Cross Roads Christian Church

Relocated site with some alterations. Without the front vestibule, the exterior is the same as the original.

• Original wood frame structure.
  
• Placement and style of windows same as original.
  
• No foundation; church sat on stones.

Cross Roads Christian Church is the oldest Christian Disciples Church in Canada. Established in 1810.

The Church at Cross Roads was founded in 1810 by John R. Stewart, an immigrant from Perthshire, Scotland. The first Meeting House was a log cabin built in 1813; it was a small building (30'x20') with no plaster, pews, pulpit or anything to mark it as a House of Prayer. Construction of the present church began in 1836, the lawyers for the Estate of Peter DesBrisay Stewart leased one acre of land for the cemetery and Meeting House for 999 years at a rental rate of one shilling Sterling per acre, payable every December 25th, with the provision that people of all faiths could use the burial grounds and the Meeting House could be used by others, if not in use at that time by the local congregation. By the turn of the century, Cross Roads had lost many of its member through death and migration to other parts of Canada and the US. However, the members continued to meet on Sunday mornings. In 1925, the church was rededicated and extensive repairs were made to the building. A false ceiling was put in, and the upper windows were removed on the sides.
Due to many reasons, the church closed for regular services in 1972, only annual anniversary services were held up to 1987. During that time, the church was vandalized and in major need of repair. In 1987, a major renovation was undertaken with the original interior ceiling, added in 1925, returned back to the original shape of 1836. This resulted in the upper set of windows being reopened. Also, the original construction of the building was revealed. Pegged mortise and tenon joints, hand-hewn timbers, hand-riven or split laths, horsehair plaster, and hand made nails were found. All the frame timbers were hand-hewn on three sides and the fourth side seemed to be sawed with perhaps a pit axe.
Apart from some of the sills and the floor, most of the frame was a solid as it was in 1836. It was also at this time, that the building was moved 30 feet back from its original site to accommodate parking and the new entrance to the property.
On August 7, 1988 the church was officially reopened for regular services, for the first time since 1972.