Burns Presbyterian Church
765 Myrtle Rd W
Ashburn ON L0B 1A0
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Graeme Illman - Lead MinisterGraeme and his lovely wife, Karen, have been at Burns Church since August 2000. They have three beautiful children: Joel, Charis, and Hannah.
Graeme and Karen are passionate about two things: God & family. Ministry at Burns Church allows them to live out both their passions on a daily basis. Their heart's desire in life & ministry is to enjoy God and to enable others to find ultimate worth, purpose, and joy in Jesus.
Leisure times will find Karen utilizing her beautiful singing voice... and Graeme pretending to be a good golfer!
Steve and the greatest woman to have ever lived, his wife Brie, entered on to the Burns scene in July 2007. God has blessed them with two amazing kids, Noah and Aurora. (Rory)
Steve and Brie are both musically minded and have much camp experience. Both would say that their musical tastes are quite eclectic enjoying almost any style. We’ll let you try to figure out what styles they aren’t into.
Steve and Brie met in a ministry setting and both have the desire to be used by God in whatever way He wants them to. Brie loves to sing every chance she gets. She also likes spending time with the youth girls at Burns. She loves a good chick flick. Oh, yeah, she could give Martha Stewart a run for her money (Ask Steve). And Steve likes his guitar a lot. He loves to worship God with people who are passionate about Jesus. He strongly believes that God’s heart aches for the young people of Canada and Durham region in particular and feels that God wants to use Burns to lead people to encounter the Real, Authentic Jesus. He also happens to be a prairie boy who shamelessly loves the Saskatchewan Roughriders (Please don’t hold that against him) He also hopes to someday defeat Graeme in a golf match.
Without Sharmen, Graeme and Steve would be lost. There's nothing else to be said about that!
Sharmen has been coming to Burns since childhood and there's little she doesn't know about what's going on here. She is a dedicated servant of Burns and greets everyone who passes through the doors cheerfully.
The history of the founding of Burns Presbyterian Church, Ashburn, is fascinating, and parallels the history of the developing of the hamlet of Ashburn.
The early deeds from the crown date about 1820, the land being cleared by Scottish pioneers. Records indicate that the hamlet was originally known as the Butler's Corners but the name was changed to Ashburn in 1832 as a potash plant which when established required large quantities of potash (from the burning trees) and water from the creek (burn).
In 1847, the first store and post office establishes. Ashburn also had an orange lodge, a school house, three stores, a drug store two hotels, a blacksmith and wagon maker shops.
The information about the beginning of Burns Presbyterian Church are excerpts from "the statement and the rise and progress of the Canadian Presbyterian Church in Ashburn", by the late Mr. William Heron Sr. Written March 2, 1868 and found some years after his death in his old desk. Mr. Heron died in 1884, aged 92 years and is buried in the Burns cemetery.
"The religious instinct, the love of God and His word was firmly and deeply embedded in the hearts and lives of these early settlers. After hewing out homes for themselves, instinctively their hearts turned for a place of worship."
The disruption of the Church of Scotland in 1843, resulting in the establishment of the Free Church, followed by the disruption of The Presbyterian Church in Canada in 1844 saw the minister of Whitby and Pickering continue with The Church of Scotland. This being the only ministry available, the people of Ashburn continued to attend these services. In 1846 the Free Presbytery of Toronto sent a student from Knox College and, on alternate Sundays, the good folk of Ashburn attended services in Utica (just to the north of us).
With no resident minister in the vicinity, William Heron Sr. gathers his neighbours for worship at his home "Dalmore" or in his newly erected barn before it was used to store the bounty from his land.
In April 1848, a Mr. Smith from Knox College was sent to Brock and Reach and stopped over at William Heron's home having come to Whitby from Toronto by ship and to Brooklin by stage. Mr. Heron took this opportunity to arranger a meeting on the Sabbath forenoon at the local school house; "and the house was full", the first formal church service held in Ashburn. William Heron was then able to arrange services on alternate Sundays at 6:00pm, by agreeing to go to Utica to pick up Mr. Smith, who was serving Brock (Woodville) and reach (Utica). "The meetings were well attended, and I hope there was much good done; many seemed to be awakened to give more attention to the things that concern the interest of their immortal souls."
