Meadowvale side road (Now Winston Churchill Blvd and Derry Rd) Toronto Township in Peel County.  Their family names included: Mason, Switzer, Rutledge, May, Orr, Sparling and Cordingly,  

  This was the time of the Methodist saddlebag preachers or circuit riders, who travelled on horseback to hold church meetings in settler’s homes.  

 These meetings were held in a schoolhouse that stood on a plot of land between Arvida and Derry Rd. In 1845 John Switzer sold a piece for 5 pounds to the Methodist Church on what is now the corner of Shelter Bay and Derry Rd.The settlers built a small wooden church that became known as Switzer’s Church.  The hamlet surrounding the church was called Switzer’s corners until 1871 when it was changed to Lisgar in honour of Governor General, John Lisgar.  The church and cemetery remained there until 1869 when a larger brick church was built across the road on Isaac Waite’s farm.  

The name Eden was suggested by a circuit rider, because the fertile farm land reminded him of the Garden of Eden.

December, 1908, a fire destroyed the upper part of the church. Services were held in a blacksmith shop owned by the Masons until the church was restored.

Then in 1923 a tornado struck the church and blew away the roof and end wall.

Eden Methodist‘s congregation voted for church union in 1925 and was renamed Eden United Church.

During the 1960’s, attendance dwindled as many of the original families moved into the cities. As part of its development of Meadowvale West community,  Markborough Properties bought the church in 1973.  The Eden congregation decided to be a part of a shared facility with Lutheran, Presbyterian and Anglican Congregations called the Meadowvale West Church campus located near the new Meadowvale Town Centre.  On Good Friday, April 4, 1980 the Eden congregation held its final service in the old church. In a torch lit procession they walked to their new church where on Easter morning the congregation was reborn.

The red brick church built from clay and timber from Isaac Waite's farm was torn down later that year, leaving only the Cemetery to remember our pioneers.

For the next ten years the new Eden Church prospered and soon outgrew its location.

Land was bought at the new site on the corner of Battleford and Winston Churchill Blvd. in 1986. Once again Eden had to move - this time to a "temporary" location in the Cafeteria at Meadowvale Secondary School .After many delays and setbacks the new church at long last opened August 27, 1989.