| Bond Street Congregational Church | |
Bond Street Congregational Church
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| Location | 1066 Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario, |
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| Country | Canada |
| Denomination | United Church of Canada |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Cathedral |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architectural type | Norman-Gothic |
St. James-Bond United Church, 1066 Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario, was a United Church of Canada Congregation from 1928 to 2005, when it merged with Fairlawn Heights United Church (now Fairlawn Avenue United Church) in the Yonge Street and Lawrence Avenue area.
Prior to the 1928 merger, these were downtown congregations of the Presbyterian and Congregational traditions. The St. James-Bond building was vacated on February 28, 2006. The building was torn down in the summer of 2006 and it has been reported that the site will be used for a senior's centre.
The building had been used by Elections Canada for a polling place. In 2008, some voters were mistakenly told to vote at the church, instead of at the new polling place (Marshall McLuhan High School).[1]
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Located east of Yonge Street on Dundas Street, moved uptown in 1927, to a growing suburban development north of Eglinton Avenue. The Bond Street building was acquired by a pentecostal Church, Evangel Temple. The building was destroyed by fire after Evangel Temple moved to the Hoggs Hollow area, near Yonge and York Mills on September 19, 1981[2].
Located on Gerrard Street, just east of Yonge, on the present site of Ryerson University's St. James Square Campus, this was the third building of the Second United Presbyterian Church of Toronto. It was built in 1879, replacing a much smaller building on nearby Gould Street that had been built by architect William Hay in 1855.
The United Presbyterian Church's Canadian Synod approved the division of their Toronto, Canada West Bay Street United Presbyterian Church congregation in 1853 to assist in the move of their Divinity Hall from London, Ontario to Toronto. In 1861, the merger of the UPC to the Free Church, saw the Divinity School merge with Knox College, and Gould Street Church grew under the leadership of:
Both congregations joined the United Church of Canada in 1925. Each had declined as Toronto grew, and parishioners joined congregations closer to their homes; some started by the respective congregations.
St James Square was the "parent" of College Street United Church and St John's Presbyterian Church, Toronto.
Bond Street was the parent of Birchcliff Church in Scarborough Township (now Birchcliff Bluffs United Church).
Bond Street was the first to move into a new area, joined by their former downtown neighbour a year later.