The original St. Andrew's Church building at Church and Adelaide streets
The congregation was founded in 1830 as the first Church of Scotland congregation in the Town of York. The original church building was located at the southwest corner of Church Street and Adelaide Street. It was designed by John Ewart.
After the 1843 split of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, a portion of the congregation supportive of the Free Church Movement left St. Andrew's the following summer and founded Knox Presbyterian Church, along with another group (led by the Rev. James Harris) that had been separate since 1834.
The original church building eventually proved too small, and St. Andrew's moved to its current location at the southeast corner of King and Simcoe streets (one block west of University Avenue and the St. Andrew subway station, which got its name from the church) on February 13, 1876.[3] This westward move caused some controversy, and the congregation split over the issue.
One group (62 of 403 members) continued in the old church building, which became known as Old St. Andrew's. In 1878, this group moved to a new building located on nearby Jarvis Street. The group remained there until 1951, when it joined with Westminster (formerly Yorkville Presbyterian) - Central (formerly Methodist) to become St. Andrew's United Church at 117 Bloor Street East. The church building on Jarvis Street was sold to another denomination and became St. Andrew's Evangelical Lutheran Church.
The portal of St. Andrew's Church
The main congregation moved in 1876 to the new Romanesque Revival church that became known as New St. Andrew's. This building was designed by noted Toronto architect William George Storm and was the central Presbyterian church in Toronto, with an addition and renovation in 1906.
It became especially well known under the ministry of renowned orator the Rev. D.J. Macdonnell (1870–1896), who pushed the church towards an active social role, and was the centre of a heresy trial in 1876 (a minor bump in the recently formed Presbyterian Church in Canada). As such, the intersection of King and Simcoe was popularly said to represent one of the four parts of Toronto society, namely Salvation. The others were: Legislation, the Lieutenant-Governor's Residence; Education, the original home of Upper Canada College; and damnation, a tavern.
The congregation was one of the most active in opposition to the union that saw the majority of Canadian Presbyterian churches join the United Church of Canada in 1925. The St. Andrew's congregation, under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Stuart C. Parker, voted 94% (19-733) against joining the new church. It was at St. Andrew's that representatives of the remaining Presbyterian churches from across Canada met for a "Congress", as well as the General Assembly of the Continuing Presbyterian Church in June 1925. Around this time, 73 Simcoe Street became used as the postal address for the anti-Church Union group, the Presbyterian Church Association.
Later in the 20th century, the church's downtown location presented a challenge to St. Andrew's, since the area had become largely industrial and later one of the poorest in the city. Increasingly, the church patrons were living further north. There were thus many discussions of again moving the church, but each time the congregation voted to remain put.
St Andrew's Church, view from South-West
Eventually, the revival of the downtown core in the 1970s and 1980s began with the opening of the St. Andrew Subway Station at nearby University Avenue in 1963. Further redevelopment of the area, including the addition of Roy Thomson Hall on the southwest corner of Simcoe and King Streets, transformed the neighbourhood, and the church is again prospering. After acquiring air rights from new buildings in the area, there was an extensive rebuilding at the south end, including construction of a new condominium tower in which the congregation retained the first three floors.
The property (consisting of the manse and the church building) is designated under part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act since August 10, 1981. There is also a Heritage Easement on the property since July 1981. The designation notes that it was designed by William Storm in 1875 with an alteration in 1907 by Curry, Sproat & Rolph.[4]
The congregation has taken leadership in ministry to the poor, with "Out of the Cold", coordinated by famous author Stevie Cameron, and a Boarding Homes Ministry, as well as involvement with the Presbyterian Church in Canada's Evangel Hall.
The congregation also maintains ties with its Scottish roots. In March 2005, to celebrate their 175th Anniversary as a congregation, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, Dr. Alison Elliot, was involved as their Anniversary Speaker. The 48th Highlanders Regiment has a strong link with the congregation, and the regiment's museum is located in the basement of the church. The museum includes regimental uniforms, medals, photographs, weapons and other artifacts. Founded in 1959, the museum opened in its current location in 1997.
