Claremont United Church has been a part of our community since 1817 when Wesleyan Methodists began meeting for services in Pickering.  In 1865 the Pickering Circuit included Duffins Creek, Kinsale, Salem, Greenwood, Claremont and Brougham, among other hamlets. The first services in Claremont were held over an old planing mill and factory.  In 1853 a proper church building was constructed, which served the Methodist congregation until the present church was built in 1889.

 

The Presbyterians also had a congregation in Claremont beginning in the mid-19th century.  But by 1920 both Methodist and Presbyterian congregations were small, so they joined together to form the Claremont Union Church, meeting in the Methodist church building and being led by the popular Presbyterian Minister, Reverend Alexander McLellan. This predates by 5 years the nationwide union of Methodists and Presbyterians to form the United Church of Canada in 1925 (at which point the church became known as Claremont United Church).

 

Beginning in the 1930s, Claremont United formed a two-point charge with St. John's United in Brougham. In 1972, however, the Brougham church building was expropriated, along with the whole community, for the construction of the proposed Pickering Airport.  However, the congregation continued to meet until 1987 when the church was closed, and the members of the congregation divided themselves amongst Claremont and other local churches. Since 1987, Claremont has been a single-point charge.