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Church of St. John the Evangelist
Church of St. John the Evangelist
Location	137 President Kennedy Ave.; Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Denomination	Anglican Church of Canada
Churchmanship	Anglo-Catholic
Website	www.redroof.ca
History
Status	Active
Founded	1861
Founder(s)	Father Edmund Wood
Dedication	St. John the Evangelist
Dedicated	1878
Consecrated	1905
Architecture
Architect(s)	William Tutin Thomas
Architectural type	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1877
Completed	1878
Administration
Province	Canada
Diocese	Montreal
Deanery	Hochelaga
Clergy
Rector	Keith Schmidt
Priest(s)	Wendy Telfer ; Marc-Philippe Vincent
Assistant priest(s)	Susan Searle ; Richard Cawley
Laity
Organist/Director of music	Federico Andreoni

St. John the Evangelist is a parish of the Anglican Diocese of Montreal in the Anglican Church of Canada in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The building is located in downtown Montreal, nested within Université du Québec à Montréal campus buildings and Quartier des Spectacles, at 137 President Kennedy Avenue.

The Church of St. John the Evangelist's orientation is Anglo-Catholic, or High Church. It is the last remaining church in Quebec to maintain this style of worship within the tradition of the Canadian Book of Common Prayer (BCP). The church is often known as the "Red Roof Church".

Solemn High Mass is celebrated on Sundays and feast days and Solemn Evensong and Benediction several Sundays a year. Mass is during the week in French on Tuesdays and in English on Thursdays.

The church is part of the Conseil du Patrimoine religieux du Québec.^[1]

History

The Church of St. John the Evangelist was established in 1861 by Father Edmund Wood, to bring the Oxford Movement to Canada. In 1878 it built the current church on President-Kennedy.

St. Michael's Mission was founded by the parish in the 1920's. It was based in the church from the 1960's until 2022.

The parish of Saint-Benoît-de-Nursie, a French-language congregation of the Orthodox Church in America, worshipped in the Chapel of Our Lady of Walsingham in the church's crypt from 1990 to 2020.

2020s Financial Troubles

Necessary repairs to the building have proven to be beyond the financial capacity of the current congregation. Various plans to develop the property have so far not come to fruition, despite several years of efforts by a dedicated committee.^[2]

In December 2022, St. Michael's Mission moved to St. George's Anglican Church,^[3] where it continues its ministry to the homeless.

An initial vote at a Vestry meeting on April 15, 2023, endorsed a motion to authorize the Diocese to sell the church. The income from the investments after the sale of the church would be used to allow the congregation to maintain its distinctive style of Anglo-Catholic worship in a different place. At a subsequent Vestry meeting on July 16, 2023, this vote was overturned and a committee was set up to explore other options for continuing in the present church without selling the property.^{[citation needed]}

Popular culture

The building has starred alongside Nick Nolte in the film Affliction, and in the Quebec science-fiction television series Dans une galaxie près de chez vous. It has also been used as a set for several popular Quebec films, including La Bolduc and Karmina.

Notable people

Brooke Claxton, politician
Sir Edward Clouston, banker
Sir George Alexander Drummond, senator
Heward Grafftey, politician
Prudence Heward, artist
John Hamilton, senator
Sir William Osler, physician
Frederick George Scott, poet and curate
Sir Campbell Stuart, newspaper magnate
Sir William Fenwick Williams, Crimean War general

References

^ "Église Saint John the Evangelist". Inventaire des Lieux de Culte du Québec. Conseil du patrimoine religieux du Québec. Archived from the original on 2008-06-21. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
^ Christian Britschgi. "Historic Preservation Laws Are Stopping This Historic Church From Preserving Itself". Reason. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
^ Isaac Olson; Kwabena Oduro. "Montreal mission forced to move as 'Red Roof Church' faces uncertain future". CBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2023.

"Centenary Book of the Parish of St. John the Evangelist, Montreal, 1861-1961" by St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church, Montreal, Quebec Call Number 365.2.J.03.0