St. Paul's-Eastern United Church is one of the oldest congregations in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

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. The stone Romanesque church building is located in the heart of downtown Ottawa ( Sandy Hill) on the corner of Daly and Cumberland Streets, near the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

and two blocks east of the

Rideau Centre The Rideau Centre () (corporately styled as CF Rideau Centre) is a three-level shopping centre on Rideau Street in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It borders on Rideau Street, the ByWard Market, the Rideau Canal, the Mackenzie King Bridge, and N ...

History

The Romanesque Revival structure was built from 1888 to 1889 for St. Paul's

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 by S.R. Badgley, architect. It originally had a large

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a relig ...

. Unfortunately the church was built on sand, and the steeple side started sinking into the ground. The steeple was therefore removed early in the 20th century, leaving the building as a relatively squat stone structure. With the creation of 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, St. Paul's merged with the nearby Eastern

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Church and got its current name. In the late part of the 20th century the church struggled. The growing

secularization In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

of Canadian society and the smaller number of people living downtown meant that the church was rarely more than half full and the

Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

had only a handful of children. More recently (2003–2021), the church had experienced a revitalization in activity, membership, finances and Sunday School involvement. Most of the new people coming to St. Paul's-Eastern were young families and young singles. St. Paul's-Eastern had a number of groups and partners who operate out of the church. They include: Jericho Road and Touch of Love. Other groups such as Girl Guides and Alcoholics Anonymous also operate out of the church.

St. Paul's today

The church closed in 2021 following the covid crisis and the congregation disbanded. By 2024, the building was temporarily used by the Église Unie St-Marc as its own church building had been unavailable with the demolition of its tower.https://www.facebook.com/story.php/?story_fbid=951092173719317&id=100064556298122

References

{{Reflist *''Ottawa: a guide to heritage structures'' City of Ottawa, Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee; managing editor, Lucy Corbin. 2001 *Harold D. Kalman ''Exploring Ottawa: an architectural guide to the nation's capital'' University of Toronto Press, 1983 United Church of Canada churches in Ottawa

History

St. Paul's today

See also

References