St. John's Anglican Church
St. John's describes itself as a Christian community within the Anglican tradition with a strong history of liturgical worship and choral music, offering 'ourselves, our souls and bodies' to foster faith in Jesus Christ. Its four priorities are to proclaim the love of Christ, to engage and involve people, musical outreach, and open doors.
The Parish of St. John the Evangelist was formed in 1830, and its first Elora church was built in 1842 at the south end of the village. The present church, at the northeast corner of Henderson and Smith Streets, was built in 1875 to replace it: a one-storey red brick building in the Gothic Revival style designed by architect Henry Langley, with buttresses, vaulted arches, steeply pitched gable roofs, cast iron rooftop cresting and stained glass. The parish holds a communion set reportedly donated by Florence Nightingale to its rector of 1852–1857, and the Elora Festival was founded in the church in 1979.
St. John’s is known for its choral work; it maintains volunteer and parish choirs, a Compline choir, an organ program and a concert series, and its 2021 visioning process named musical outreach as one of four priorities. The Open Doors project added St John’s Commons with a commercial kitchen and two accessible washrooms. The parish belongs to the Anglican Church of Canada in the Diocese of Niagara.
What to expect
Services use the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and the Book of Alternative Services (BAS). The 9:00 a.m. Eucharist has a volunteer choir on alternate weeks, and the 11:00 a.m. service is sung by the Parish Choir, alternating between Choral Communion and Choral Matins.
About this listing
This entry has not been verified with the congregation yet. Sources: stjohnselora.ca, historicplaces.ca, centrewellington.ca. Something wrong? Suggest an edit.