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St. John’s Anglican Church closing

Bishop to deliver final sermon June 30; church to be ‘disestablished ’ after 115 years of service

After 115 years of ministering to the needs of Anglican parishioners in Ladysmith, St. John’s Anglican Church, at 314 Buller St., will see its last sermon delivered on the evening of June 30.

The Anglican Diocese of British Columbia has confirmed that the 35 member congregation has voted to ‘disestablish’ and will no longer continue as a legal entity in the community.

Bishop of the Diocese of B.C. Logan McMenamie will deliver a special final sermon; after that the remaining members of the congregation will have to travel to St. Phillips, in Cedar, or St. Michael’s in Chemainus to attend services.

Diocesan spokesperson Catherine Pate said the aging congregation decided they could no longer continue when they were faced with the need for a new building.

“There are not enough of them where they are in a position to feel they can start a new base and a new building,” Pate was quoted in the Times Colonist.

The parish dates from 1901, when it was established in a schoolhouse that was moved from Nanaimo.

Pate said the closing of one of the Anglican Church’s 45 parishes on Vancouver Island is symptomatic. “This is an old church, a historic, old church and the parish is historically skewed that much older,” she said.

“It’s a challenge facing not just the Anglican church but all churches.”

 





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