Knox Presbyterian Church (Toronto)
Knox Presbyterian Church, Toronto
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| 43°39′45″N 79°24′09″W / 43.662522°N 79.402463°WCoordinates: 43°39′45″N 79°24′09″W / 43.662522°N 79.402463°W | |
| Location | 630 Spadina Avenue Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2H4 |
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| Denomination | Presbyterian Church in Canada |
| Website | http://www.knoxtoronto.org/ |
| History | |
| Founded | 1843 |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Church |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architect(s) | James Wilson Gray |
| Style | Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival |
| Completed | January 1909 |
| Administration | |
| Presbytery | East Toronto |
| Synod | Central, Northeastern Ontario and Bermuda |
| Clergy | |
| Minister(s) | Rev. Phil Reinders |
| Assistant | Rev. Paul Johansen |
| Laity | |
| Organist/Director of music | Dr. Roger Bergs |
| Music group(s) | Knox Senior Choir, Knox Children's Choir |
Knox Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian church in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
In 1820 the first Presbyterian congregation in Toronto (then the Town of York) was formed, and after the donation of land from Jessie Ketchum, built a church on Richmond Street. This church was known as First Presbyterian Congregation of York, Upper Canada, and James Harris (later to be Ketchum's son in law) became minister.
In 1830, the larger St. Andrew's Church was founded, and it quickly became the city's primary Presbyterian Church. St. Andrew's was aligned with the Church of Scotland; the Canadian Synod was formed in 1831.
This Richmond Street church was more evangelical, and had become independent of the United Synod of the Canadas in 1834, and remained apart from any other group (including the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland who started their Toronto congregation in 1838) until 1844.
In 1843, the Church of Scotland split, when many of the evangelicals led by Thomas Chalmers, withdrew to form the Free Church of Scotland, in a dispute called the Disruption of 1843. This dispute hit the Canadas the following year at the respective Synod Meetings in Kingston and Nova Scotia; a faction broke off from St. Andrew's, who remained in the "Auld" Kirk.
This group was approached by the York congregation, and the two groups decided to join and become a stronger and united Free Church congregation presence in Toronto that they named Knox's Church, after the Scottish Church reformer John Knox; they called an experienced minister from Paisley, Scotland, Rev. Dr. Robert Burns, to become their first minister. Burns was the former Secretary of the Glasgow Missionary Society, a friend of Chalmers, and uncle of another well-known minister and missionary, William Chalmers Burns. Burns was initially a lecturer, then later full-time professor, in the nearby Knox Free Church Theological College. Mr. Harris retired from the York congregation, and remained connected with the congregation until his death in 1874.
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