Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Centennial Methodist Church was established in Toronto in 1891, on the centenary of John Wesley's death. The congregation had previously been known as the Dovercourt Methodist Church. A new church was built in 1906 at 701 Dovercourt Road, south of Bloor Street. By the 1980s the congregation had dwindled in size and Centennial Church amalgamated with the Toronto Japanese Church in 1986.
The Toronto Japanese Church was established in 1946 by Japanese Canadians who had met in the Church of All Nations in Toronto prior to World War II. There were two congregations, the Issei (first generation) and the Nisei (second generation), the former conducting services in the native language, while the latter took English-language services. In 1950 the congregations moved to Queen Street United, and settled at Centennial in 1958, sharing facilities with the Centennial congregation. In 1986 the Nisei congregation was amalgamated with the Centennial congregation.
In January 2006, Centennial - Japanese United Church and Toronto Japanese United Church relocated to 49 Bogert Avenue, the site of the former Lansing United Church.In September 2011, Centennial-Japanese United Church moved to Oriole -York Mills United Church. Later late year, in November, Toronto Japanese United Church (Nisei congregation) amalagamated with Centennial-Japanese United Church.
Centennial-Japanese United Church and Oriole-York Mills United Church amalgamated in 2014 to form Bayview United Church. It is still an active congregation of the United Church of Canada.