This web page is part of "Bytown or Bust, History and Genealogy in the Ottawa, Canada area".

The following photograph shows Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Ottawa. The property for
the church was donated by Nicholas Sparks, one of the pioneers in Bytown / Ottawa. The
church is located on Sparks Street, across from the Library and Archives Building. 
Keywords King Arnoldi, John Strachan, St. Alban's Anglican Church.

Photo Source: Anglicanism in the Ottawa Valley: Essays for the Centenary of the Diocese of Ottawa, page 48



United Church of Canada, including it's antecedents (some Methodist and some Presbyterian)
The United Church of Canada is Canada's largest Protestant Church. It was formed by "Church Union" in 1927, if I remember correctly.

The Presbyterian Church in Canada

August 23, 2002:
Archives of The United Church of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario.(1)
Montreal and Ottawa Conference Archives
City of Ottawa Archives
174 Stanley Avenue
Ottawa, ON  K1M 1P1
Phone: 613-742-5014
Fax: 613-742-5113

(1) This address was posted to the Eastern Ontario History and Genealogy List 
by Robert Crawford on August 22, 2002... Al


April 6, 2011:

United Church of Canada Archives in Toronto. This is a great facility where you can view original registries as well as microfiche. 

www.united-church.ca or archives@united-church.ca. 

I was there recently and was able to handle the registry for the small church that had been on my great great grandparents property 
on the 3rd concession.

And you can read on-line a book by George F. Playter (History of Methodism in Canada) at - 

http://www.archive.org/stream/historymethodis00playgoog#page/n10/mode/2up



... Taylor Kennedy


January 1, 2010:

Hello:

May I ask for a link update found at this link: http://bytown.net/protchur.htm

The link for the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa is: http://www.ottawa.anglican.ca

The link for the Diocesan Archives is: http://www.ottawa.anglican.ca/Archives.html

The link for Christ Church Cathedral of Ottawa is: http://www.ottawa.anglican.ca/cathedral/index.html

Thank you;

Anglican Diocese of Ottawa 
Web Master 
December 2, 2010:

We have received an inquiry today regarding the composition of the early Protestant Churches in the Ottawa area.
From the time of the founding of the settled part of the Ottawa Valley by Philomen Wright in 1800, religion
has played a major part in the social and cultural life of our area. For most families, the church was the
centre of activities and guided their lives.

Philomen Wright and his settlers were members of the Congregationalist Church. Over time, some of these
families became associated with the Anglican (Episcopal) Church which had broken away from the Roman Catholic Church
at the time of King Henry VIII. St. James Anglican Church and Cemetery in Hull (now Gatineau), Quebec, became the
foremost Anglican Church in this area in the early 1800's. 

Other "protesting" sects formed their own versions of Protestantism: the Lutherans (Martin Luther), Methodists (John Wesley), 
Presbyterians (John Calvin), Baptists and various evangelical churches (Pentecostal, etc.).

  



The following excerpt is from A Concise History of Christianity in Canada (pages 276-277)
It is a terrific book for any Canadian library.




Another Protestant Church was established in the Ottawa area -- see our web page The Holiness Movement in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec.

March 11, 2010:

The Protestant Church in Canada has, for the most part, been composed of centralized, top-down denominations. 
The growth in recent years towards a more evangelical Protestantism in the Ottawa area (e.g. Bethel Pentecostal Church 
and Woodvale Pentecostal Church) has been mainly at the expense of the old, downtown, established churches.

Democratization of the Protestant churches in the USA happened to a great extent during the period 1780 to 1830.

Nathan Hatch has written a very interesting book called The Democratization of American Christianity. Read my Book Review.

... Al
___________________________________________

Image Sources, below: Concise Dictionary of Christianity in America

   

June 19, 2010:

Thanks to Sue for the following example of how important religion was to our ancestors. Changing denominations among Protestant
churches was relatively common and not remarkable. However, for persons changing from a Protestant church to the Roman Catholic
Church (or vice versa) often caused problems within families. The receiving churches welcomed new converts triumphally.

Hi Al;
 
I don't know if this would be worth mentioning in your site, but just in case it is, here it is:
 
 
From the Daily Gazette & Bulletin (of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA) of February 19, 1886 (front page)
 
A French Catholic Turns Presbyterian
OTTAWA, Feb. 18. - Luddger Blanchet, a member of one of the leading French Catholic families of Canada, 
has joined the Presbyterian church, creating a sensation.  He is a nephew of the late Catholic 
Bishop Blanchet of Oregon, brother of Jean Blanchet, secretary of state in Quebec, and nephew of J.G. Blanchet, 
late speaker of the Canadian House of Commons.
  
Sue


  


October 6, 2010:

Interior of a pioneer Anglican Church in Eastern Ontario
The buildings were heated by wood stoves - note the chimney pipes.
The pews were hand-made by members of the Congregation.
Also shown is a cluster of coal-oil lamps forming a chandelier.



 January 20, 2012:

BOOK - St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Ottawa - Baptism, Marriage and Death Records 1829-1949 
By Donald A. McKenzie, Published by Global Heritage Press, Milton, 2011. The congregation was organized in 1828 and the 
first minister arrived in the summer of 1829. Since that time, the baptisms, marriages and deaths of many founding families in 
Bytown / Ottawa have been recorded by the various ministers of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. This book contains 
transcriptions of those records. Donald A. Mackenzie spent many hundreds of hours at Library and Archives Canada 
transcribing the records of the original entries from St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church from microfilm. The transcriptions 
of the baptism, marriage and burial records are recorded in seven volumes, all of which are included in this one book.
ISBN 978-1-926797-49-6 (Hardcover) ISBN 978-1-926797-53-3 (Book on CD)

You can order this book over the Internet from the Global Genealogy, Inc. bookstore.

... Al