About Us
Our Minister
Minister Evelyn McLachlan
Evelyn McLachlan, Minister
emclachlan@edenunitedchurch.com
Evelyn's enthusiasm for ministry is one of her greatest attributes! She LOVES being in ministry and especially with this rich and diverse congregation. She graduated with a B.A. in Drama & English from the University of Windsor in 1980 and eventually accepted God's call into ministry and received her M.Div. from Queen's Theological College.
She was ordained in 1987 and served the 5-point pastoral charge of Eastern Guysborough in Nova Scotia; and was then called to serve the 3-point Dunwich Pastoral Charge in Dutton, Ontario.
In 1998 Evelyn was called to Parker Street United Church in Sarnia, Ontario and then was called to shared ministry with the Eden congregation in November 2002.
Evelyn loves sharing in worship, singing in the choir, being the resource person for C.E. and Membership & Pastoral Care, helping to co-ordinate VBS, facilitating Laugh and Learn, working with Youth Reach and lending a hand whenever and wherever she can.
Evelyn was raised in Timmins, Ontario and has 4 brothers and 1 sister as well as in-laws and a gaggle of nieces and nephews (13 in total) and 7 great ones as well!
Evelyn was blessed to be married later in life when she met her husband, Earle Laycock. Earle is a member with another United Church but attends and helps out at Eden when he can. Earle is a computer software engineer and came with two grown sons (David married to Jenny, living in Milton; and Alan who is currently working in Germany ) and a cat Squeaky! Evelyn still enjoys reading, sharing a cup of tea with friends, watching movies, cooking, cross-stitch, theatre and pampering Earle!
Richard Cunningham, Music Director
rcunningham@edenunitedchurch.com
Richard Cunningham has had a lengthy career in music as a singer, a teacher and an artistic director doing both administrative and conducting duties.
Richard studied at the University of Toronto and received a grant from the Canada Council of the Arts to study in England with Timothy Penrose and James Bowman. While in England, Richard sang with the choirs of Winchester Cathedral and St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, and with Trevor Pinnock’s English Concert and Andrew Parrott’s Taverner Consort.
As a countertenor soloist, Richard has performed in Sweden, Holland, Germany, Great Britain, France, Bulgaria and across the United States and Canada. His repertoire includes baroque oratorios, cantatas and passions. He also loves to perform the music of living composers. As a chorister, Richard has performed with the Elora Festival Singers, Tafelmusik Chamber Choir in Toronto, Québec’s Les Violons du Roy & La Chappelle de Québec, and many other smaller organizations.
As a man of faith, Richard also is happy when he is conducting his church choir at Eden United Church in Mississauga. He has been at Eden since August of 2010 after a number of years in Guelph and previously in Brantford and Hamilton. At Eden, Richard has started to work with a handbell choir and is really enjoying that new aspect to his career.
Richard teaches voice at McMaster University, and has had the pleasure of seeing many of his students from there and elsewhere go on into careers in performing music. Mentoring is a very important thing for him, and Richard loves to hire young soloists for performances with the Grand River Chorus, which he conducts in Brantford, Ontario. This love of mentoring encourages Richard to sing often for his friend Ron Beckett and Ron’s Arcady ensemble which is designed to combine singers of substantial experience with young singers who are striving to begin their careers.