Knox Church Historical Sketch
1835 – present
Records of 1830 mark the earliest reference to Presbyterianism in Goderich as a “place without a minister, but with a considerable congregation”.
The first settled minister, Rev. Alex MacKenzie, arrived in 1835 and conducted services in a log school house. The first church building was erected on East Street near the present Federal Building. Meanwhile, the Church of Scotland with Rev. McKid founded St. Andrew’s Congregation in 1844 with church and manse on Nelson Street.
1867 marked the formation of the Dominion of Canada. Eight years later, in 1875, the four branches of Presbyterianism in Canada united to become the Presbyterian Church in Canada. In Goderich, the people chose to worship in Knox Church while St. Andrew’s became a Gaelic Mission.
The Church union crisis of 1925 saw Knox congregation voting to remain within the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
On September 30, 1950, tragedy struck when the church was destroyed by fire. The decision to rebuild was taken immediately. The present edifice was dedicated in September, 1952. The architect for the new Knox Goderich was Philip Carter Johnson(1913-1976). He maintained a practice in London, Ont. Born in Regina, Saskatchewan on 10 May 1913 he graduated from the School of Architecture at the University of Michigan in Detroit in 1942 and was employed for three years by C. Howard Crane. He moved to London, Ont. in 1945 and worked as an assistant to John M. Watt before launching his own career in which he specialized in ecclesiastical buildings. In 1950 he designed the Pentecostal Tabernacle, Grand Avenue, LONDON, ONT. (C.R., lxiii, Sept. 1950, 128) and the following year prepared a decidedly modernist scheme for Knox Presbyterian Church, GODERICH, ONT.for which he received a silver Massey Medal (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxx, Jan. 1953, 18-9, illus.). Inspired by classical precedent he designed a small but elegant chapel at the Maitland Cemetery, GODERICH, ONT., in 1955 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxxiii, Dec. 1956, 468, illus.).
Knox Church has seen nine men and one woman ordained to full time ministry and four women to deaconess work at home and overseas.
A major building campaign in 1993 provided us with modern offices and made our building fully accessible for wheelchairs.
Our congregation celebrated 184 years of witness in 2019 and our prayer is that God will continue to use us as we serve him in this community.