A Brief History of Westmount Presbyterian Church

The Westmount congregation was founded by the late Rev. John Fox on May 5, 1968. The official formation of this congregation began with 81 charter members. At that time, the congregation met in the gymnasium of Arthur R. Ford Public School. By 1970, the congregation had moved to the newer Sherwood Fox Public School. In 1971, plans began for the design and construction of a church building on the southwest corner of Wonderland South and Village Green Roads. The first sod was turned on June 25, 1972, and construction began. On a mid-winter day, January 14, 1973, the congregation finally occupied its new church home for the first time. The dedication took place on the afternoon of January 21, 1973. Rev. John Fox continued his ministry at Westmount until his death on August 22, 1981.

The Rev. Dr. Robert (Bob) Robinson became Westmount’s second minister on June 12, 1983. In the fall of 1991, construction began on a new sanctuary, new offices, and a larger, more modern kitchen. The dedication of the completed expansion took place on January 12, 1992. Rev. Robinson continued to serve Westmount as its minister until October of 1999.

On October 1, 2000, the Rev. Michael J. Stol was inducted as Westmount’s third minister. And in May of 2002, the Rev. Mavis Currie began youth ministry at Westmount. Rev. Currie worked as Minister to Children, Youth and Young Families until June of 2011, when she began full-time ministry at Knox St. Thomas.

During Rev. Stol’s ministry, several changes to the church building took place. In 2009, the congregation gave permission to proceed with the expansion of the church building. The old choir room was renovated into both a youth room and an office for the Minister to Children, Youth and Young Families. There were also changes to the John Fox Memorial Hall, the Sunday School rooms, and the old, smaller kitchen. The new choir room was built on the northwest side of the existing building. In 2010, a new storage room was built on the south side of the John Fox Memorial Hall. In 2013, the Minister’s and the Church Administrator’s offices were moved to their present location at the southwest side of the building, and renovation began on the old general offices. This became the new Library and Resource Centre. On January 26, 2014, a dedication took place for the new, expanded and renovated facilities.

In early 2015, a new 3-year Strategic Plan was created and implementation began. As detailed in the plan, Sanctuary screens were installed and used for the first time during the service honouring Rev. Stol on December 20^th, 2015, prior to his retirement from full-time ministry on December 31, 2015.

In November of 2016, the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey R. Crawford began his ministry here at Westmount, with his induction taking place on December 4, 2016. During the summer of 2017, Westmount began repair to the drainage of the church property and reconstruction of the parking lot.

On May 6, 2018, Westmount celebrated 50 years as a Presbyterian congregation, with Westmount's current and past ministers leading the 50th Anniversary service together.