My family have been stewards for the East Seneca United Church for generations - many of my ancestors have taken up permanent residency in the graveyard here as well, going back 5 generations. Including my great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Andrew Turnbull, who came over on the boat from Scotland and started our family farm 169 years ago just down the road. Once a year, every second Sunday in June at 2:30, there is still a service here, to celebrate the anniversary of this beloved building. All are welcome, and there is always a pot-luck afterwards so that the community can visit and catch-up with friends and neighbours, new and old! This year the church will be celebrating its 161st Anniversary!
The following is a write up that my Grandfather, Hubert Turnbull, did for the 100th Anniversary Service back in 1963. He, as well as my grandmother Patricia, also reside here at the "Little White Church".
"The white frame church which stands at the corner of the crossroads of the 1st concession, Seneca Township, and the Turnbull Road, one and a half miles east of Highway No. 56 is celebrating 100 years of faithful service in this community.
The present church was built in 1863 and dedicated in 1864 by the Rev. Mr. Ingels in the Presbyterian faith. Mr. Wm. Brown, who owned the farm on the corner, gave one acre of land to the community for the erection of a chuch and a cemetary plot. The building committee were Mr. Wm. Brown, Mr. Andrew Turnbull, and Mt. Samuel Casement. The first minister for the churches of East Seneca, Indiana, and the Gore was Rev. Alexander Grant.
During the first half century of history the families who were connected to the church made it the centre of their lives with tea meetings, young people's meetings and Ladies Aid Meetings. Some of the names familiar in the day were Brown, Mitchell, Lowry, Johnston, Turnbull, Jackson, and Casement.
In 1925 the church joined with many others in forming the United Church of Canada.
At different times during its history it has been connected with Indiana and the Gore, as named previously, then with the Blackheath and Abigdon, with York and Ebenezer adn in 1943 became a unit of the Canfield and Canboro circuit.
The church building itself has undergone many changes over the years, and perhaps the most striking changes consisted of the changing of the interior from one lobby and the main body of the church to three rooms, the church proper, a Sunday School classroom, and a kitchen. THen in 1961 the original pews were replaces with more comfortable ones and a new floor was laid in the church.
The congregation has changed also, with few of the old names left on the roll. The one to whom a great deal of credit goes for the historical details on this history is one of the familiar names and goes back to the beginning of the chuch, Turnbull - Mr. John Turnbull, at the present time one of the Elders and a Trustee of the East Seneca Church."
Since 1963, work has continued on the little white church. Bill Featherston has been a huge contributor. He added cross rods to assist with maintaining the original structure of the church. He also removed a lot of bricks that he found in the attic, that had been left behind during a prevoious reno when the brick chimney was torn down, but the bricks remained. Don Johnson and Wayne Houser have recently done some work on the exterior of the church fixing and adding new planks in preparation for the new paint job that is coming later this year in 2024. My father, Jeff Turnbull, has been maintaining the ancient and fragile windows trying to keep them together, and never-ending task. New windows are also on the wish-list for the church in the near future.
All of that said, the little white church may look a litte rough around the edges now, but she was built to last as her foundations and structure are strong. There is a community fundraiser in the works to keep this community icon going. Hopefully next time you visit the East Seneca United Church, you will see a refreshed facade to match the unbreakable heart and soul of our cherished Little White Church.