Page 20 ) The West Side Kirk |
The West Side Kirk began its life as a Presbyterian church. Before its construction, members met in a Women's Christian Temperance Union hall on King Street. The Kirk was dedicated on May 10th, 1857, and remained a Presbyterian congregation until June 10th, 1925, when its members joined the seventy per cent of Canadian Presbyterians to help form the United Church of Canada. |
| In May of 1968, after some thirty years of on-and-off discussions, the
congregations of the West Side Kirk and the Carleton United Church voted to
amalgamate in the Kirk. A service of consumation was performed on October 17th
of that year. A congregational meeting in April of 1972 approved plans to build a new church. Just one year later, the Kirk burned to the ground; nothing of the structure was left, though many artifacts were rescued or recovered, including the church records, some stained-glass windows, and the church bell. |
) The old Carleton Methodist Church |
) The interior of the Carleton United Church |
The sod-turning ceremony for the new church was held in 1975, the cornerstone for the new Carleton-Kirk United Church was laid on June 20th, 1976, and the church offices were moved into the new building in 1976. The steeple bell recovered from the Kirk and the Casavant pipe organ from the old Carleton United Church were installed in the new church. |
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