Comments on: Touring Montreal http://www.sowrey.org/2006/04/23/montreal-touring/ I'm a web developer who crossed the line ... I really wanted to direct! Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:23:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Danny http://www.sowrey.org/2006/04/23/montreal-touring/comment-page-1/#comment-5194 Danny Sat, 31 May 2008 08:56:29 +0000 http://www.sowrey.org/index.php/2006/04/23/united-kingdom-2006-montreal-touring/#comment-5194 Hey folks. Clifton J. MacKay was my grandfather. Thanks for the kind words about his work and ministry! Hey folks.

Clifton J. MacKay was my grandfather. Thanks for the kind words about his work and ministry!

]]> By: Geoff http://www.sowrey.org/2006/04/23/montreal-touring/comment-page-1/#comment-4720 Geoff Sat, 09 Feb 2008 20:43:24 +0000 http://www.sowrey.org/index.php/2006/04/23/united-kingdom-2006-montreal-touring/#comment-4720 Ian -- thanks for the clarifications! I know my terminology is way off, so it's always good to have someone provide the right details. Ian — thanks for the clarifications! I know my terminology is way off, so it’s always good to have someone provide the right details.

]]> By: Ian W. Craig http://www.sowrey.org/2006/04/23/montreal-touring/comment-page-1/#comment-4719 Ian W. Craig Sat, 09 Feb 2008 19:50:45 +0000 http://www.sowrey.org/index.php/2006/04/23/united-kingdom-2006-montreal-touring/#comment-4719 Enjoyed your writings - getting to it by way of Googling Known Crescent Kensington & First Church. Learned they are just now starting to downsize the Sanctuary ("Prayer Hall" is deinitely NOT Presbyterian!)- sad but necessary. I grew up at KCK (not "F" then) and can remember as a child the last addition of the large church building as well as the congregation before that fire on Dorchester (now Rene Levesque) caused the "rich" Knox Cresent" church to merge with their poorer cousins at Kensingon Church. Your comments regarding "... church itself has a long, sordid history of mergings and separations" is quite untrue - as are some of your dates! Notwithstanding you have missed out on the real sad part - which is quite unique in scale for the PCIC. After amalgamation - in the heydays- so to speak - when the previous ministers of the two congregations retired - KCK attracted quite an expositor, Clifton J. MacKay - who, while not universally loved - attracted a huge growth in the membership, assisted by the rapid development of "Benny Farm" just to the west of the church from horses into a multiple housing real estate development. Followed by even more neighbourhood expansion of what were then woods and fields to the west as far as Montreal West into suburban streets and homes - the whole growth thing got the congregation to a high point in membership of over 2,500 souls. This I point out because at that time the sanctuary was so crowded that even with 2 morning services at 9:30 and 11:00 (both full) the only way people could gain entry was for some to wait in the narthex at the back until after the "children's story" - which is when space feed up to house the overflow! While the decline has been precipitous, the Canadian pattern of chuch decline was compounded and accelerated by the mass exodus of "anglais" from the city following many FLQ mail-box bombs and the election of (doubly ironic here) Rene Levesque. All of which was most unkind to the english/scots/irish in Montreal and NDG.... Anyway some musings from a retiree with some fond memories or what was! And you can't imagime the "feel" of the place Christmas Eve and at even at regular morning services when you were at the organ bench (as I was on a regular basis!) leading the hymn-singing of such a large congregation of singers - who really knew (more than any other congregation I have played for even to this day!) how to "raise the roof!" (A couple of other minor but appropriate terminological corrections seem in order: [1] Presbyterians do not use "alters" - they are called "Communion Tables" and [2] "stage" is for theatres; in a church setting I think it's better referred to as "chancel!" (And the now-stained fibre-board roofing tiles were - in the 40's/50's the best accoustical answer to keep the organ music alive!) Enjoyed your writings - getting to it by way of Googling Known Crescent Kensington & First Church. Learned they are just now starting to downsize the Sanctuary (”Prayer Hall” is deinitely NOT Presbyterian!)- sad but necessary. I grew up at KCK (not “F” then) and can remember as a child the last addition of the large church building as well as the congregation before that fire on Dorchester (now Rene Levesque) caused the “rich” Knox Cresent” church to merge with their poorer cousins at Kensingon Church. Your comments regarding “… church itself has a long, sordid history of mergings and separations” is quite untrue - as are some of your dates! Notwithstanding you have missed out on the real sad part - which is quite unique in scale for the PCIC. After amalgamation - in the heydays- so to speak - when the previous ministers of the two congregations retired - KCK attracted quite an expositor, Clifton J. MacKay - who, while not universally loved - attracted a huge growth in the membership, assisted by the rapid development of “Benny Farm” just to the west of the church from horses into a multiple housing real estate development. Followed by even more neighbourhood expansion of what were then woods and fields to the west as far as Montreal West into suburban streets and homes - the whole growth thing got the congregation to a high point in membership of over 2,500 souls. This I point out because at that time the sanctuary was so crowded that even with 2 morning services at 9:30 and 11:00 (both full) the only way people could gain entry was for some to wait in the narthex at the back until after the “children’s story” - which is when space feed up to house the overflow! While the decline has been precipitous, the Canadian pattern of chuch decline was compounded and accelerated by the mass exodus of “anglais” from the city following many FLQ mail-box bombs and the election of (doubly ironic here) Rene Levesque. All of which was most unkind to the english/scots/irish in Montreal and NDG…. Anyway some musings from a retiree with some fond memories or what was! And you can’t imagime the “feel” of the place Christmas Eve and at even at regular morning services when you were at the organ bench (as I was on a regular basis!) leading the hymn-singing of such a large congregation of singers - who really knew (more than any other congregation I have played for even to this day!) how to “raise the roof!” (A couple of other minor but appropriate terminological corrections seem in order: [1] Presbyterians do not use “alters” - they are called “Communion Tables” and [2] “stage” is for theatres; in a church setting I think it’s better referred to as “chancel!” (And the now-stained fibre-board roofing tiles were - in the 40’s/50’s the best accoustical answer to keep the organ music alive!)

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