May 15, 2011

4778  Island Highway

St. Andrew's Pioneer Church
Courtenay, B.C.

St. Andrew's Pioneer Church is situated at 4778 Island Highway. It is one  mile north of downtown Courtenay, B.C. and 27  miles north of the Fanny Bay Inn (See October 2nd, 2010 blog post, http://www.demolitionmama.blogspot.com/ Saturday Travel Feature, the Fanny Bay Inn, Fanny Bay, B.C.) on the very same highway as the Inn.

Courtenay, B.C. on Vancouver Island (Mapquest)

"Used since 2002 by Living Word Reformed Episcopal Church, this building is also known as St. Andrew's Pioneer Church. It was constructed in 1876 after a group of local Presbyterians, who had been meeting  jointly with the people of St. Andrew's Anglican Church, chose to form their own congregation. The building was actively used by the original congregation until about 1950, at which time it was temporarily taken over by a Lutheran congregation in the process of building their own facilities. From approximately 1955 to 1977 the building was vacant and fell into disrepair. In the late 1970's the descendants of the original builders restored the building. It came back into use as a church in 1989 when Covenant Congregational Church began using it. They met there until late 2001. The main body of the church remains essentially unchanged. A small addition was made to the back of the church in the mid-1990's to house a kitchen and washrooms downstairs and office and Sunday School space upstairs.

                                                 Sanctuary with original pews
                                                                    (Link 2.)

"The pews are original and were made from local materials not long after the building was constructed....  In the late 1990's wooden crosses were made and affixed to the end of the pews. I believe this was done about the same time the cross was added to the front of the church.... The pulpit, judging from the style, dates from 1900-1925 or thereabouts, but as far as I know has always been with the building.  The Communion Table was donated to the St. Andrew's Heritage Society by Comox United Church, I believe at the time of the centennial restoration project in 1977..  Like the pulpit, it's made of quarter-saw oak and probably dates to the same time period. 

"Based on the photos I have and/or have seen, the lychgate was built by Covenant Congregational Church, which used the building between 1989 and 2001." (See Reference.)

 "The building is a great example of early Vancouver Island pioneer architecture, built from local materials. Of special interest is the portion of wall just inside the main doors. Preserved behind glass is a section of wall showing the original plaster made on-site from oyster shells and horsehair. The floors in the nave are still the original hand-cut timbers.

City Cemetery 2011

City Cemetery Gravestone 2011

The church is situated in the city cemetery which was originally the parish cemetery. Grave markers for some of the founders are just outside the north door of the building." (Link 1.)

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Reference:  E mail from Rev. William Klock of history of the church and
               sanctuary.
Photo: Taken in Courtenay B.C. in 2011 by SW.
               For other photos see Link 2.
Link 1:
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3ZH1_Living_Word_Reformed_Episcopal_Church
Link 2: http://homepage.mac.com/klock/lwec/index.htm

Prayer

God, be with the persecuted Christians through out the world. Amen
(SW)

                                                                                                 March 20, 2011

Saint Mary the Virgin Anglican Church
Metchosin, B.C. Canada

"St. Mary the Virgin Anglican Church of Canada, Enter Rest and Pray" is on the sign outside the church at 4354 Metchosin Road in Metchosin, B.C. Metchosin is on the south west coast of Vancouver Island and about half way between Victoria, B.C.'s capital, and Sooke. It is about a 30 minutes drive from Victoria to this small town of 5,000 people on the Juan de Fuca Strait.

"The name Metchosin is the anglicised version of the native "Smets-Schosen", which means "place of stinking fish". Local legend maintains that many years prior to the Europeans' arrival, an orca beached and died, and that everywhere that could smell it rotting became part of Metchosin. The town's museum, which was once its one-room school before an increasing population necessitated a larger building, claims to have vertebrae from the animal on display. Metchosin's community symbol is, perhaps unsurprisingly, an orca." (See Link 2.)



"St. Mary The Virgin Anglican Church was consecrated on October 22, 1873. It is the third oldest Anglican Church in continuous use on Vancouver Island. This small church is still used as a place of worship, but only for special services, funerals, and a Christmas Eve service. Two acres of land was donated for churchyard by Metchosin resident John Witty, sadly, was also the first to be buried on these grounds." (See Link 1.)

A white picket fence with its wrought iron gate surround the small white clapboard church with its steeple and triple chancel window. Scattered through the grassy church yard of spring flowers are grave stones of
parishioners. One of these is a memorial to John Witty.

Photo: Taken in 2006 by SW.
Link 1: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM37RX_St_Mary_The_Virgin_Metchosin_BC
Link 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metchosin,_British_Columbia

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Prayer

God, be with the persecuted Christians through out the world. Amen (SW.)