Winona Gospel Church began in the early part of the 20th century under the name of Winona Gospel Tabernacle. It was located near the present-day building, which was opened in 1963.
The church is an evangelical Christian church, which proclaims the Gospel of Jesus and salvation through the redemptive work of Christ.
Regular services are held on Sunday mornings at 10:30 am. The service and music are contemporary and upbeat. There is a strong regular attendance with a good representation of most age groups, young and old. The church also host a number of other programs including AWANA, VBS, youth-group, and bible studies. They frequently host special events to strengthen families, encourage believers, and to reach out to unbelievers. With a commercial-sized kitchen and expertise, they excel at hosting dinners and regularly provide hot meals at their events.
The following is taken (with adaptations) from "A Detailed History" page on the Winona Gospel Church page (
visit link)
The legacy of Winona Gospel church started in 1893 when Mrs. J.W. Smith, with the help of Mrs. Samson Dean, started a Sunday School program for the children of the factory and farm workers of the E.D. Smith farms. (Mrs. J.W. Smith was not related to E.D. Smith).
Somewhere around 1908, Mr. McNamara, the rector of St. John’s Church in Winona, asked Mrs. Smith to unite the Sunday school that he had been running out of the E.D. Smith boarding house with the one that she was running from her home. This seemed like a good solution to both parties because Mr. McNamara had to leave in 1908, so the merged Sunday School continued.
Senator E.D. Smith decided that it would be appropriate to donate a lot on Glover Road for religious purposes, on which the original Church building was built. The original deed came with three conditions: One, that there was to be a service held continuously every week, Two, that there was to be a drive shed for horses and buggies maintained at the back, and, Three, if the congregation ceases to exist, Senator Smith was to have the first right to buy the property back. These conditions no longer exist, although the drive shed stayed up for many years.
The property was donated on May 30th, 1914 and the first official meeting of the church to be known as Winona Gospel Tabernacle was held on August 14th. The church building had cost Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Smith two thousand dollars and was officially opened on August 30th, 1914 with Pastor Philpott from Philpott Tabernacle as guest speaker.On October 25th, 1914, there were 26 people that expressed their desire to unite together and form the membership of Winona Gospel Tabernacle.
On November 14th, 1917, the Church was made a branch of the Philpott Tabernacle and adopted their constitution. That constituted a formally organized church.
On March 21, 1919, plans were made to accommodate the growing congregation by building on the original farm building and adding a wing and porch to the South side. At the Sunday afternoon opening service, the offering received fully paid for the $1500 additions.
In on November 15th 1922, Winona Gospel Tabernacle became associated with other churches of like faith at a conference at Philpott Tabernacle. The group that formed that day was The Associated Independent Gospel Churches of Canada, known now as the Associated Gospel Churches or AGC. The original charter members of the Associated Gospel Churches were Philpott Tabernacle, West Hamilton Mission, Lake Church, Missionary Tabernacle in Toronto and Winona Gospel Tabernacle.
In 1937, at a cost of $1500, the original building and the wing was raised up to build a basement and about 15 young men went to work filling trucks from Mr. Harry DePey. He would leave one truck to be filled and then take it away and have another truck ready to fill so that the men were kept on the go all the time. About 300 cubic yards of hard red clay were removed from under the building by men with only pick and shovel. The block work was laid, the floor poured and a used furnace put in. The furnace cost $75 and satisfied the buildings heating needs for a while. Also during these renovations, a new entrance was put on the church which enhanced the buildings appearance.
On June 4th, 1940, the name of the church was changed from Winona Gospel Tabernacle to Winona Gospel Church.
In 1946 the church membership was 58 and the total yearly offerings were $3834. 1946 was the first year that a pastor was paid a salary. Previous to this time, the pastors received the loose offerings from Sunday to Sunday.
The church was growing with an average Sunday school attendance of 239, so on June 24th, 1959, more property was purchased from E.D. Smith on the north side. With growth continuing in 1961, a building program was started that eventually removed all of the previous buildings and replaced them with a church planned for use and convenience. On July 1st, 1961, the Parsonage was sold and removed, with plans to do the same with the other building once the new building was in place. The old buildings were sold and removed and in fact, the old church frame stood on Glover Road about a quarter mile from the present church.
The building commenced on October 1st, 1962 and was a long process with a huge amount of materials and labour going into the church. Once the building was finished, there was a work day where members of the congregation came to finish up the work and make things look complete. Everything was completed on April 7th, 1963 with the laying of the Cornerstone, only six months after the building had commenced. The official dedication service of the new Winona Gospel Church was held on June 23rd, 1963.
Our history is a foundation for the present and future of this church. We cannot rest on it but must build on it through the power of the Holy Spirit and because of the Love of our Lord Jesus Christ.