Churches across Guelph
Service times, directions and a fair description of what each congregation believes, for churches across the Royal City.
19 congregations across 13 denominations in Guelph.
Sunday at a glance
Weekly Sunday services, from each church's own website. Holiday and summer schedules can differ.
Churches in Guelph
All 19 churches 
Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate
28 Norfolk Street
Sundays 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.; Mondays and Tuesdays 9:00 a.m.; Wednesdays 7:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.; Thursdays and Fridays 9:00 a.m.; Saturdays 5:15 p.m.
Church life in Guelph
Guelph’s oldest congregations have worshipped downtown since the 1830s, below the twin towers of the Basilica on Catholic Hill, and newer churches have grown up across the city since. This guide lists a growing number of them so you can find a service this Sunday.
The Royal City
Guelph was founded on April 23, 1827 by John Galt as the headquarters of the Canada Company and has been called the Royal City since its incorporation ceremony in 1879; the 2021 census counted 143,740 residents. The downtown sits above the meeting of the Speed and Eramosa rivers, with the University of Guelph, established in 1964, to the south.
Fergus and Elora, about 20 kilometres to the north, have church guides of their own.
Downtown
The skyline belongs to the Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate on Catholic Hill, built between 1876 and 1888 to designs by Joseph Connolly. Its twin towers were finished in 1926, it became a National Historic Site in 1990, and Pope Francis named it a minor basilica on December 8, 2014.
The other downtown congregations are nearly as old:
- St. George’s Anglican began in 1832 in St. George’s Square and moved after a fire to its 1873 church beside the Speed.
- Knox Presbyterian was established in 1844 and has worshipped on Quebec Street since 1868.
- Dublin Street United’s Gothic Revival church was built in 1874 for an overflowing Methodist congregation.
- First Baptist calls itself a historic downtown church.
Farther out
- Holy Rosary, the Jesuit-served parish in north Guelph, whose church was completed in 1956
- Harcourt Memorial United near the university, which grew from an 1887 Sunday-school mission
- All Saints Lutheran Anglican, formed by a 2017 merger
- Water Street and New Life, both Christian Reformed churches
- Emmanuel and Living Word, both Canadian Reformed churches
- Parkview (Pentecostal)
- The Salvation Army Guelph Citadel
- St. George Greek Orthodox on Dovercliffe Road
- Guelph Bible Chapel
- Lakeside Church, founded in 1989 on Conservation Road north of the city
By denomination
What each tradition believes, and where to find it in Guelph.
- Reformed churches 4 congregations
Reformed churches are Protestant churches in the tradition of John Calvin and the Dutch Reformation, confessing the Three Forms of Unity. In Ontario the name covers four related federations with a shared Dutch heritage and distinct histories.
- Roman Catholic churches 2 congregations
Roman Catholics belong to the worldwide church led by the Pope in Rome, gathered each Sunday around the Mass, where they believe Christ himself is truly present in the bread and wine. In Wellington County, Catholic parishes belong to the Diocese of Hamilton.
- Anglican churches 1 congregation
Anglicans belong to the Anglican Church of Canada, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion that grew out of the Church of England. They hold the faith of the creeds, worship from the Book of Common Prayer or the Book of Alternative Services, and are led by bishops; local parishes belong to the Diocese of Niagara.
- United churches 2 congregations
The United Church of Canada was formed in 1925 when Methodist, Congregational and most Presbyterian congregations joined together. It is Canada's largest Protestant denomination, known for an open communion table, a wide theological welcome and a strong emphasis on social justice.
- Presbyterian churches 1 congregation
Presbyterians belong to the Presbyterian Church in Canada, a Reformed church with Scottish roots, governed by elders and guided by the Westminster Confession and the modern statement Living Faith. Its stone churches are among the oldest congregations in Wellington County.
- Lutheran churches 1 congregation
Lutherans follow the teaching of Martin Luther as set out in the Augsburg Confession and the Small Catechism, centred on justification by grace through faith and on Christ's presence in baptism and Holy Communion. Canada has two Lutheran churches: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and Lutheran Church–Canada.
- Baptist churches 1 congregation
Baptists are evangelical Christians known for baptizing only those old enough to profess their own faith, and for the independence of each local congregation. In Ontario most Baptist churches belong either to the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec or to the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches.
- Pentecostal churches 1 congregation
Pentecostals are evangelical Christians who emphasize the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit such as speaking in tongues and healing, and lively, expressive worship. Most Pentecostal churches in Wellington County belong to the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada.
- Non-denominational churches 2 congregations
Non-denominational churches are independent congregations that belong to no denomination and answer to their own leadership. Most are evangelical in belief, contemporary in style, and go by names like community church, Bible church or Christian fellowship.
- Mennonite churches 1 congregation
Mennonites are Anabaptist Christians who baptize believers, follow Jesus' way of peace and put a high value on community. Wellington County is home both to modern Mennonite congregations of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada and to horse-and-buggy Old Order communities.
- Brethren assemblies and Bible chapels 1 congregation
Brethren assemblies and Bible chapels are independent evangelical congregations from the nineteenth-century Plymouth Brethren movement, marked by a weekly breaking of bread and leadership by elders rather than clergy; the separate Brethren in Christ come from Anabaptist and Wesleyan roots.
- Salvation Army churches 1 congregation
The Salvation Army is an evangelical Protestant church in the Wesleyan-holiness tradition, founded in London in 1865, whose congregations are called corps, whose ministers are officers, and whose worship goes hand in hand with social service.
- Orthodox churches 1 congregation
Orthodox churches are the ancient churches of the Christian East, Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Serbian, Antiochian and others, together with the Oriental Orthodox churches such as the Coptic, Ethiopian and Armenian; they worship with the Divine Liturgy and hold to the faith of the early councils.
Reading
All articlesWhat do Reformed Christians believe?
Plain-language summary of Reformed belief: grace, the Bible, covenant, the Three Forms of Unity, sacraments, church life and common misunderstandings.
What do Catholics believe, and where do Reformed churches agree and differ?
Catholic teaching in its own words, the common ground Reformed churches share with it, the real differences, and what a Catholic would notice on a visit.
Reformed vs non-denominational churches: what's actually different?
What non-denominational means, what people value in it, what a confessional church adds, and how worship, government, baptism and membership differ.
Looking in a nearby town?
Sister sites list the churches there too.
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22 km away, at fergus.church
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23 km away, at elora.church