our history

the “Cathedral of the West”

The Presbyterian congregation that gave birth to the present-day Knox United Church originally met at the I.G. Baker in Inglewood, where Rev. Angus Robertson preached to a small crowd of 30 or so parishioners. In 1883, that same crowd of parishioners built its first wooden church. The seven-by-eleven metre structure took ten days to build, at a cost of $1,000.

In 1884, when construction of the railroad moved the city centre from Inglewood to what is now the downtown core, the church moved along with it–literally. The small wooden building was hauled on skids across the frozen Elbow River to the place where the York Hotel once stood. In 1886, a new church was built on the corner of Centre Street and 7th Avenue South. Yet another building replaced it in 1905, but it proved too small to keep pace with increasing attendance. Finally, in 1912, the current neo-Gothic Paskapoo sandstone church building was completed.

The stained glass windows followed several years after the building was completed. Most stained glass windows found in churches were typically ordered from catalogs and brought in from places like Toronto. Knox’s north-facing Memorial Window was custom-ordered and commissioned in the aftermath of the First World War and completed and installed by the Pittsburgh Glass Company and installed in 1921. Titled “The Suffering of Mankind,” the 9,982-piece glass window depicts dead and dying soldiers from both sides of the conflict, as well as knights representing virtues like nobility and brotherhood. Knox also features one of Canada’s largest church organs.

In 1925, the Knox congregation, along with Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregationalist churches across Canada, voted to join the United Church of Canada. Knox Presbyterian Church became Knox United Church, the name it retains today. As a United Church congregation, Knox values inclusion, community engagement, and progressive theology. Knox is a member of the the Affirming Ministries Program, a network of United Church congregations and ministries that declare themselves to be fully inclusive of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.