St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church (Sherbrooke, Que.)

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, formerly known as the First Presbyterian Church, Sherbrooke, was organized in Sherbrooke in 1864, after many Scottish Presbyterian families had arrived in the city to work in the Paton mills. At that time, there was no church, manse nor property. The Congregation met in a theatre, which had formerly belonged to a Congregational Church. In 1888, a new church was built on the same site and this became St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. With the Church Union of 1925, the congregation lost one-tenth of its members as they joined the United Church of Canada. In July, 1999, the church building on Frontenac Street suffered extensive damage during a severe storm, which shifted some of its walls and destroyed a portion of the roof as well as two stained glass windows. Rather than attempt to restore the old building, it was decided to build a new church, which was erected in Lennoxville and inaugurated in 2004. Today, the Church is still active. St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church is under the jurisdiction of the Presbytery of Quebec of the Synod of Quebec and Eastern Ontario of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. The Church is governed by the congregation and the church courts (board of managers and session) in co-operation with committees, organizations and societies within the Church, such as the Sunday School and the Women's Missionary Society.