Knox Presbyterian Church (Ottawa)
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Knox Presbyterian at 120 Lisgar Street, Ottawa |
Knox Presbyterian Church is a
Presbyterian Church in
Ottawa,
Canada. It is named after
John Knox, a founder of
Presbyterianism in
Scotland.
It was founded as a result of the split within the congregation of
St. Andrew's, Ottawa's first Presbyterian church, between those loyal to the
Church of Scotland and those supporting the
Free Church movement, as had occurred in
Scotland the year before. The supporters of the Free Church in Ottawa and environs, set up Knox Free Church in
1844, just after the
Church of Scotland's
Canadian Synod in
Kingston was split.
The original Knox Church was located in
Sandy Hill at the corner of Daly and Cumberland. In
1866, a number of members formed a congregation on
Bank Street, that is now
Dominion-Chalmers United Church, just two blocks west at Cooper and Lisgar.
In
1874, the Knox congregation moved
downtown, leaving their building to the first St. Paul's Presbyterian, that became
St. Paul's-Eastern United Church (Eastern
Methodist) after
church union in
1925.
This second Knox Church was built next door to the
Ottawa City Hall on what is today the site of the
National Arts Centre. It opened prior to the formation of the Presbyterian Church in Canada in 1875; the General Assembly of the Canada Presbyterian Church was held at Knox in 1874 where the deliberations over the Union took place.
In
1931, the City of Ottawa expropriated this area to widen
Elgin Street and Knox Church, who remained within the Presbyterian Church in Canada in 1925, was forced to move south a few blocks to its present location at the corner of Lisgar and Elgin.
The present Knox Church building opened in
1932, and has hosted the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church in Canada in
1937 and
1981; the latter was used only for the opening Worship, as the nearby
University of Ottawa was the scene of the proceedings.
On May 1,
2005, the Reverend Douglas Kendall was Inducted as Minister of this congregation. He follows an impressive list of ministers, including:
* Thomas Wardrope,
1845 -
1869, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Canada in
1891.
* William MacLaren,
1870 -
1873 left to be Professor and Principal (
1905 -
1909) of
Knox College. Moderator Presbyterian Church in Canada
1884, brother of western Quebec entrepreneur
James Maclaren.
* John Farries,
1875 -
1893.
* John Ballantyne,
1894 -
1896, left to become a Professor at
Knox College, Moderator Presbyterian Church in Canada in
1920,
* D. W. Ramsay
1897 -
1913.
* R. B. Whyte
1916 -
1923.
* E. Lloyd Morrow
1923 -
1926 left after keeping the congregation in the Presbyterian Church in Canada, to become a Professor at
Knox College* Robert Johnston
1927 -
1947, Moderator Presbyterian Church in Canada,
1932 while minister of Knox Church.
* Colin Miller
1948 -
1955.
* H. Douglas Stewart,
1956 -
1972, left to become minister at
St. Andrew's Church (Toronto).
* Malcolm McCuaig
1972 -
1985,
* Donald F. Collier
1986 -
1992,
* Steven A. Hayes
1993 -
2004, called to minister at
St. Andrew's Church (Quebec City)*
Official Site with
History*
The Presbyterian Church in Canada Web Site