Ashburn was organized as a station with Brock & Reach in January 1849. On the 18th of February, 1849, Rev. Dr. Burns came from Toronto and dispensed the first communion to the congregation at Brock and, on Monday, to ordained elders for Brock and Reach. Mr. William Heron Sr. served communion for Ashburn. Our church was named "Burns" in honour of Dr. Burns. Our communion roll contained 15 names. In 1850 Whitby, Ashburn & Utica were joined; The Rev. Dr. Burns conducted services in Ashburn on alternate Sunday afternoons.
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At the annual meeting in 1856, after many attempts between 1851 and 1855 "to get up a church" had failed, it was decided to build in the summer of 1857; a committee was appointed to purchase an area of land for the sight and for a cemetery. A number of people subscribed $10.00 for this purpose and, in return, were assigned a burial plot. The total subscription for the building fund was $2,031.50 - the cost of the church was $2,356.00 and the acre of land was purchased for $250.00.
A manse was purchased at the cost of $400.00 in February 1869, and in 1870, the balance of the church debt was paid. In 1878 a new manse was built and sold in 1948 and still stands in Ashburn. The beautifully restored home of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Emm.
Ashburn became a self sustaining charge in 1910, and was part of Whitby Presbytery until 1925. When the presbytery was dissolved and we became a member of Toronto Presbytery. In 1933, Ashburn was joined to Lindsay Presbytery and coupled with St. John's in Port Perry, and we have been sister churches ever since.
In 1911, it was found necessary to enlarge the church and equip it with a basement for Sunday school and women's organizations. The sanctuary was completely renovated with inclined floor, circular seating, new pulpit and memorial windows at the cost of $3,000.00. In 1946 and 1947 an electric organ was purchased and the choir loft renovated. In 1950, a new heating system was installed leaving room for a kitchen. About 1948, it was necessary to remove the bell - which had been donated by a descendant of Mr. William Heron - from the bell tower. The harness was cracked and it was feared the bell would fall and damage the sanctuary. The bell was given to a museum at brougham, and is now on display at the Pickering museum. At the present time, Burn's Kirk Guild was negotiating with the board of the museum for the return of the bell.
February 12, 1967 is a never-to-be-forgotten black day in life of our church, as, on a clear, crisp Sunday morning, we watched our beautiful picture church get completely destroyed by fire. That evening, when St. John's generously loaned us their sanctuary for a service, from the depths of our despair came the will to build again. At a congregational meeting in March, there was unanimous agreement to go ahead with the re-build.
Again divine providence guided and aided us. Because of the proximity of the original church to the cemetery and road, it was necessary to purchase new land - made available - joining the original site of the church.
The late Mr. Norman Anderson, and elder and treasurer of Burns, was given the honour of turning the sod at a very impressive ceremony on Sunday September 10th, 1967. Mr. Lindsay Death - trustee and manager - graciously accepted the onerous task of building committee chairman. Mr. William D Davis, manager, chairman of the finance committee, and the late Mr. Russell Batten spent long hours planning and building a miniature model of a new church. The plan was then accepted at the congregational meeting.
The corner stone was laid March 31, 1968, and our beautiful new church was dedicated to the glory of God on Sunday April 21, 1968. The late Rev. William Black was our minister, and the late Mr. Herbert Ashton was our clerk of session. The sermon that day was preached by Reverend Kenneth Heron B.A. B.D., a descendant of our founder and an Ashburn boy. We also feel blessed to have, as one of our elders, Mrs. Chrissie Simpson McKinney, whose father, Rev. Robert Simpson was minister of this charge from 1937 to 1940.
The church was built at a total cost of $84,562.00 of which $38,000.00 was insurance. Our only outstanding debt was a $4,000.00 bank note paid off before the end of 1969.
We now enter another new annual of Burns when, as of January 1, 1990, we became a member of the new presbytery of Pickering.
