In response to God’s call, Norval United Church (NUC) is committed to welcoming and celebrating people of all ages, genders, gender identities, gender expressions, racialized groups, sexual orientations, family configurations, abilities, ethnic backgrounds, and economic circumstances, into full participation in the life and work of NUC.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, we strive to:
· create a safe, respectful, and welcoming community
· celebrate the gifts of one another
· receive with gratitude the leadership, service, and ministry of one another
· celebrate and honour the life passages of all (births, baptisms, confirmation, weddings, blessings, healing, death, and dying)
· continue our discovery of what it means to be an inclusive community
· challenge ourselves to grow toward greater inclusion and justice seeking for all people
Our Story
Around 1850 James Forster invited local Methodists to meet regularly in his Norval home. The numbers grew until they had to start meeting in the village schoolhouse.
A friend of the Forster’s was James Gooderham, brother to William Gooderham of distillery fame. James wanted nothing to do with the family business and, for a time, was in training to become a Methodist minister.
James Gooderham paid 5 Shillings for the land, where the old church now sits, and laid the cornerstone for that first Methodist church. It was completed in 1853.
The old church, still standing in Norval, was erected in 1889 at a cost of $4,000.
Through the years Norval has been part of different Pastoral Charges and has been affiliated with Huttonville, Home, Churchville, Glen Williams, and Mount Pleasant United Churches.
In the early 1990’s the congregation began to grow and began to reach out to the community with a variety or programs and services for children, youth and adults.
In 2000 two lots beside the church were purchased – the House Next Door was used for church programming and housed the church office, while the other house was rented out. We began to look to the future.
In December 2006 Norval United gratefully received a donation of 5 acres of land at Mississauga Road and Bovaird Drive by Jack and Mary Crawford and Don and Carolyn Crawford. That gift, much prayer and much planning turned into the land in Georgetown South where our new church stands, completed in November 2019.
We are excited about the potential to continue to reach out to our community, to offer programs, services and physical space for individuals, groups and agencies in a large, bright, welcoming new church building. We continue be followers of Jesus. We continue to be Norval United Church.
