With a parade float, ice cream, and other unique fundraisers, the oldest church in Morden has re-shingled their whole roof and saved the heritage site.

In February 2019, St. Thomas Anglican church discovered that their roof was leaking and needed to be redone. They feared it'd be impossible. The depth of how much damage the roof had was unknown. "We knew we had a leaking roof but we weren't sure whether or not we were going to discover things underneath the shingles that needed to be rebuilt. Fortunately, that didn't happen," Diane Guilford, the part-time priest at St. Thomas Anglican church says.

The church was built in 1885. "St. Thomas is really a Heritage site, it's the oldest church in Morden. That original sanctuary is there but all these additions have been put on since," Guilford says. Throughout all those years, there had never been shingling of the entire roof. This project was going to be big.

"We didn't know if we'd be able to do it. it was quite a lot of money for our small congregation." 

Once it was clear that it was just the leaky roof, they began to brainstorm fundraisers. However, for a congregation of 25-50 people on a given Sunday, $30,000 felt like a stretch. 

"It was quite frightening initially but, it brought us together really well and it ended up being fun," Guilford says.

They first received a commitment from their membership and applied for a grant from their national church. "We didn't know if we'd be able to do it. it was quite a lot of money for our small congregation," Guilford says.

The first event was hosted by the Sunday school. "They hosted a pancake supper. It was good to see the young people getting behind it and it was encouraging for the rest of the congregation," Guilford says.

But their best event, according to Guilford, was their 'Strawberry Haven' Ice cream fundraiser, it raised $2,200.

"It's selling things that involve ice cream and strawberries. There were strawberry milkshakes, which were awesome because it's all with real ice cream and there's strawberry sundaes. The big seller is the strawberry shortcake with the angel food cake," Guilford says. Volunteers in the congregation make the angel food cake and the ice cream is donated. It was a huge hit.

They also placed a float in the Morden Corn and Apple Festival and their 'raise the roof' buy a bundle shingle campaign brought in the most funds. The roof has been fully re-shingled as of September 30. There was so much joy and excitement from the congregation that the campaign inspired an anonymous donor to donate $5,000 to repaint the outside of the church.

"There's been a wonderful spirit that has built up. My message now to the congregation is that our building, roof, walls, and outside have all been refreshed and renewed and so it is important to continue and refresh our own spirits," Guilford says.