Knox United Church is a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church located in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and is a member church of the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...

History

Knox Presbyterian Church was established in 1883 Rev. James Robertson, Superintendent of the Western Mission for the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

in 1881. Their first church building was opened on October 21, 1883, a small wooden building. It was completed for $1000. A new, larger, building was constructed at the corner of Centre Street and Seventh Avenue. Designed to seat 330 people it was a stone construction which cost $8,000. As the congregation continued to expand, a subsequent building was erected in 1912–13 at the corner of Fourth Street and Sixth Avenue South, the site of the present day Knox United Church. The church building was designed by Calgary architects Lawson & Fordyce in consultation with

Allen & Collens Allen & Collens was an architectural partnership between Francis Richmond Allen and Charles Collens that was active from 1904 to 1931. ''See also:'' Allen had previously worked in the Boston-based partnerships Allen & Kenway (1878–91) and ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. The building is one of the most sophisticated examples of

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

in western Canada.Allen, Francis Richmond
" dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org, Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950, n. d. Accessed May 12, 2021. The church split in 1925 after some members of the congregation voted to join with the United Church of Canada. Those who wished to remain in the Presbyterian Church went on to form a new, separate congregation.

Current ministry

The church has been at front of the movement to welcome gays, lesbians and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

individuals into the United Church. In March 2007, after a vote at its annual congregational meeting, Knox became an affirming congregation, committed to work for the full inclusion and affirmation of all people in the life and work of the church. The church has one of the largest

Casavant Frères Casavant Frères is a Canadian organ building company in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, which has been building pipe organs since 1879. As of 2014, the company has produced more than 3,900 organs. Company history Brothers Joseph-Claver (1855–1933 ...

organs in western Canada. This forms the centre of a strong music program. A permanent

labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...

was opened in 2005 and is open for daily meditations. The building is now also well known throughout the area as a venue for musical concerts of all kinds and is working to become more involved in the arts community in Calgary.

References

External links

Knox United Church
{{Calgary landmarks Churches in Calgary United Church of Canada churches in Alberta 19th-century Presbyterian churches Churches completed in 1883 19th-century United Church of Canada church buildings Churches completed in 1912 1883 establishments in the Northwest Territories 20th-century churches in Canada