1910
July 10 The first service is held at King’s Daughters Hall, 214 Laurier Avenue. 46 persons attend the morning service; 40 attend in the evening.
October 9 A permanent organization is established with 66 charter members.
October 19 The Church Council meets for the first time and selects the name “St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ottawa”.
1912
April Property at Lyon and Nepean Streets is purchased. It consists of three small houses with sufficient land behind them to erect a small church.
1913
September 24 Plans for the church are approved and building begins immediately.
1914
April 12 The church is dedicated.
1915-1917
St. Peter’s is without a pastor.
1918
Foreclosure is threatened on the debt. The congregation has only 40 members.
1919
Pastor Luther McCreery accepts a call to St. Peter’s. He canvasses other Lutheran churches for donations in order to keep St. Peter’s open.
1920-1930
Under Pastor McCreery, debt is reduced, membership rises to 100, and he sets aside funds as a nucleus of a proposed building fund.
1937
Fall A two-manual Franklin-Legge organ is purchased. It was rebuilt and moved to the new church in 1954. The interior of the church is remodelled and redecorated and a new altar cross, candlesticks and vases are purchased.
1944
The row of houses on Lyon Street is sold. Indebtedness is discharged. The congregation is growing and the church building is too small.
1948
November A site at Sparks and Bay Street is purchased. Three years later, the buildings on the site are demolished to make room for the new church.
1952
July 6 Ground is broken for the new church, designed by architect Cecil Burgess.
October 26 The cornerstone is laid.
1954
February The altar cross is a gift from Sweden, created by Swedish artist Sven Arne Gillgren (1913-1992).
March 28 The new church and parish hall are dedicated. Governor General Vincent Massey reads the lesson.
September 26 The first Ottawa church service to be televised over the CBC network originates from St. Peter’s. It is also the first Lutheran service to be telecast in the Dominion of Canada.
1955
June 26 The choir pews are dedicated in commemoration of the birth of Lutheranism in Canada and are donated by the Hon. Senator John J. McKinley.
1958
The buildings at the front of the church are demolished to make room for the Garden of the Provinces. The Garden is officially opened in September, 1962.
1963
A fire at the church property, 403 Queen Street, causes extensive damage. The decision is made to tear down the building and use the land for parking.
1967
As a Centennial Project, a bell carillon is installed by the congregation in memory of members whose faithfulness and sacrifice made the present church possible.
1968
February Six stonemasons and labourers from the congregation extend the tower by 11 feet. The architect is Oskars Krauze.
October 27 Governor General Roland Michener attends the Reformation Service that is televised on CBC.
1972
November 12 Final mortgages on the church, the parsonage and the Queen Street property are burned.
1974
May 1 The church purchases the property at 136 Bay Street. In 1979 it is designated as a Heritage Property. Costs to restore the building make restoration prohibitive.
1977
January 30 The new Casavant organ is dedicated.
1982
November 23 After numerous court cases and appeals, the Supreme Court of Canada rules that the City of Ottawa must repeal the by-law designating 136 Bay Street as heritage and pay court costs. In January 1983, the property is demolished.
1985
May 12 The stained-glass window in the chancel is dedicated. It was designed by Russell Goodman, and is the first of a series of windows that are installed between 1985 and 1993.
1991
St. Peter’s Organist and Choir Director, Danielle Dubé, organizes first Ottawa Lutheran Music and Choir Festival.
Congregation initiates annual “Mitten Tree”, an Advent outreach project to provide warm clothing for children and adults in the Ottawa community.
1992
Congregation initiates “Tree of Life” and “Share Thanksgiving” food drives to assist local food banks.
St. Peter’s introduces a weekly prayer calendar that remembers others during Worship service.
1993
December The Nativity Wall Hanging is installed in the chancel. On June 3, 1997, the Resurrection Wall Hanging is dedicated, and in June 2000, the third hanging, “Community in Christ” is installed on the pulpit side of the chancel. All were created by Gary and Francine Slippert.
New front walk is installed to provide barrier-free access to the church.
St. Peter’s establishes the Ruth Fund to designate resources for congregational outreach.
1994
Summer music meditations to enrich summer Worship are initiated by Mai-yu Chan, St. Peter’s Associate Organist.
A processional cross is added to the liturgical furnishings.
1995
June By Faith: Lutherans in Ottawa and the Valleys, a book of twelve essays, is published by St. Peter’s Press to mark the 10th anniversary of the ELCIC.
1996
April 28 The premier performance of “St. Peter’s Sonata”, commissioned by the congregation from composer John Burge, is recorded by the CBC for national broadcast.
St. Peter’s website is launched on the internet.
1997
October 26 “May None of God’s Wonderful Works Keep Silence”, a work for organ and choir which was commissioned from composer Denis Bédard, is performed for the first time by the Senior Choir.
1998
April 26 Quebec artist Jacques Bradet refurbishes the baptismal font.