For 140 years we have been bearing witness to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in this place. He has blessed our pioneers, their children and their children's children, and all who call upon His name.
My husband and I feel most honored being the present owners of "Dalmore", the stone house William Heron Sr. Built for his family.
Therefore, when we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for the present delight, nor for the present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for, and let us think as we lay stone, that the time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say as they look upon labour and wrought substance of them, "see what our fathers did for us."
John Ruskin, (1819-1990)
Compiled by Margaret J. Davis, June 1990
While celebrating the 150th anniversary of our congregation in 1999, we looked back on our fantastic past, remembering the many people who contributed to who we are today.
With the dawning of the third millennium, we surge forward into the future, and look forward to many exciting years to come.
Margaret Davis, has come across a wonderful story called...
The following appeared in the newsletter of our sister church, St. John's, in Port Perry. We can't say how much of it is true, but it's certainly a good story.
This is a story about John Miller Jr. of Blairgowrie Farm of Ashburn, Ontario. Blairgowrie Farm is the first farm west of Burns Church on the south side of the road. John Miller Jr. was a breeder of shorthorn cattle and an importer of cattle, horses and sheep from Scotland.
The Miller family, three generations, were instrumental in bringing some of the first purebred British livestock to North America. John Miller Jr's son John Miller is 90 years old and still lives on the farm.
In 1855 there were so many Millers it was necessary at times to supplement family names with some additional identification. The first John Miller at Thistle Ha' could be called Reeve Miller, and his son, John Miller Jr. to distinguish him from other John Miller Juniors, was often called Silent John Miller Jr.; And the John Miller who was a grandson of the founding father became known as John Miller Jr. of Ashburn, sometimes as "Shorthorn Miller".
But as friends of John Miller Jr. of Ashburn were quick to point out, this man's originality and good humour, plus a spark of boyish mischief, would be no less effective in identifying him than his name. A cousin said he was "an unusual man who did things in an unusual way."
Originality was clearly a Miller characteristic. With understanding and approval, John's admiring friends in Shorthorn circles said his campaign to pay off the Burns Presbyterian Church mortgage was typical. The $4,000 of lingering debt against the church of Ashburn annoyed him and when he met a neighbour who was a member of the Board of Managers, he had something to tell his friend.
"Fred, are you going to the church meeting tonight? I understand they're going to talk about reducing the church mortgage, again. Well, I can't be there but you tell them for me that they had better pay it off. Now, get this straight. Tell the people of the congregation to plan for a church supper and concert at my place. Admission will be $1.25 and every woman will have to make six pies and three salads and I'll find everything else that is needed. I want to see that confounded debt wiped out in one evening. How's your new herd bull doing? Goodbye, Fred."
When the date was fixed, John Miller's phone started ringing. He called the President of Purity Bread Company in Toronto, saying, "Charlie, I want a truck load of bread and rolls for the Ashburn church supper. Thanks, and be sure you come to be fed."
John then called J. S. McLean, President of Canada Packers, and said, "Stanley, I want a truck load of Maple Leaf hams for the Ashburn church supper. Don't tell me a truck load is too much because I want some hams left over to sell to our visitors after the concert. Thanks, Stanley, and be sure you come to see us that night." He called all his prosperous friends in Whitby and Oshawa and Toronto and urged them to come and "Be sure to bring your wallets."
On the evening of the supper, John Miller was seated beside the Church Treasurer at the entrance, acting like a Robin Hood. Most guests were admitted on payment of the nominal admission fee of $1.25, but those to whom special invitations had been sent did not get past John Miller without paying amounts ranging from $5.00 to $50.00 and then they were "invited" to come around to the garage after the concert to buy some high class ham. They had no reason to think they would be expected to pay $5.00 a pound for ham and $25.00 each for home made pies, but they must have paid such amounts because when the receipts for the Miller-planned evening were counted, they totalled $4,050, enough to liquidate the offending mortgage.
When the officers came to thank John Miller of Ashburn, they couldn't find him.
Submitted by Don Christie