Welcome to Emmanuel United Church

A favourite pastime in Peterborough during the mid-1870s was to walk north on George Street to see what our faith ancestors, the Methodists, were building, for they had commissioned Henry Langley who had designed the Metropolitan Methodist Church in Toronto to create a larger spiritual home. The church was designed by noted Toronto architect Henry Langley and closely resembles the Metropolitan United Church in Toronto that he designed. The basement was dug in 1873. The building was closed-in in 1874, and the church was formally dedicated on Christmas Day in 1875. Pews were “let” on Dec. 27th and this practice continued until 1905. The 40-foot Tower was completed in 1891. The adjoining Sunday School Building was built in 1926-27 with nearly 1,000 children attending. The total cost to build was $60,000.00, which is equivalent in purchasing power to about $1,715,672.73 today. Following the 1925 union of Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregationalist churches, the denomination changed to the United Church of Canada – George Street United Church. In 2016, George Street United and St. Andrew’s United amalgamated to become Emmanuel United Church. St. Andrew’s United Church was designed by Henry Bauld Gordon and constructed in 1885 and opened in 1886. It was the first church in Peterborough to have electricity. Emmanuel United is a designated Ontario Heritage Building. Sources: A Brief History of George Street Methodist Church and its successor George Street United Church, 1961. A Supplement to a Centennial History of George Street United Church Peterborough, 1985