Bellingham United Church, Iron Bridge Pastoral Charge
Location
Sunday service: 11:30 am, all year.
Note: a vacancy has been declared for 1 July 2017
Situated 11 miles north of Iron Bridge, this church was built by pioneers who came north by crossing Basswood Lake and the Mississagi River by rowboat and walking the rugged bush trail to settle in Parkinson and Kynoch. All supplies had to be carried in. These people brought with them a determination to build homes for their families and an earnest desire to serve God.
At first, services were held in homes, but they decided to build a church between the two settlements. A parcel of land was given north of the White River and bees were held to clear the land, take out logs, cut them and later build the church. In 1897 the church was ready for services, made possible by hard work and donations from interested people. Wharncliffe, Goldenburgh and Bellingham were served mostly by student ministers. In 1936 Bellinghma joined with the Iron Bridge Charge.
Although the church is relatively small in numbers, in 1986 the congregation undertook major repairs to the adjoining cemetery, including landscaping and the installation of fencing around both church and cemetery.