About Gower Street United Church
Who Are We
We are a downtown church, with a rich history, a vibrant music history, and an active congregation. Our worship life balances our dignity and tradition with joy and innovation.
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What’s Up At Gower
This Sunday
This Week
Our Ministry
Our Community
Leadership Team & Gower Board
The oversight of Gower’s finance, clerical needs, buildings, operations and outreach fall to Gower’s Board. The Board is an integral part of Gower’s Leadership Team.
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Our History
Gower Street United Church (formerly Methodist) is the oldest congregation of the denomination in St. John’s. Established in 1815, it has been a major religious force in the city through the years.
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Join Us
Join us on Sunday mornings, sing in a choir, help with outreach, join a club, share in our concerts, rent our facilities or simply give money to help our many missions
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Meet Gower’s Staff
The Reverand Pamela Jones-Fitzgerald
Minister
Pamela began ministry at GSUC in November 2018.
She grew up in Torbay, attended Holy Trinity, an all grade school under the Denominational School system while attending St. James United Church on Sunday’s with her family. Fully immersing herself in Roman Catholicism while attending school, her love of ecumenism was born at an early age.
Read more about Rev Pamela here
Upon completion of a Bachelor of Primary Education Degree at Memorial University in 1993, her call to ministry came as a Worship Volunteer during visits to Her Majesty’s Penitentuary.
Pamela graduated from the Atlantic School of Theology in 2000. She spent a year in London, Ontario serving at White Oaks United Church under the supervision of the Rev. Dr. Nancy Hardy.
Pamela was settled on a 6 point pastoral charge in rural NL, where she spent two years. She then moved into a fulltime chaplaincy position at Memorial University in November 2000. Her 15 years of work there cumulated in the Spirituality Centre becoming a Multi-Faith Centre.
Pamela spent 4 years as Spiritual Director at Stella’s Circle. Her work in outreach ministry there was life-changing. She spent a number of years as Minister of Visitation and also Lead Minister at St. James United.
Pamela has a certification of Pastoral Care and Counseling from the Clinical Association of Pastoral Education (CAPPE) with a recommendation to advanced level. She has experience working with people of all walks and ages of life both inside and outside of the church. She has extensive experience in program development, especially working with those who are on the margins of society as well as young adults and seniors. She is a strong advocate of mental health wellness.
Pamela is a liturgical and sacred circle dancer and has studied dance under the direction of Anna Douthwright, a pioneer of Liturgical Dance in Canada
Pamela loves sailing, fishing, motorcycling, gardening, baking, knitting and interior design. She sings with the Stella’s Circle Inclusion Choir. She lives in St. John’s with her husband and three children; Sophie, Nathan and Julia and her dog, Max.
The Reverand Karen Thorne
Minister of Children, Youth and Young Families
Rev. Karen is so thankful to be able to draw closer again to the church family here at Gower, to have an opportunity to work alongside Rev. Pamela, as well as supporting the ministry work of Rev. Rebecca while she is off on maternity leave. She is also glad to be able to be back among friends, to celebrate and support the continuing ministry happening here in so many ways through the love and strong commitment of its members and various ministry teams, all working together for the greater good and the glory of God.
Read more about Rev Karen here
Karen completed a Masters in Theological Studies in Diaconal Ministry and a Masters of Divinity from St. Andrew’s College, Saskatoon. She was also previously a graduate from the Centre for Christian Studies, which offers training for Diaconal ministry for the United and Anglican churches. She completed advanced training in Clinical Pastoral Education, was evaluated and then certified in 2021 as a “Spiritual Care Practitioner” (formerly called a “CPE Specialist”) with the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care. She has also completed a three year training program as a spiritual director with the Ontario Jubilee program.
Prior beginning her ministry studies, Karen previously had completed Bachelors’ degrees of Music and Music Education from Memorial University. As a young adult she was an active member of Gower Street United Church, and enjoyed being involved in a variety of ways, including as part of a committee advocating for the beginning of school breakfast and lunch programs in the province, also later leading programming for children and doing youth confirmation. She married her husband, Steve here at Gower almost 40 years ago, and both their sons, Jordan and Carson, were baptized here.
She has served the church in this area for 26 years in a variety of settings. She was part of a two-minister team at Wesley United Church as Minister for Youth and Young Families. She served in solo congregational ministry for Hearts Content Pastoral Charge, Bell Island-Portugal Cove Pastoral Charge and Victoria-Freshwater Pastoral Charge. For the past seven years she served as the United Church Chaplain for the St. John’s hospitals and Her Majesty’s Penitentiary until funding for that outreach ministry was ended by the region in June 2025.
