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Looking back over 100 years of church history within a community affords one the opportunity to view things from a much larger perspective than that of everyday life. Although it should not, it comes as something of a surprise to learn that it is not the remarkable changes and advancements that have been made, but rather those things that have remained constant throughout that leave the greatest impression upon one. It quickly becomes evident that the one constant factor linking every change is a spirit of co-operation and fellow- ship. The United Church itself stands as a symbol of that co-operation. No one event was of greater consequence to this church than the 1925 union of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches in Canada. In Sundridge, that union had taken place eight years earlier, and the events of 1925 appear to have been regarded as natural and inevitable, without creating much sensation. Here at least it was clearly not the event of union itself so much as the long process of working together that lead up to it that shaped, more than any other factor, the growth and development of this church. That process was itself shaped by the pioneer spirit of co-operation that still exists within the church today in the sense of fellowship and community that holds it together. It is with this pioneer spirit that the church found its beginnings here in Sundridge. At the time the first settlers began to arrive in this area it was considerably different from the region we know today. There was no highway 11 providing easy access by car - there were no cars. There was no railway either at this early stage. The area was virtually untouched, and if you wanted to enter it you walked, cutting your own trail. Prior to 1885t when the Grand Trunk Railway reached Sundridge, there were essentially two routes followed by the pioneers. For those who were to settle on the north (or Sundridge) side of the lake, their path took them by rail to Gravenhurst, where they embarked by boat for Rosseau. From there, they followed the Nipissing Road to Magnetawan. This road had been surveyed as early as I865 and was built by the govt., both to encourage settlement and to help the lumbermen. Looking at a township map, it is interesting to note the independent way this road and the early lots extending from it cut a broad diagonal swath across those of the township, which were surveyed later. Having reached Magnetawan by this road, the pioneer and his family would have to follow surveyors lines or cut their own trail eastwards toward Stoney Lake (now Lake Bernard). Those who were to settle the south (or Pevensey) side of the lake came by a different route. Following the survey - 1 -