About the year 1838, God was dealing with the hearts of two men concerning the souls in Wainfleet Township. One was on the north side of Lake Ontario in the township of Athol, Prince Edward County. His name was George Thompson. The other from a different County was, Thomas Bradt. Both were influenced by the preaching of an American evangelist named Z. F. Green. Thompson and Bradt would move to Winger and marry sisters, gathering a following with names like: Andrew Handler; Peter Hendershot, Elizabeth Laws, Miss Roughly, Mrs. Forrester, and Giles Roberts, who became the charter members of a new congregation in Christ.
The Winger church would become a fixture in the rural farming community of Wainfleet, Ontario. They would need to use the local school house to hold their meetings and then they would erect their first building on Winger Road (1885) and then construct the present church building in 1894 celebrating their fortieth anniversary.
In 1986 several special congregational business and building planning committee meetings were held to plan for major renovating and adding to the existing building but the leadership could not get congregational approval. However, in 1992 a major building campaign took place renovating the existing sanctuary and adding a fellowship hall, kitchen and offices tastefully adjoined to the existing sanctuary - including an elevator and new graveled parking lot. The project was completed on the 150 anniversary year of the church 1994. In 2009 the churches 165th Anniversary saw further upgrades to the facilities including the sanctuary electrical and lighting, fully digitalized audio visual and landscaping. Which also included the paving of the parking lot. A wonderful addition to the churches aesthetics in the Hamlet of Winger.
The question has been asked - "What can we learn from our past?" That there is nothing wrong with the Gospel - it is relevant in any generation for it is the same yesterday today and forever. As Pastor Howlett told the church forty years ago, "We don’t have to bring Jesus Christ to the world but have only to discover what He is doing there."
Winger Church Of Christ (Disciples)
