Yorkminster Park Baptist Church is located at 1585 Yonge St (at Heath St E on the northeast corner) in the Deer Park neighbourhood of Toronto.
Built in 1927/28, architects George, Moorhouse & King designed the church, the congregation’s sixth, in the Gothic Revival style.
A Timeline of the Congregation
- Dating back to 1929, the first services were held just southeast of King St E and Yonge St.
- By the late 1860s, the church became Bond Street Baptist Church, just northeast of Queen St E and Yonge St.
- In early 1870, a Sunday School mission began in the village of Yorkville followed by regular prayer meetings.
- In the summer of 1870, a little chapel was built on Scollard St. The following year, it offically became the Yorkville Baptist Church.
- With its congregation growing, a larger space was needed. Renown Toronto architect, EJ Lennox was commissioned to design the church’s fifth structure. Built in 1882/84, the church was located Bloor St W and Bay St, on the southeast corner. It was renamed Bloor Street Baptist Church. By the early 1920s, the congregation had expanded so much that evening services were held at the nearby Uptown Theatre.
- The evergrowing congregation had to once again move. In 1928, the church moved to the then northern suburbs at Yonge St and Heath St and was renamed Yorkminster Baptist Church.
In 1961, Park Road Baptist Church (once at Park Rd and Asquith Ave) united with Yorkminster Baptist Church’s congregation. The church was renamed Yorkminster Park Baptist Church.
Yorkminster Park Baptist Church Photos
Bloor Street Baptist Church (previous church)
Park Road Baptist Church
SOURCE
- Landmarks of Toronto: Volume 4 by J Ross Robertson (1904), pgs 430-434
- Yorkminster Park Baptist Church: Brief History (1829 to present)
- Photos: Denise Marie for TorontoJourney416
- Vintage Photos: City of Toronto Archives & Toronto Public Library
- Vintage Map: Atlas of the City of Toronto 1899 by Chas E Goad from the Toronto Public Library