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church is the oldest Presbyterian church in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The Presbyterian Church in Canada is a Presbyterian denomination, serving in Canada under this name since 1875. The United Church of Canada claimed the right to the name from 1925 to 1939. According to the Canada 2021 Census 301,400 Canadians identify themselves as Presbyterian, that is, 0.8 percent of the population.
Knox Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Church in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is named after John Knox, a founder of Presbyterianism in Scotland.
The Church of Saint Andrew is a former Presbyterian church building in Rodney Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It was part of the Church of Scotland. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and before redevelopment was on its Heritage at Risk Register.
The Presbyterian College/Le Collège Presbytérien, 3495 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, is a Theological College of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and is affiliated with McGill University through its School of Religious Studies. The Presbyterian College's student base comes from across Canada and around the world.
Knox College is a postgraduate theological college of the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1844 as part of a schism movement in the Church of Scotland following the Disruption of 1843. Knox is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in Canada and confers doctoral degrees as a member school of the Toronto School of Theology.
Grace Toronto Church is a Presbyterian Church in America congregation worshipping in the historic Old St. Andrew's Church building at 383 Jarvis Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bloor Street United Church is a United Church of Canada church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Bloor Street West in the downtown core at the northwest corner of the intersection with Huron Street. It is just north of the University of Toronto, and between the Spadina and St. George subway stations.
Knox Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian church in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Trinity-St. Paul's United Church and Centre for Faith, Justice and the Arts is a church belonging to the United Church of Canada in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 427 Bloor Street West, just west of Spadina Avenue in the city's downtown core. The church is formed of a mix of three different former congregations and houses a fourth independent congregation within its building.
First Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian Church in Canada congregation and Gothic Revival church building in the city's downtown core of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The congregation celebrated its 125th anniversary in November 2006.
The Church of Saint Andrew and St Paul is a Presbyterian church in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 3415 Redpath Street, on the corner of Sherbrooke Street. It is in close proximity to the Golden Square Mile, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Concordia University as well as the Guy-Concordia Metro station.
St. James-Bond United Church, at 1066 Avenue Road in Toronto, Ontario, was a United Church of Canada congregation from 1928 to 2005, when it merged with Fairlawn Heights United Church in the Yonge Street and Lawrence Avenue area. The "St. James-Bond" name derived from the merger of St. James Square Presbyterian Church with Bond Street Congregational Church in 1928. Prior to the merger, they were separate congregations downtown, of the Presbyterian and Congregational traditions respectively.
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, is a Presbyterian Church in Canada congregation in downtown Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The congregation dates back to 1857, and at one time, was the largest congregation by membership within the Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC).
Deer Park United Church is the name of a United Church of Canada congregation, and also the name of this congregation's former church building at 129 St. Clair Avenue West in the Deer Park neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was one of two United Church of Canada buildings in the area and along St. Clair Avenue, the other being Timothy Eaton Memorial Church.
Central Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Church in Canada congregation in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, located in the downtown area at the corner of Charlton and Caroline Street South.
St. Paul's Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian congregation located in the community of Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada.
St. Andrew's United Church is an historic congregation of the United Church of Canada in Toronto, Canada. Located in the city's downtown core near the intersection of Yonge and Bloor streets, it is a combination of five other downtown Toronto congregations.
William Henry Goold was a Scottish minister of both the Reformed Presbyterian Church and the Free Church of Scotland. He was the last Moderator of the majority Reformed Presbyterian Church Synod before the union with the Free Church in 1876 when most of the R. P. congregations entered the union. He was also called to be Moderator of General Assembly of the Free Church in the following year: 1877.
Emmanuel United Church is a church located in the downtown core of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Originally Methodist, since 1925 it has belonged to the United Church of Canada. The church was built between 1873 and 1875, with the tower being completed in 1891, and was designed by Henry Langley in the Gothic Revival style. It is designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act by the City of Peterborough By-Law 1990-204 as being of cultural heritage value or interest.
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