College Street United Church
Encyclopedia
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...
church at the corner of College
College Street (Toronto)
College Street is a principal arterial thoroughfare in downtown Toronto, connecting former streetcar suburbs in the west with the city centre. The street is home to an ethnically diverse population in the western residential reaches, and institutions like the Ontario Legislature and the University...
and Bathurst Streets in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The large church was built in 1885 as College Street Presbyterian and could hold 1200 worshippers, under founding (1874) minister Alexander Gilray (1874-1915), and Robert Balmer Cochrane (1915-1925). In 1925, this congregation voted to join the United Church, and was the site that June of the 51st and final General Assembly of the originally constituted Presbyterian Church in Canada
Presbyterian Church in Canada
The Presbyterian Church in Canada is the name of a Protestant Christian church, of presbyterian and reformed theology and polity, serving in Canada under this name since 1875, although the United Church of Canada claimed the right to the name from 1925 to 1939...
before a majority of congregations of that founding denomination voted to enter the United Church of Canada
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...
.
Over time attendance fell and it ran into financial difficulties and fell into disrepair. Thus in the 1980s, despite its heritage status, it was decided to demolish much of the church a rebuild it with a condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
on top. The architects of the new building worked to have it be as similar to the old church as possible, copying many of its architectural elements. Money from the 89 unit condo funds the church now located in the lower levels of the building.