# Central Presbyterian Church

Presbyterian church in Hamilton, Ontario.

Source: https://hamiltons.church/churches/central-presbyterian/
Last verified: 2026-10-18

## Service times
- Sunday 10:30 a.m. (Sunday Worship Service)

The service is held in person and livestreamed on YouTube. A staffed nursery cares for children up to age 4 throughout the service, and the Faith Finders program for school-aged children meets during it, with the children returning to the sanctuary for the blessing during the last hymn. All three entrances to the sanctuary are open on Sunday mornings.

## Address
165 Charlton Avenue West, Hamilton, ON L8P 2C8

## Contact
- Phone: 905-522-9098
- Website: https://www.cpchamilton.ca
- Email: info@cpchamilton.ca
- Affiliation: Presbyterian Church in Canada (Presbytery of Hamilton)

## Accessibility
- Five accessible parking spaces in the alley behind the church

## What they believe
Central Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Church in Canada congregation in Hamilton that traces its origins to 1841. Its stated purpose is 'to worship God, grow as Jesus' disciples, care for one another, and take God's love to the world'. It worships in the Reformed tradition, welcomes all baptized people who confess faith in Jesus Christ, children included, to the Lord's Table, and describes itself as an inclusive congregation.

## What to expect
Greeters meet people at the front doors, with an adult bulletin and a children's bulletin. The service is traditional, 'open and relaxed', and in the Reformed tradition includes congregational hymns, an Affirmation of Faith, scripture readings, teaching for children and a sermon, with a choir; it lasts about an hour. People wear anything from suits and ties to jeans and T-shirts. Children are welcome to stay throughout, or may go to Faith Finders after the teaching for children and return for the blessing.

## About this congregation
Central Presbyterian Church stands at the corner of Charlton Avenue West and Caroline Street South. The congregation traces its origins to 1841, when ten members and two adherents formed what the City's heritage inventory calls the United Associate Church of Hamilton, meeting in a schoolhouse at Jackson and MacNab Streets. It later built a church on Merrick Street and in 1858 a much larger one on the schoolhouse site, and as the United Presbyterian Church of Hamilton it was later renamed Central Presbyterian. After fire destroyed that church in 1906, the congregation moved to its present site, where a new church designed by John M. Lyle, son of its minister, the Reverend Samuel Lyle, was dedicated in June 1908 with a new Casavant organ. The inventory describes it as a brick church in the Colonial Revival style with an ornate bell tower and a portico.

The City's inventory records that in 1925 the congregation voted by a majority of seventeen to remain Presbyterian. Four of its ministers were elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada: Samuel Lyle in 1909, William Barclay in 1940, A. Lorne Mackay in 1976 and Alan M. McPherson in 1995. The Reverend Hannah Lovaglio is its minister, and the church hosts the Music@Central concert series.

Sunday worship is at 10:30 a.m., in person and livestreamed, with a staffed nursery and the Faith Finders children's program during the service.

## About this listing
Part of Hamiltons.church. These listings cover a growing selection of congregations in Hamilton; they are not yet exhaustive.
Checked against: cpchamilton.ca (retrieved 2026-10-18); hamilton.ca (retrieved 2026-10-18); web.archive.org (retrieved 2026-10-18).
What Presbyterian churches believe: https://hamiltons.church/denominations/presbyterian/