St. Christopher's, Christopher Lake, celebrates anniversary

By Merv Benson.  St. Christopher’s Anglican Church has been serving the Lakeland resort area around the village of Christopher Lake for more than 75 years.  The achievement was marked in a 3-day celebration July 6,7, and 8, 2007.

Present and former residents of the community started registering and visiting on Friday, July 6, at the picturesque log church in Christopher Lake. They were joined by a number of former ministers, including t he Rev'd Ken and Marina Lyons, the Rev'd Lewis Kelly, the Most Rev'd Tom Morgan, the Right Rev'd Anthony Burton, and the Rev'd Tracey Lloyd-Smith. A number of historical information displays were set up in the church, including a large hand-made quilt embroidered with names of past and current parishioners, and a number of photographic displays which brought back great memories for many of the visitors. The photo displays included weddings over the years, past rectors, and special occasions in the church’s 75 year history.

Close to 100 turned out for a kick-off pancake breakfast on Saturday morning July 7. 168 sat down for a celebratory banquet on Saturday evening, and the church was filled to near capacity with 109 worshipers on Sunday morning when Bishop Anthony Burton was the celebrant, the current rector the Rev’d Tracey Lloyd-Smith assisting. At the Saturday banquet, members of the congregation performed a historical skit that brought laughter from the audience, and long-time parishioner Alice Greening reminisced about her early days of attendance at the church and its Sunday School, including the long walks she made to get to church events.

Another highlight of the weekend celebration for many was an open house held at the nearby Camp Okema where childhood camping memories were re-lived, and a few of the more adventurous enjoyed a forest nature hike around the camp area.

St. Christopher’s traces its origin to worship services held in resident's homes and the Northside Hall as early as 1930. On January 17, 1932, at a meeting in Old Northside, the decision was made to construct a church at Christopher Lake. The Rev’d Harold Parrot was the priest in charge at the time. A quarter section of land was donated to the new church that year by local farmer Jim Swain, and the land which is the present site of the church was obtained from a Mrs. McHugh. Logs from the north end of nearby Christopher Lake were hauled to the site; volunteers from as far away as Spruce Home undertook construction. A student priest, the Rev’d Stanley Jarvis, worked on that first church building. In a letter to his fiancée in April 1933 declared that “these were a splendid set of logs”.

The first service in the new church was conducted by the Rev’d S.C.Jarvis on September 16, 1934. The first pulpit was financed from a $26.58 donation from a Miss Lovett in Wales, and was built for $20.10 by local farmer Mr. Lennox. In the early years, there was a Mission House constructed on what is now the church parking lot. It was financed with assistance from the Northside Women’s Institute, and provided accommodation for student ministers or “Vannners”. In 1939, then Governor General Lord Tweedsmuir visited St. Christophers, and a commemorative plaque carved by a Mr.Temple, who was the custodian and groundskeeper at Okema, is still prominently displayed in the church.

In 1996, the congregation established a church improvement fund, and a building committee was formed to study the feasibility of enlarging the existing structure. Almost two years later, the congregation voted unanimously to expand the log church, and plans were developed for a fundraising drive to be carried out in conjunction with the Diocesan “Open Doors Campaign”. A sod turning ceremony was held on June 7, 1998, and construction started with the lifting of the old log structure and excavation of a basement area that would provide Sunday school accommodation, kitchen and bathroom facilities, as well as office and meeting space. The main floor was doubled in size, including provision for bathroom facilities. Logs to match the exterior look of the original Church were supplied from the Herriot forest acreage. Church services during the construction were held in the Legion Hall and the nearby St.Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, but a special Christmas Eve service was held in the new building in December 1998. Regular services resumed in the new church on March 7, 1999, and the new worship center was officially opened June 6. The cost of the expansion was $250,000, most of which was paid by 2000.

Many of the anniversary visitors were most impressed with the new log church, and the attractive worship setting and meeting space provided for the parishioners and the local community.

The 75^th anniversary celebration also spawned a number of family gatherings as former long time residents returned to participate in the church events and to get together as families – including the Herriots, Jennetts, Haases and Thorsens.

Comments

[Art Pederson]

Greetings,
Thank you for the report of this event. Diane and I enjoyed the banquet and Larry Krause concert. I have included URL to this report on my new blog site.