About Us

Our Armadale Story

Six years after the Ellesmere Free Methodist (FM) society established their congregation in 1874, Armadale Free Methodist Church was built by volunteers on donated land from Francis Underwood in 1880. We continue to worship every Sunday.

Now a Heritage building, Armadale FMC is a monument of the rich Free Methodist history in Canada.

Who are Free Methodists?

Spearheaded by John Wesley (1703–1791), the Methodist church was a subset of the Church of England, which eventually became its own denomination in the early 1800s.

The “Free” in Free Methodist sprang out of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was a direct response to the surrounding culture of the era, standing for three key principles: freedom from slavery and racial division, freedom from the domination of secret societies (Freemasons), and free pews (pews used to have to be purchased or rented).

Many of the freedoms we take for granted today were principles instilled by the Free Methodist Church.