Welcome to Wesley-Knox...

An open, diverse, welcoming, caring—and very active—faith community

A place to learn, grow, build a relationship with God and make a difference in the world

Thank you for visiting our website. If you are a Wesley-Knox member looking for information, we hope you will find it here. If you are a visitor, we hope you will take time to look around and learn about our church. If you would like more information about Wesley-Knox, please contact us, or better yet, visit us on Sunday morning!
                                                                                         Wesley-Knox United Church, London, Ontario

Join us on Sundays at 10:30 am!

We’re at 91 Askin Street in Old South London...

Click here for a map to Wesley-Knox

You will receive a warm welcome!

News and Events...

This Weekend at Wesley-Knox

Rev. Laurie offers Communion at her recent ordination, 2013 May 26 at Metropolitan United Church. Assisting Laurie: Alex Walker from Wesley-Knox and Rev. Jim McKean•   Friday, June 14 is Movie Night at Wesley-Knox! Join us at 7:30 pm in the Centennial Parlour for the movie Grease starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Popcorn and soft drinks provided, decaf and dessert after the movie. A great way to spend a Friday evening, and meet and make new friends! All welcome!

•   Join us for worship on Sunday, June 16 at 10:30 am to welcome back our own Laurie O’Leary—now Rev. Laurie O’Leary—who will lead the service. With choir and Holy Communion. A special welcome to members of Laurie’s two congregations, Frome and Bethany United churches! Reception for Laurie after the service in the downstairs Social Hall. Service bulletin available here.

Summer Day Camp (aka VBS)

On the week of July 15–19, Wesley-Knox will offer a summer day camp, Everywhere Fun Fair: Where God’s World Comes Together. Try as hard as we might, we can’t seem to stop people from calling it a VBS—Vacation Bible School. Yes, it’s about the Bible, but the focus is really on God’s welcoming love.Everywhere Fun Fair Day Camp—not your grandparents’ VBS!

Camp will feature interactive Bible fun, great music, science, crafts, hands-on mission work, global games and more—definitely not your grandparents’ Vacation Bible School! Daily schedule: 9 am–3 pm (can be extended—8:30–4 pm—see note below). For young people entering senior kindergarten and up to grade six. Cost for the week: $60 per child, $40 for each additional sibling, extended hours care $10 per child. For more information, contact Barbara McGill, 519.438.4556, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Click here for a printable registration form.

Several other London-area United churches are offering summer day camps and vacation Bible schools. A up-to-date listing is available here.

The Oh, Jonah! Musical...

Christian Haworth played JonahSome 350 were in the pews Sunday, April 28, when the Wesley-Knox Junior Choir presented its rollicking musical, Oh, Jonah! Everyone knew, of course, that in the story, Jonah would be swallowed by a whale, but they soon found out there was more to the story than that!
    This story comes to us from a time when people still thought of God as a god of requirements and rewards, granting good health and prosperity to the righteous and sending misfortune to those falling short of God’s mark. In the story, God asks Jonah to go to Nineveh, the “city of sin”, to warn its people of God’s unhappiness and get them to repent. Jonah balks, gets on a ship and heads for Tarshish instead. Jonah in the belly of the whaleWhen a storm hits the ship, Jonah accepts the blame and lets the crew throw him overboard. God saves Jonah by sending a whale (actually the Bible says “big fish”) that swallows Jonah and later coughs him up onto dry land.
    In part two of the story, Jonah reluctantly goes to Nineveh to warn the Ninevites of God’s impending wrath and calls on them to repent. Surprisingly, they do so. But Jonah is not happy. He would rather God had punished them and he sits under a tree and pouts. God then has a few words with him and Jonah comes around to God’s way of thinking. At least, he does in the musical! In the Bible, the story actually ends a bit abruptly here…
    Those cool, cool Ninevites! Click on any image for a full-size photoIt’s a great story, very much about our human stubbornness, irresponsibility, and tendency to be more concerned with being right than being compassionate. But mostly it’s about our inability—try hard as we might—to run away from God and God’s love for all people including those who are different from us.
    That certainly came through in the musical! Congratulations to the leads: Christian Haworth (Jonah), Owen Spicer (the captain), and Book Kimber-Johnston (the king). Also to the six angels (did anyone notice a resemblance to Charlie’s Angels of 1970s television fame), apprentice angel Rev. Tracy who came in at the end, and to Karen Pincombe who directed the show, Karen Schuessler who directed the music, Mary-Bee Haworth and choir parents who looked after costumes and a hundred other things, Brian Ratcliffe who played the piano, Linda Imrie who designed and created the set, and all the members of the Junior Choir who sang and acted with such energy and beauty. A real Wesley-Knox team effort!

