History

A Church for Montgomery Place

In the beginning…

This is the day that God has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

In 1956 young veterans and their families sought a place to worship in their new community of Montgomery Place. Montgomery School had opened that year, and soon families were meeting in the school auditorium on Sunday mornings. These young men and women were thankful to have survived the Second World War and were grateful for peace. They wanted their children to grow and flourish, secure in a warm and caring community church.

A veteran, Joe Kiss, suggested the name Trinity after seeing the stark remains of a bombed Trinity church in Europe. He thought veterans could honour the ashes of a far-off Trinity by naming the new congregation Trinity United Church.

Seven years later, on April 7, 1963, the sod was turned for a church building at the corner of Rockingham Avenue and Merritt Street. The new building was dedicated on October 20 that same year. Many hands made light work as volunteers assisted the construction company, creating a warm and welcoming church interior.

For years, Sunday School classes filled the lower hall as parents worshipped upstairs. Youth groups and mid-week groups flourished. The children born during wartime and after the war grew up in Montgomery Place community where all parents looked out for all children. Roads were gravelled and shared with vehicles. In the early years, the milkman delivered milk in a horse-drawn wagon. Families kept geese, turkeys and hens in backyard pens. Children awoke to roosters crowing in the morning.

Times changed and with the sixties came an air raid siren atop the school roof. Classes drilled disaster plans as fears of nuclear war escalated around the world. Trinity United Church remained a steadfast support to the growing families of Montgomery Place. More and more families from outside the area found a faith community in the small Montgomery church.

A Changing Church

The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

An elevator was installed in 1995. The church hosted friends from near and far as Montgomery Place celebrated 50 years with a reunion in 1996 and another for the 60th anniversary of the community in 2006.

In 2008 St. David’s United Church in the King George area closed its doors and amalgamated with Trinity becoming St. David’s Trinity United Church, welcoming people from around the city and the surrounding rural area.

Today, after almost 60 years, St. David’s Trinity United Church remains at the heart of the Montgomery Place community and Saskatoon’s southwest neighbourhoods. Newcomers and long-time friends are all warmly met.

Trinity United Church 40th Anniversary History Book

50th Anniversary of the Building of Trinity United Church Written by Joey Kiss