Our Church

The Church of St. James the Apostle’s charming Gothic Revival grey limestone structure sits on the edge of our garden surrounded by Concordia University on two sides and facing one of the busiest commercial streets in Montreal on the third one.

It is hard to tell from the outside, but origi­nally the church was a much smaller, square structure, consisting essentially of what is now the nave (1 and 2 on the plan above). It was built on land given to the community by Charles Phillips.

The building originally cost $20,000. It was designed by the architects Lawford and Nelson¹ and opened for worship on May 1, 1864. The rectory was built next to the church and was completed four years later.

Over the next 60 years as additions to the church were made, the building grew in size and took on a more cross-like shape. The nave (3) extended toward Sainte-Catherine Street in 1877. By 1886 the church needed extensive interior repairs likely due to the use of affordable but less than ideal materials in the original building.

The West Transept (4) was added in 1895, the chapel in 1896 and the enlarged chancel in 1899 (5). By 1915 the wall facing Bishop Street was settling badly. Most of it was removed, and an East Transept (6), a nave extension (7) and a new Bishop Street entrance with a tower (8) were added at a cost of $37,700. This extension was designed by architects Saxe and Archibald. That same year a rood screen and chancel side screens were installed at a cost of $3,650.

The growing community needed a parish hall and in 1924, it was built behind the rectory at a cost of $85,000. Shatford Hall (9) is still an important focal point for community and city events.

As for the rectory, it was demolished in 1937, when the Corporation of the Church decided that Sainte-Catherine Street was no longer a suitable place to bring up a family.

All of this growth and change was made under the direction of St. James the Apostle’ first two rectors, the Rev. Canon Jacob Ellegood (1864–1911) and the Rev. Canon James Shatford (1912–1935). On a typical Sunday in the 1930s, over 1200 people would regularly gather to worship at the 11:00 am service.

Today our congregation is much smaller. In 2005, under the leadership of Rev Canon Linda Borden Taylor, our current rector, and with the help of David Wigglesworth, Architect for the Diocese we began a project to recreate our space. Our objective was to create a more flexible worship space that would accommodate fewer parishioners while maintaining the volume and beauty of the church space and visible access to our windows.

Our building is the result of change: change in congregation size; change in the way we worship; change in the way we serve.

Click here to go back to tour intro.

Click here to continue your visit inside the church, with the Memorial Entrance (the Narthex).