Our History

original church cornerstone

The original cornerstone of the Richview Methodist Church 1888

Richview United Church has a history deeply set in the Methodist tradition. There have been several building sites over the last 180 years, the first site dating back to 1829 when the first Primitive Methodist meetings were held in a small building on land owned by Joseph Stonehouse.

In 1853, Union Chapel and Memorial Cemetery were built on the corner of what are now Eglinton Avenue and Highway 427. In 1888, Richview Methodist Church was build on the same site. Richview became a congregation of the United Church of Canada on June 10, 1925 at the time of church Union.

The Richview Methodist Church had to be demolished due to highway construction, but the cemetery still remains. The sod was turned May 1961 for the our current building that we know now.

The cornerstone of the Richview Methodist building is incorporated into the wall of the front entrance.

Richview is known to the congregation as well as to the community as the Church of Praying Hands because of the unique pitch of the roof.