Philpott Memorial Church has been in the centre of the city of Hamilton for more than 120 years. The congregation first met in 1892 in a rented hall as part of the work of Christian Workers’ Mission and then in the Star Theatre, under the direction of Dr. Peter W. Philpott and other pastors. The present property was purchased and the lecture hall built in 1898. The sanctuary was completed five years later with the largest seating capacity of any church in the city at that time. Despite the size, capacity Sunday evening crowds necessitated the hiring of another theatre which accommodated 2,500 people, but even then people were turned away. Dr. Philpott served the church as pastor for 26 years before moving to Chicago to pastor Moody Memorial Church. The name of the Christian Workers Mission was changed to The Associated Gospel Churches of Canada in 1924, and the name of the church to Philpott Tabernacle in 1926. Following the death of Dr. Philpott in 1957, the name Philpott Memorial Church was adopted by the congregation. Our current senior pastor, Rev. Lane Fusilier, is the twelfth in our history. He was appointed in 1999, and is assisted by seven other pastoral staff and teams of lay ministry leaders serving our congregation and community.

The congregation has a long history of missions sending and support. Currently, missionaries from the congregation are serving in Afghanistan, Angola, China, Costa Rica, DR Congo, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, and Uganda. About twenty percent of offerings are invested in missions. Locally, the congregation’s volunteers lead cooking classes and craft classes for recent immigrants and refugees, providing settings for building friendships and evangelism.