Documents & Records
Church Records - Presbyterian
Basics
The Presbyterians, together with the Methodists, were the earliest and most active church group ministering to the Chinese community in Canada. In Montreal, a Presbyterian Mission began in the 1880s. Toronto's Chinese Presbyterian Church was established in 1905.
On the Prairies, a Presbyterian mission started in Calgary in 1901, while a 1914 survey of "Non-Anglo Saxon Races" indicated that Presbyterian churches in both Moose Jaw and Saskatoon were seeking ways to minister to their Chinese communities. In Winnipeg, Presbyterian work among the Chinese had started informally in 1890, and a mission jointly funded by the Methodists and Presbyterians started in 1910.
For additional information about Presbyterian missions in Western Canada, including among the Chinese, see:
Western Challenge: The Presbyterian Church in Canada's Mission on the Prairies and North, 1885-1925 (2000)
Bush, Peter
266.00971 B97w
In British Columbia, the Victoria Presbyterian Gospel Hall for Chinese was established in 1892, and was upgraded in 1899 to First Presbyterian Chinese Church.
Finding the Records
At United Church Archives
A majority of Presbyterian churches in Canada joined the Methodist and Congregational Churches in 1925, forming the United Church of Canada. Archival collections were also merged. For more information, see Church Records - United.
At Presbyterian Church in Canada Archives and Records Office
About one-third of the Presbyterian churches did not join the newly formed United Church in 1925. Records of these churches are held by The Presbyterian Church in Canada Archives and Records Office.
Online
Victoria History Archives 1892 to 2004: Photos and Stories is a web-based exhibit about the historic Chinese Presbyterian Church in Victoria, B.C.. The exhibit includes many photographs of Chinese individuals.
Photo banner: Detail from VPL Historical Photograph 78362
