First Presbyterian Church is a historic

Presbyterian Church in Canada The Presbyterian Church in Canada (french: Église presbytérienne du Canada) is a Presbyterian denomination, serving in Canada under this name since 1875. The United Church of Canada claimed the right to the name from 1925 to 1939. According to ...

congregation and Gothic Revival

church building A church, church building or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256. From the 11th thr ...

in the city's

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, Canada. The congregation celebrated its 125th anniversary in November 2006.

History

The Organizational Meeting for this congregation was held on November 3, 1881, and the first building opened at 104 Street and 99 Avenue a year later. The second structure was completed and dedicated in July 1902 at 103 Street and Jasper Avenue. The present building was completed in November 1912. In September 1978 the building was designated a Provincial Historic Resource.

Notable ministers

A notable minister was The Rev. David George McQueen, DD, LLD who served for 43 years, starting in 1887 upon graduation from

Knox College, University of Toronto , mottoeng = The word gives light , established = , religious_affiliation = Presbyterian Church , type = Federated theological college , principal = Ernest van Eck , city = Tor ...

, and guided the formation of numerous congregations in the area. He served as

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states t ...

in 1912 (hosted by First in the second building) and as "Interim Moderator" in 1925, before Ephraim Scott was elected to resume the "Continuing Presbyterian Church". McQueen's predecessor and FPC's founding Minister was Rev. Andrew Browning Baird, DD, who arrived in Edmonton before the arrival of the railway, but left Edmonton for a professorship at

Manitoba College Manitoba College was a college that existed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from 1871 to 1967, when it became one of the University of Winnipeg's founding colleges. It was one of the first institutions of higher learning in the city of Winnipeg an ...

(and like his successor, was also PCC Moderator, in 1916). It is said that McQueen was a staunch opponent of Church Union in 1925, and that First Presbyterian Edmonton was the seat of the "rebellion" which saw 1/3 of the Presbyterian Church remain independent of the newly formed United Church of Canada.

References

External links

First Presbyterian Church of Edmonton
Churches in Edmonton Presbyterian churches in Canada Provincial Historic Resources in Edmonton Gothic Revival architecture in Edmonton Presbyterian organizations established in the 19th century Brick Gothic Gothic Revival church buildings in Canada Municipal Historic Resources of Edmonton 20th-century Presbyterian church buildings in Canada {{Edmonton-stub