Burns Presbyterian Church Mosa

Founded by twelve families in approximately 1835, the first Presbyterian Church of Mosa was a modest pioneer log building on a site across from the present-day church. That original structure was soon judged unsuitable, and the congregation moved worship services to the barn of Hugh McLaughlin, the first farm west of Kilmartin, where the traveling minister Rev. Duncan McMillan conducted services in Gaelic. In 1864 the congregation built the original manse, and in 1867 it erected its first brick church. The church's first inducted minister was Rev. William R. Sutherland. The brick church became the community's social centre and led to the formation of the first women's missionary society in 1886. After serving the congregation for twenty-five years, renovations revealed structural weaknesses in its walls, and the present-day Presbyterian Church was built in 1891. The new church received its first musical organ in 1899, but the instrument caused controversy and was used only for evening worship services until 1901. The first wedding in the church took place in 1902. By 1915, Burns Presbyterian Church had a membership of 219 residents, and electricity was installed in both the church and the manse in 1939.

Ontario · Canada