Felyn Kharis
Office Administrator
Felyn Kharis is a proactive Administrative Professional with strong background in Office Management, Human Resources and Customer Service. Felyn has a strong Christian background and was minister for youth in her home country church. Felyn holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration with Honors, Diploma in Theology, Masters of Arts in International Relations and currently pursuing a graduate program at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Felyn has great passion for doing humanitarian work and has worked with several NGOs in her home country. Before relocating to England from her home country, Felyn had her own Charity Organization (Grace Impact Foundation) which she used in giving donations to motherless children.
Mr. R. Carl Goulding
Choir Director and Organist
Carl Goulding, a retired teacher, taught choral music and music theory during his teaching career as a staff member of Mount Pearl Intermediate, Junior and Senior High Schools.
Carl established and is the Musical Director of The Mount Pearl Show Choir and the Etcetera Concert Series, volunteer positions that he has held since 1988. He has held the positions of Organist and Choir Director at the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and St. Mary’s Anglican Church and since October of 2001, has been the Organist at Gower Street United Church.
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Carl is the founder and Director of the International Threnody Peace Education Project, with a mandate to perform music of peace and remembrance as its primary focus. This peace education project has featured talented young people and dedicated teachers performing peace music in Japan, Russia, England, France, Belgium, Ireland, Finland, Austria and The Peace Palace in The Hague, The Netherlands. During his teaching career, Carl was selected Volunteer of The Year by The City of Mount Pearl, won The Rotary Award for Teaching Excellence, and was the recipient of the national Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence. Carl completed his Bachelor of Arts, Education, and Bachelor of Music degrees at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He completed his Masters of Church Music at Concordia College, Illinois, with a major in Organ Performance. Carl is married to Jacquelyn, a retired primary teacher. Carl and Jackie have three adult children, all teachers! In addition to Mark (& Krista), Justin and Rebecca (& Shane), the family now includes his grandson, Jackson.
David Noseworthy
Custodian
Dana Collins
Director of Handbell Choir
Dana (Abbott) Collins is an active member of Gower Street United Church and grew up taking part in the Gower Music Programs under the direction of Dr. Edsel Bonnell with the Gower Band Programs (GYB and GCB) and Dr. Douglas Dunsmore with the Choral and Handbell programs. She graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1995 as a piano major with a B.Mus, B.Mus.Ed, and B.A.(French).
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After teaching in the school system for a number of years, Dana completed post graduate studies in Information Technology and was awarded a Masters of Information Technology from AIU (Atlanta, Georgia) in 1999. Dana specializes in business analysis and project management and currently runs her own consulting firm.
Even though Dana’s professional life is now spent as a consultant in the business world, music remains central to family life with husband Gerard and their children, Hayley and Noah. Dana has been conducting the Gower Children’s Choir for over 10 years and recently took on the role of Associate Director with the Gower Community Band upon the retirement of Dr. Edsel Bonnell. Music provides such an opportunity to bring joy to others and give back as a volunteer. She is proud to have her children partake in the Gower Music Programs at her side and for them to understand the impact of community service.
Ron Collins
Director Gower Community Band
Ron Collins has been surrounded by music his whole life, starting with his childhood home where his father played the piano. He joined the school band when he was 10 years old, and bands have been a constant in his life ever since. He graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1987 with his B.Mus/B.Mus Ed. with a major in saxophone, and added a M.Ed. in 2007.
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Ron’s life as a musician has included concert bands, jazz bands, jazz combos, rock bands, pit orchestras, and dinner theatres playing both saxophone and bass guitar. He has played with the Gower Youth Band and Gower Community Band, Jazz East, Traces Dance Band, The Ducats, Spirit of Newfoundland, and is currently playing bass and saxophone with Fahrenheit. As a music teacher, he has covered kindergarten to grade 12 in many areas of the province.
Ron has directed several community based groups including Jazz Unlimited, Jazztyme, and Jazz East. He was the Associate Director of the Gower Community Band for over 20 years, and became Director in January 2019 following the retirement of Dr. Edsel Bonnell. He currently teaches music and directs four bands at Holy Trinity High School in Torbay.
A/V Volunteers
AV and Live Stream Operations
The sanctuary sound and on-line video services are managed by a group of dedicated volunteers and support staff that are available on a scheduled basis to ensure Gower’s A/V needs are met. This includes sound management and live streaming of the Sunday morning services. Funerals and weddings are managed on a case by case basis. Contact Gower’s office for details.