Knox Christian Reformed Church is a Christian Reformed Church congregation located in Cochrane, Ontario, Canada. We arose from the union of Cochrane Christian Reformed Church and Knox Presbyterian Church so our history as a congregation extends back over 100 years.
The first official record of Knox Presbyterian Church in Cochrane, Ontario was February 28, 1908 making it one of the oldest churches in town. The original building was destroyed in the Great Porcupine Fire of 1911 and the new building was completed and opened on June 14, 1912 and that remained the physical home of the Knox Presbyterian congregation until the merger.
The original members of Cochrane Christian Reformed Church first met in November 1949 with official church leadership installed in the fall of 1950. The congregation first met in Clute, Ontario. The history of cooperation between these two congregations began in the early 1950’s when the Cochrane CRC congregation met in the Knox Presbyterian building while the permanent CRC building was being constructed. Cochrane CRC moved into the current location in February 1954.
The paths of these two congregations would cross formally again in the 1970’s when their youth groups and Sunday school classes met together.
Throughout the decades both churches thrived but, as is common in many places, with young people moving away and others aging both congregations declined. By around 2010 it was becoming clear that neither congregation was viable. Each congregation had certain tremendous strengths but each also had certain major weaknesses rendering continuing much longer untenable. Both congregations still however had a core of very faithful individuals who were convinced that God in his sovereignty still had something in store for their congregations.
An improbable meeting in a Cochrane fast food restaurant parking lot early in 2011 played a role in helping set into motion a chain of events that would ultimately lead to the merger. Leadership from both congregations eventually began discussions through which it became clear that the relative strengths of each congregation balanced out perfectly, each being able to provide what the other was missing. The decision was made to begin to hold joint services and the agreed upon location was at Cochrane CRC. On Sunday December 4, 2011 Knox Presbyterian held their final service in their building and commencing January 2012 joint services were held at the Cochrane CRC location.
As was to be expected, there was a bit of a feeling out process at first but it was remarkably smooth with each group fully accepting the other. By 2015 it was impossible to tell that the congregation actually consisted of two groups and the decision was made early in 2015 at the Knox Presbyterian annual congregational meeting, in collaboration with the Cochrane CRC Council, to fold Knox Presbyterian Church. After that all active members of Knox became members of Cochrane CRC by way of transfer and the two congregations became one.
In order to honour the intertwined history of both groups and to demonstrate unity and to reflect a new beginning, at the April 2016 annual congregational meeting the congregation voted to change the name from Cochrane Christian Reformed Church to Knox Christian Reformed Church. The new name is a blend of the two original congregational names, Cochrane Christian Reformed Church and Knox Presbyterian Church. Taking equal parts from each name reflects both the equality and unity of the merger.
This new name however not only reflects the intertwined history of our two originating congregations, it also reflects the intertwined history of the Reformed and Presbyterian denominations in general, a history which dates back centuries to the Reformation of the 1500’s. Presbyterian churches trace their origin back to the reformer John Knox (1513-1572), while Reformed churches trace their origin back to the reformer John Calvin (1509-1564). John Knox was a pupil of Calvin in Geneva for several years and so in a sense the connected history between Knox Presbyterian Church and Cochrane Christian Reformed Church can be traced back to the 1500’s. A fuller account of the Christian Reformed Church can be found through the following link;
History of the Christian Reformed Church
The first official record of Knox Presbyterian Church in Cochrane, Ontario was February 28, 1908 making it one of the oldest churches in town. The original building was destroyed in the Great Porcupine Fire of 1911 and the new building was completed and opened on June 14, 1912 and that remained the physical home of the Knox Presbyterian congregation until the merger.
The original members of Cochrane Christian Reformed Church first met in November 1949 with official church leadership installed in the fall of 1950. The congregation first met in Clute, Ontario. The history of cooperation between these two congregations began in the early 1950’s when the Cochrane CRC congregation met in the Knox Presbyterian building while the permanent CRC building was being constructed. Cochrane CRC moved into the current location in February 1954.
The paths of these two congregations would cross formally again in the 1970’s when their youth groups and Sunday school classes met together.
Throughout the decades both churches thrived but, as is common in many places, with young people moving away and others aging both congregations declined. By around 2010 it was becoming clear that neither congregation was viable. Each congregation had certain tremendous strengths but each also had certain major weaknesses rendering continuing much longer untenable. Both congregations still however had a core of very faithful individuals who were convinced that God in his sovereignty still had something in store for their congregations.
An improbable meeting in a Cochrane fast food restaurant parking lot early in 2011 played a role in helping set into motion a chain of events that would ultimately lead to the merger. Leadership from both congregations eventually began discussions through which it became clear that the relative strengths of each congregation balanced out perfectly, each being able to provide what the other was missing. The decision was made to begin to hold joint services and the agreed upon location was at Cochrane CRC. On Sunday December 4, 2011 Knox Presbyterian held their final service in their building and commencing January 2012 joint services were held at the Cochrane CRC location.
As was to be expected, there was a bit of a feeling out process at first but it was remarkably smooth with each group fully accepting the other. By 2015 it was impossible to tell that the congregation actually consisted of two groups and the decision was made early in 2015 at the Knox Presbyterian annual congregational meeting, in collaboration with the Cochrane CRC Council, to fold Knox Presbyterian Church. After that all active members of Knox became members of Cochrane CRC by way of transfer and the two congregations became one.
In order to honour the intertwined history of both groups and to demonstrate unity and to reflect a new beginning, at the April 2016 annual congregational meeting the congregation voted to change the name from Cochrane Christian Reformed Church to Knox Christian Reformed Church. The new name is a blend of the two original congregational names, Cochrane Christian Reformed Church and Knox Presbyterian Church. Taking equal parts from each name reflects both the equality and unity of the merger.
This new name however not only reflects the intertwined history of our two originating congregations, it also reflects the intertwined history of the Reformed and Presbyterian denominations in general, a history which dates back centuries to the Reformation of the 1500’s. Presbyterian churches trace their origin back to the reformer John Knox (1513-1572), while Reformed churches trace their origin back to the reformer John Calvin (1509-1564). John Knox was a pupil of Calvin in Geneva for several years and so in a sense the connected history between Knox Presbyterian Church and Cochrane Christian Reformed Church can be traced back to the 1500’s. A fuller account of the Christian Reformed Church can be found through the following link;
History of the Christian Reformed Church
|
|