Metropolitan United Church
| Metropolitan United Church | |
|---|---|
Met United
|
|
| Denomination | United Church of Canada |
| Churchmanship | Liberal Evangelical Protestant |
| Website | www.metunited.org |
| Clergy | |
| Minister(s) | Rev. Dr. Malcolm Sinclair & Rev. Dr. John Joseph Mastandrea |
Metropolitan United Church is a large neo-Gothic church in downtown Toronto, Canada. It is one of the largest and most prominent churches of the United Church of Canada. It is located on Queen Street East at the corner of Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.
Designed by Henry Langley, who was to draw "the ubiquitous cloak of decorous gothicism over the face of Ontario in the 1870s" the church became known as
It played an important role in the city that was occasionally nicknamed the "Methodist Rome".
Its immediate neighbours are St James's Cathedral (Anglican) and St Michael's Cathedral (Roman Catholic) and the trio of similarly designed churches are a striking Christian witness immediately adjacent to Canada's financial hub. The church's website describes the building in customary evangelical Protestant terms, regarding the nave rather than the altar ("communion table") area as its "sanctuary."
The congregation, originally Methodist, was founded in 1818. It was originally housed in a small chapel on King Street West (now site of Commerce Court North). In 1833 a larger structure was completed on Adelaide Street and it moved to its present location in 1872 when the building was dedicated as the Metropolitan Wesleyan Methodist Church.
In 1925 the Methodist Church of Canada merged with the Presbyterians and Congregationalists to form the United Church of Canada. Metropolitan then acquired its current name. The first General Council of the United Church was held there in 1925. In 1928 the church was almost destroyed by fire, but it was quickly rebuilt keeping the same design with the help of the Methodist Massey family, of Massey-Ferguson fame. In 1930 Casavant Frères installed the largest pipe organ in Canada in the newly refurbished building. The church is also known for its 54 bell carillon that is regularly heard throughout the neighbourhood.
...
Wikipedia