Weekly prayer lists are expanded and book for individual prayer requests is introduced.
St. Peter’s youth volunteer at St. Vincent’s Hospital by helping patients attend Sunday Worship.
1999
St. Peter’s and Christ Church Anglican Cathedral co-host the first Lutheran-Anglican study day for clergy, chaired by Pastor Beglo and Bishop Peter Coffin.
2000
May 16 St. Peter’s releases “St. Peter’s Sings” CD to commemorate the year 2000. It features liturgy chanted by the pastor, senior and junior choirs, Sunday Church School, organ music and congregational singing.
Young musicians from St. Peter’s present first annual spring Music Fête, following the Worship service.
2001
St. Peter’s supports Waterloo Lutheran Seminary with a multi-year contribution to the Seminary’s endowment appeal.
St. Peter’s initiates Ottawa seminars led by faculty from Waterloo Lutheran Seminary.
2002
Lutherans and Anglicans celebrate full communion with a service at Christ Church Anglican Cathedral. Lutheran Bishop Michael Pryse is the presiding minister. Anglican Bishop Peter Coffin is the preacher.
2003
A crêche is commission from Quebec artist André Pelletier. Additional pieces are added in subsequent years.
St. Peter’s begins participating in Doors Open Ottawa.
2005
St. Peter’s introduces Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) support projects with assembly of the first baby bundles for distribution abroad.
2006
October “Jesus Your Boundless Love”, a musical composition for organ and choir by Mark Sirett, is dedicated.
St. Peter’s begins assembling survival kits in support of Ottawa Innercity Ministries.
Sunday Church School presents first annual art show of Christian arts and crafts by St. Peter’s SCS students.
2007
February St. Peter’s quilters begin monthly work days. May5 First display and blessing of quilts for distribution by Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR).
2009
St. Peter’s begins Anniversary Blessings Project, which supports ministries of the wider church and gives gifts to others in thanksgiving for 100 years of blessings at St. Peter’s.
St. Peter’s joins Citizens for Public Justice through the work of Waterloo Lutheran Seminary intern Adam Snook.
2010
Eleanor Daley, a Quebec composer, is commissioned to write “Lo God is Here!” for choir and organ.
October 3 St. Peter’s Press launches St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Ottawa, Ontario Celebrating 100 Years 1910-2010. The book is a pictorial history and chronology of the church.
October 10 Festival Worship concludes a year of special events to mark our 100th anniversary. National ELCIC Bishop Susan Johnson delivers the sermon.
2011
St. Peter’s hosts Santa Lucia pageant, sponsored by the Canadian Nordic Society.
2012
Quilters celebrate fifth anniversary with display and blessing of quilts for distribution by Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR).
St. Peter’s youth and Service Committee participate in community outreach by preparing and serving lunch at Centre 507 adult drop-in centre.
2013
St. Peter’s hosts Heinrich Mühlenberg exhibition during national Joint Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) and Anglican Church of Canada.
Congregation donates 460 sweaters to CLWR Emergency Appeal to assist Syrian refugees in Jordan.
St. Peter’s participates in ELCIC national Bishop Susan Johnson’s call to spiritual renewal.
2014
St. Peter’s hosts Citizens for Public Justice workshop, “Living Ecological Justice: A Biblical Response to the Environmental Crisis”.
“Compassionate Cooking Challenge” follows Worship service, in solidarity with Centre 507 and Centretown Emergency Food Centre.
St. Peter’s hosts annual Ecumenical Service for Social Justice, sponsored by Centretown Churches Social Action Committee.
St. Peter’s choir participates in Ottawa Lutherfest, a celebration of Lutheran musical heritage with eight Ottawa congregations. Lutherfest is directed by St. Peter’s Organist/Choir Director and accompanied by St. Peter’s Associate Organist.
November 16 St. Peter’s Reformation Tree is planted in the Lutheran World Federation Luther Garden in Wittneberg, Germany.
St. Peter’s hosts #LightForLima, a multi-faith prayer vigil in partnership with Citizens for Public Justice, to support global climate Justice.
2015
The 500th quilt is blessed, assembled by St. Peter’s CLWR Quilters for Canadian Lutheran World Relief.
St. Peter’s hosts a “Time for Reconciliation” session in conjunction with the closing events for Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
A twin tree for St. Peter’s Reformation Tree in the Luther Garden, Wittenberg, Germany, is planted at Canada’s Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa.
St. Peter’s is accredited as a Greening Congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, in recognition of leadership in environmental stewardship.
2016
In partnership with the Ottawa Lutheran Refugee Sponsorship Committee, St. Peter’s sponsors refugees from Syria and Eritrea.
St. Peter’s hosts Kairos Blanket Exercise, an interactive learning experience developed to explore relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada.
In anticipation of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, St. Peter’s hosts a multi-parish Reformation service for Ottawa Lutheran Ministry Area.
St. Peter’s receives a Steinway grand piano as a gift from an anonymous donor.