Brookfield Presbyterian Charge includes the Brookfield, Glasgow Road, and Hunter River Churches of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.

Located in beautiful, rural Prince Edward Island, our Spirit-filled Charge continues to work hard and is committed to growth.  Our faith journey together is one in which we seek, discover, and act on God’s yearning for us as His Church.

Within our congregations, we enjoy a wide variety of ages and family groupings.  We are congregations with many talents and abilities and would like to welcome you to come discover and use your gifts within God’s family.

Our three congregations are very active and continue to work together on various projects, programs, inter-generational services, national Church activities, church committees and groups – working together has encouraged spiritual growth and fellowship among our people and community.

Each of our three churches have been around for over a hundred years, but we are just new to the web – so please be patient with us as we build our site.  You are more than welcome to come and learn about us in person!!

Brookfield Presbyterian Church History

Records indicate that Brookfield was named by Alexander Sutherland who was pastor of a church here in 1855. The first minister inducted into the Brookfield Presbyterian Church was Rev. William Ross in 1860. The present building was dedicated to the Glory of God on August 4, 1895. It was moved to its present site in October 1997 from near the corner. At that time the church hall was built complete with kitchen, wash rooms and space for Sunday School and a community hall.

The original land was donated by Thomas William Johnston and additional land was donated in 1997 by the Bert Dykerman family.

The present church building was built by the Schurman, Clark & Company. In 1997 the church was moved by PD Construction and the new portion was built by D&C Construction with Wayne Houston doing plumbing and Don MacLeod the wiring.

In the early years the congregation was bilingual with Gaelic and English. In 1895 the pews were purchased by families but were deemed free in 1921.

The pump organ which is still used by times, was presented in the early 1900’s by Donald E. and Neil Campbell. Prior to that psalms and hymns were started by a presenter. There is now a keyboard which was purchased by the congregation in 1999. Electricity was introduced in 1939 and in 1957 the furnace was converted to burn oil.

There is a gaelic bible dated 1872 a King James version with Rev. George Millar’s name 1895 – 1907, another presented by Mr. and Mrs. C.A. Hyndman 1900, and the present pulpit bible was donated in 1955 by Mr. and Mrs. Brenton Dollar.

The church is well equipped with a TV, VCR, Overhead projector and screen also a sound system, infloor heating and a hot air furnace. The Brookfield church has been associated with various other churches throughout its history. At present the Pastoral Charge is comprised of Brookfield, Hunter River and Glasgow Road.

Some of the extra activities that the church congregation has taken part in are Vacation Bible School and is hosted every third year in rotation with Hunter River and Glasgow Road. The world’s Day of Prayer is hosted every five years.

The mission group has functioned consistently since 1910 and in conjunction with three other churches hosted the Atlantic Mission Society’s 128th Annual Meeting in September, 2004, the first time in recent history that a rural pastorate had hosted the annual meeting.

Pastoral Charge Services are hosted on special occasions such as Christmas Eve, Easter Sunday and in January, 2005, for a Tsunami Relief Fundraiser. The most recent event was the hosting of Karuna Roy, a speaker from North India. A.M.S. Sunday School and youth Group meet on a regular basis. Bible Studies for the three congregations are also held.

Hunter River Presbyterian Church History

The Hunter River Presbyterian Church Congregation was formed and became part of the Brookfield, Hunter River and New Glasgow Charge in 1886.  The Congregation met at various places within the Community until the present church was built in 1889.  The church was officially opened in January 22, 1890.  The church hall was constructed in 1979 – 1980.

At present there are approximately 30 families in the Congregation.  Most of these families live within the surrounding area, however some people although living outside the area, continue to attend the church where they attended while growing up in the community.

The members and adherents of our Congregation are business owners, professionals, skilled laborers, retired persons and students.

Over the years there have been a number of groups associated with our church:  Sunday School, Nursery School. Atlantic Mission Society and Church Choir.  We also have Vacation Bible School and Bible Study which are a joint group with the other two churches in the charge.  (Brookfield and Glasgow Road).

The church is well maintained by an active Board of Managers. The building is well equipped with a sound system, television, VCR, over-head projector, organ and electronic keyboard.

Music, and in particular church choir has always been important to our worship.  We have an active choir under the leadership of  our organist, Carolyn Bertram.  During special services (joint with the other two churches) we often have a joint choir with choir members from the three churches taking part.

The session of the three churches meet regularly as a joint session.  This encourages us to work together as a  charge while still allowing us to function as three separate and distinct churches.  We usually meet several times annually for joint services which more recently have been held at the Brookfield Church which is the largest of the three churches.  These services include Christmas Eve, Easter and other special services.

Our church is supported by donations from our congregation which include two fundraising events annually.   One of these events is held the  last Saturday in May, each year a lobster and ham take out dinners. They are presold and delivered to the door in the surrounding Communities.  This is a very successful event we have served as many as 850 dinners.  This is one time annually where the Congregation comes together and works very hard, but thoroughly enjoys it.  The other even usually held in the fall varies from a supper to a concert to a fashion show.  Out church is supportive of missions and also supports our Church Camp (Camp Keir) annually.

For a detailed history, click here

Glasgow Road Presbyterian Church History

The Glasgow Road Presbyterian Church is located on the Glasgow Road, Route 224, in the rural community of Ebenezer. The congregation is made up of 60 communicant members from 28 households, coming from Ebenezer, Wheatley River, Oyster Bed Bridge, Brackley Beach and North River. The people of our church are mainly farmers, business owners, skilled labourers, professionals and homemakers. There are a number of retired persons and students active in the church as well.

The history of the Glasgow Road Presbyterian Church actually began in the early 1800′s with people meeting in homes in the Rustico Portage area. The first church was located adjacent to the Portage Cemetery in Brackley Beach. Although Portage Cemetery is considered a community and non-denominational cemetery it is still owned by the Glasgow Road Church. When the second church was built the location was changed to the present site on Glasgow Road. It was completed in 1876. The first service in the present structure was held in 1899. In 1983 a hall was added to the church and in 1993 a further addition added a bathroom and kitchen.

In the beginning, when the people met in homes, the services and prayer meetings were conducted by the Rev. Donald McDonald, a Church of Scotland minister. The congregation remained Church of Scotland until 1934 when a loose alliance was formed with the Brookfield Charge of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. In 1938 Glasgow Road officially became a member, along with Brookfield, Hunter River and Hartsville. Hartsville withdrew in 1981.

Over the years the ministry has been provided by ordained ministers, ordained missionaries, lay ministers and student ministers. In the fall of 2005 the Rev. Beth Mattinson began her ministry with us.

Music has always played an important role in church worship. Up until 1939 there wasn’t any musical instrument in the church. The hymns were started by a precentor. Today we have an organ and a keyboard. There has been a choir for many years and there is also a Praise Band. Evening song services are held occasionally

Throughout the years there have been various organized groups and activities: Sunday School, Daily Vacation Bible School, Canadian Girls in Training, Young Peoples Society, Children of the Church, Women’s (Atlantic) Mission Society. Today there is an active Sunday School and Atlantic Mission Society. The three churches work together for DVBS and Youth Groups.