Churches in the Montague Area

Historic Churches

If you are an architecture buff, you will particularly enjoy exploring some of the older churches in the area, which feature some unique characteristics.

Church of Christ, Montague
Located on Main Street North, this impressive structure is one of the first thing visitors to the area notice. It is "one of the most elegantly proportioned buildings" on Prince Edward Island. It is in the Italianate style, with tall, round-headed windows, and a "compact verticality." It was built of brick made locally at Stewart's Brick Works, and is still in excellent condition. The architect, John McLellan, owned a copy of a richly illustrated book called Chapel and Chapel Architecture, and seems to have combined two designs from it into one. The first was in the typical round-headed window Italianate style which gave its shape to the building. The pagoda-like tower roof, however, seems to have come from an entirely different design. The Church of Christ dates back to 1876, and was built by a group of independent Baptist congregations separated from the Three Rivers Baptist Church.

Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Georgetown
This fully restored church on Kent Square was originally completed in 1842. It is typical of early Anglican churches in the Maritimes, with a battlemented square tower. In the 1860s the church was enlarged and the nave windows with perpendicular Gothic tracery were added.

St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church, Sturgeon
Constructed primarily of Island sandstone, this church was built in 1888. St. Paul's was William Harris' (a famous Island architect) first Roman Catholic Church, as well as his first stone church. Its design in essentially French Gothic, though it displays the "monumentality of the Romanesque Revival spirit." The stone blocks used to build the church, quarried at nearby St. Mary's Road, diminish in size with the height of the walls. This "contributes to the verticality of the building, along with the high nave, lancet windows, and asymmetrical steeple with broach spire."

All Saints' Roman Catholic Church, Cardigan Bridge
This Roman Catholic Church was completed in 1874 and is located on a "lovely rise" just north of the Cardigan River. The style is French Gothic Revival, with elements such as decorative cornerboards, eave bracketing, tall Gothic windows and a three-staged, buttressed tower. The sanctuary contains one of the last surviving rolling pulpits on the Island, though it is no longer used. Inside, it contains a beautiful Gothic altar, built of Italian marble and Nova Scotia freestone. All the panels of the altar table and arches are filled with a white marble with pale grey veining, upon which are carved various sacred symbols.

St. John's Presbyterian Church, Belfast (Pinette)
The Selkirk settlers from the Highlands of Scotland completed this church in 1826. They were directed by Robert Jones, a cabinet-maker from Paisley, Scotland. The style is basic neo-Classic meeting house architecture with superimposed elements of the Gothic Revival. It is the earliest existing Presbyterian church on the Island, and displays nave windows with Gothic tracery, a nicely proportioned tiered bell tower and spire, and "delightful" four panel entry doors. The original hardwood shingles remain to this day. Until 1910 English speaking and Gaelic parishioners held separate services, and accommodated nearly 2000 people, with the help of a large frame structure beside the church called the "tent".

Above information from
The Historic Churches of Prince Edward Island
H.M. Scott
Boston Mills Press, 1986.

If you are interested in attending a local church, Montague provides a variety of denominations and locations in which to worship. Please contact the individual churches for service time and program.

St. George's Anglican Church Douses Rd. (902) 838-3001 Montague Bible Chapel (902) 838-4048 Church of Christ Main Street North (902) 838-4189 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints MacIntyre Ave. (902) 838-4617 Montague Pentecostal Assembly (902) 838-3484 Community Baptist Church 4 Brook Street Montague United Baptist Church 26 Brook Street

United Pentecostal Church (902) 838-2382 St. Andrew Presbyterian Church (902) 838-3139 St. Mary's Roman Catholic Parish House 25 Wood Island Hill (902) 838-2253 United Church Hillcrest 50 Wood Island Hill (902) 838-2698 Free Church of Scotland Main Street Emmanuel Bible Chapel Queen's Road (902) 838-3538