The Avenue Road Church is a former

church building A church, church building, church house, or chapel is a building used for Christian worship services and Christian activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 AD and 256 AD. ''Church'' is also ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. It is located at 243

Avenue Road Avenue Road may refer to: * Avenue Road, Bangalore, busy shopping and commercial street in Bangalore * Avenue Road, London, street in the Swiss Cottage and St John's Wood districts of London * Avenue Road tram stop, tram stop in the London Borough ...

, on the northeastern corner of Roxborough Avenue. Originally the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

Church of the Covenant, it became the Avenue Road Presbyterian Church then the Avenue Road United Church, and later the Church of the Nazarene. The building now serves as the Toronto Hare Krishna Temple (ISKCON Toronto).

History

Designed in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style by Gordon & Helliwell and built in 1899, the building was initially the Church of the Covenant. It was renamed the Avenue Road Presbyterian Church around 1908. The Presbyterian congregation joined the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (UCC; ) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada. The United Chu ...

in 1925, thus the church became the Avenue Road United Church. The church was vacant for several years until

Charles Templeton Charles Bradley Templeton (October 7, 1915 – June 7, 2001) was a Canadian media figure and a former Christian evangelist. Known in the 1940s and 1950s as a leading evangelist, he became an agnostic and later embraced atheism after stru ...

took possession of the church as preacher in 1941. Templeton founded the church as an independent congregation. Templeton and his wife decided to rent the empty building for $100 a month, even without a congregation. Under his leadership, the new independent congregation grew until Templeton went into debt to pay for the construction of a balcony to accommodate their larger numbers. It was soon after the balcony was completed that the structure was severely damaged by fire, in 1944. The building was repaired through donations from supporters across Canada and the United States. The church later became associated with the

Christian and Missionary Alliance The Alliance World Fellowship (or The Alliance, also C&MA and CMA) is an evangelicalism, evangelical Christian denomination It includes 6.2 million members throughout 88 countries within 22,000 churches. History The Alliance has its origins in ...

denomination, after becoming the

Church of the Nazarene The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism during the late 19th century. The denomination has its headquarters in Lenexa, Kansas. and it ...

. In the mid-1970s, the growing congregation left the downtown area to found the Bayview Glen Church in Thornhill, Ontario. During the congregation's move, there was controversy surrounding the sale of the church building to a buyer who represented a Hare Krishna group. After the demolition permit was denied, it has since become Canada's largest Hare Krishna place of worship.

References

External links

Avenue Road Church
(Toronto Architectural Conservancy webpage)
Historic photos of Avenue Road Church

History of Bayview Glen Church
(originally founded as Avenue Road Church)
Toronto Hare Krishna Temple
(current occupant of the former church building) {{Coord, 43.676951, N, 79.397112, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title United Church of Canada churches in Toronto Gothic Revival architecture in Toronto Gothic Revival church buildings in Canada