Here is a selection of six more photos from Oh, Jonah! Photos by various choir parents.

Photo 1     Photo 2     Photo 3     Photo 4     Photo 5     Photo 6

Spring Movie Nights! Click to view flyer...Friday Movie Nights

Movies are shown in the Centennial Parlour at 7:30 pm on selected Fridays (usually every second Friday). Popcorn and soft drinks free, followed by decaf and dessert after the movie. Often, there is a second feature for night owls. Movie Night is a great way to have a relaxing Friday evening and make new friends.

Remaining Spring Friday Movie Nights

•   June 14: Grease with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John

Detailed information in the Spring Friday Movie Night flyer available here.

Notes from All Over...

•   The May-Pentecost issue of the Kindred Spirit Connection is now available. An online version will soon be available here.
•   On the weekend of June 21–23, plan to take part in this year’s Wesley-Knox Family Camp at Pearce-Williams Christian Centre near Iona, Ontario. Pre-registration is necessary. For details and registration forms, contact Jane Walker, 519.438.6252, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
•   Congratulations to Richard Yake for his fine article on the Wesley-Knox Community Choir Program that appeared in the London Conference Kennedy Kimber-Johnson at the Wesley-Knox organ. London Free Press photoBridge section of the May 2013 United Church Observer. Currently, 117 children and young people are involved in this program. Congratulations also to Lauren Schmenk for her equally fine article on Worshiplude in Ottawa. Lauren, who coordinates youth activities for Middlesex Presbytery, frequently attends Wesley-Knox. Don’t subscrbe to the Observer? Read the Bridge article here.
•   On Wednesday, April 17, 1–5 pm, Wesley-Knox hosted the Kiwanis Music Festival organ classes. Many of us were rooting for Kennedy Kimber-Johnson who was featured in a recent London Free Press article about young people and the pipe organ. An online version of this article is available here. An update: Kennedy’s playing was excellent—on a par with competitors with several more years of study behind them.
•   Our Wesley-Knox young people never cease to amaze us! Just before Christmas, we reported that their YouTube video of The Cup Song was up to 8000 hits. No longer! Sometime during the weekend of April 6, that number rolled past one million! If you haven’t yet seen this great video, click here!

Photographer’s Picks

Have you taken photos of recent Wesley-Knox events? Please send your photos to our photomaster This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it so we can use them on our website pages, in the Kindred Spirit Connection, and for the annual Wesley-Knox Pictorial Review. We prefer “large-size” photos. These supply sufficient detail for printing and projection and allow us to offer website visitors the ability to “Click on the image for a large-size version of the photo!”

Living the Questions 2: Lots of lively discussion!Our winter Living the Questions 2 study series, facilitated by Harry MacLean and Samantha Brennan, ran for seven weeks and attracted about 20 regular participants. Topics included Faith as a Journey, Taking the Bible Seriously, Creation Stories, Who was Jesus, What did Paul Really Say and more, all from a “progressive” point of view. Premise of the series: The more you understand about your faith—especially about its origins and development over time—the more it helps you get rid of “clutter”, allowing you to concentrate on what is really important. The series resumes in the fall. —Brian Dalton photo

Wesley-Knox Primary Choir at the Kiwanis Music FestivalBarb McGill directs the 32-member Wesley-Knox Primary Choir at the London Kiwanis Music Festival. The competition in their class was held on Tuesday, April 9, at Dundas Street Centre United Church. Yes, they took the class! Congratulations!—Brian Dalton photo

Lovely money! The Garage Sale was a success!Given that the Bible clearly states that the love of money is the root of all evil, we’re not sure this particular photo shows our wonderful Wesley-Knox women in their best lights! Nevertheless, Wesley-Knox United Church Women report earning almost $3000 at their recent Garage Sale, UCW plans to use the money to help pay for new tables and chairs for the Wesley-Knox Social Hall!