Metropolitan United Church

Photos by Alan L Brown - Posted March, 2004

This impressive church has two plaques near the Queen Street sidewalk. An Ontario Heritage Trust plaque has this to say:

Plaque coordinates: 43.652683 -79.37685

This "Cathedral of Methodism" was designed by Henry Langley in the High Victorian Gothic style. The cornerstone was laid by the Rev. Egerton Ryerson, D.D., in 1870 and the church was dedicated in 1872. It replaced an earlier structure at the southeast corner of Adelaide and Toronto Streets. The first missionaries from Canada to Japan were commissioned in this church on May 7, 1873. The inaugural service of the Methodist Church of Canada was held here September 16, 1874. The World Ecumenical Methodist Conference meetings in 1911 and the first General Council of the United Church in 1925 met here. The church was badly damaged by fire in 1928 and rebuilt, incorporating most of the original walls, tower, narthex, and much of the stained glass.

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted September, 2006

Two copies of the second plaque are attached to the gates. They say:

Metropolitan United Church is the descendant of a small, frame chapel built in 1818 on the corner of King and Jordan streets, now the site of the Canadian Bank of Commerce building. Metropolitan Church was erected in 1870, and the interior was rebuilt in 1929, following a disastrous fire. It now stands, together with the church house, as a symbol of Christian witness and service in downtown Toronto.

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Posted December 5, 2010
I worked at Richmond and Church Streets many years ago, and regularly came here to listen to the free lunchtime concerts that were being offered then. It was a real treat to listen to good music while I was waiting to finish my lunch hour and return to work.

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