Baptist Meeting House opened "on the side of a hill in Albert Street, near the English [Anglican] Church" in June, 1858. This came from ongoing efforts to unite the separate congregations, which continued for the next four decades under pastors such as the Rev. John Dempsey(1822-1899). A graduate of the first Baptist College in Canada which operated in Montreal in the 1840s, Dempsey was appointed pastor in several communities in Quebec and Ontario (including Ingersoll) during his career, and after retiring to Ingersoll, he continued with efforts to develop a Baptist College in Oxford, at Woodstock (later moved to Toronto, then to Hamilton, as the nucleus of today's McMaster University). The fully united congregation in Ingersoll constructed a red brick church building in 1896, on what is now the northeast corner of Thames Street South and Canterbury Street. This building was destroyed by fire following a lightning strike in 1898, but was immediately re-built on the existing site. It is still an active, community-oriented, Christian Church. British Methodist Episcopal Church During the 1850s and 1860s a congregation of escaped slaves from the American south grew up in Ingersoll who were served by this church, which owned a building on Catherine Street from about 1860 to 1900. Its most famous pastor was the Rev. Solomon Peter Hale (1815–1903), whose flamboyant sermons drew the attention of newspapers in the area. Ingersoll Christian Reformed Church The church's original congregation came from the Netherlands in the mid-1850s. In 1955, a barn was renovated into a church on King Street. In 1973 the barn was sold and later burned in 1975. In 1976, the congregation decided to rebuild on 1.6 ha (4 ac) just west of the first church. Peoples Revival Centre In 1942, the congregation bought the collegiate gym and moved the complex to its present location. Princess Elizabeth Community Centre In 2012, Princess Elizabeth Public School was purchased by a charity named the Vedic Institute of Canada and has been converted to Vedic ashram or retreat centre. Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church The congregation was established in 1838, served by missionaries. The first church, a wooden building, was built on John Street in 1850. It was raised to parish status in 1864. The brick church building on the corner of Thames Street North and Bell Street was built in 1879, it is one of the tallest structures in the town, and its interior