A newsletter presented by St. James' Anglican Church
Honouring the Past ~ Preparing for the Future
Honouring the Past
The history of this Parish is very much the history of Stratford and the County of Perth. In 1840, when new immigrants were still clearing the land and pushing back the wilderness, we were worshiping with the Book of Common Prayer in the Shakespeare Hotel across the river, right where the United Way thermometer stands today.
When hardship and tragedy struck, families in our community buried the dead on this holy acre of land above the river as early as 1844 – before the first church was ever built. Dr. Silcox, a church historian states that this acre and a half of land was purchased from the Canada Company and deeded to the first two church wardens of St. James’, Mr. U. C. Lee and Mr. P. R. Jarvis. The first frame church was built in 1849.
When the railway came to town, the people prospered and the industries grew. After struggling with a poorly built church for several years the people of the parish tore it down and completed this magnificent church in 1870, three years after the Dominion of Canada came into existence.
In 1909, when Stratford was a thriving town of agriculture, furniture and steam locomotives, the Bell Tower was completed and the bells of St. James’ became an ongoing presence in the lives of people in the town.
During the great wars, many of our parishioners fought and died, and we continue to honour them in our own time. In September of 1940, The General Synod of Canada gathered here at St. James’ Stratford, and in their meetings decided to stop receiving financial support from the Church of England. This was an effort to aid Britain during the war, however it was also the beginning of a separate Anglican Church of Canada.
In 1945 the war came to an end. Soon after that, the age of the steam locomotive came to an end as well. People knew that without this strong industry the community would be in trouble.
As many of us know, it was about that time that a journalist, Tom Patterson came back to his home town and started dreaming. He imagined a Shakespearean Festival on the banks of the river that he grew up around. His grandmother lived in the brick house down by the river opposite St. James’ - near to what is now the Park Towers apartment building.
What many people do not know is that his dream never would have taken flight if it weren’t for the enthusiastic support of the Rector of St. James’ Church. Archdeacon Lightbourn invited Tom over to the rectory on Mornington St. for dinner one day to listen to his ideas. Over the next months and years that rectory became the hub of strategic planning. I know this because I have talked personally to Chris Lightbourn, the Archdeacon’s son – who as you can imagine has many tales to tell. Before long, the dream was off and running and descending on the rectory were folks like Bill Hutt and Christopher Plummer. Agnes Todd, our oldest living member of St. James’ loves to tell me of how she would see Alec Guiness cycling down William St. every day to go to rehearsals.
This is our history: Agriculture, Industry, Transportation, Theatre and Arts. And all the while, St. James’ has been here – calling people to faith in Jesus Christ – calling people to worship God – encouraging them to be all that they can be, and inspiring them to take their dreams and do amazing things.
With this kind of history it is easy for us to assume that St. James’ will always be here. But in this present time we make that assumption at our peril.
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Looking at the Present
Those of us who are heavily involved at St. James’ know that it is a wonderful Christian community, filled with faithful and committed people doing a whole variety of ministries to support one another and to support the needs of the community and the world around us. But sometimes it takes the observations of people outside or on the edges of our church to show us where we need to grow.
I’d like to relate to you three encounters that I have had this year – with parishioners who I would describe as on the outer edges of St. James’ community.
One was with a person who was apparently quite new to the community. One afternoon I heard banging on the office entrance. I went down and opened the door. A middle aged woman looking exasperated asked, “When are your times of service on Sunday?” I said, “9 and 10:30.” And she said, “Why don’t you have a sign out by the road? I couldn’t find a sign that said when you worship.” She turned and walked away. I don’t know if she came to a service or not.
his event suddenly made me see that we are not making it absolutely clear to every car and pedestrian passing by our church that we would love to have them worship with us and become part of our Christian family.
A second encounter was with a young couple who were preparing to have their baby baptized at St. James’. I was telling them about the wide range of activities that we offer at St. James’ and I was telling them about our plan to hire a children and youth coordinator. The 28 year old father looked at me with surprise on his face. “Really?” he said. “I’ve always seen that church as a lovely historic church for retired folk.” My heart sank…
This conversation made me realize that we are up against an image problem. We all know that St. James’ is a terrific hub of ministry - much more than a beautiful church – but it seems we need to do a better job at communicating that. And we need to make sure that young families see us as a church for them.
The third encounter was after an interment in the Memorial Garden. As I was talking to the family afterwards they mentioned to me that they were originally members of the church in Milverton – but it closed. Then they were mmbers of the church in Sebringville – but it closed. And so their family came to St. James’. The son of the person we buried turned to me and said, “But St. James’ will always be here won’t it.” And I said, “Not necessarily. Not unless people support it.” He said, “But the church has funds to keep these buildings going, don’t they?” And I said, “No. No amount of funds will keep a parish alive and healthy without active involvement and financial support.” He seemed quite surprised.
This final encounter reminded me that many people aren’t aware of the real, ongoing financial needs of the parish. They don’t seem to realize that
theirstrong financial support is very much needed and will make all the difference in the world to the present and next generation of families here at St. James’.
After being here for 2 years, I can honestly say that I have fallen in love with this parish and I truly believe that there is enormous potential that lies in the future. However, these three separate encounters highlight for me some issues that are more than just bumps in the road. They could be major obstacles that prevent that future from unfolding. We need to look very intentionally at these issues and make clear decisions to address them. It’s time for a long range plan with specific goals and we need a very active Stewardship Committee who will communicate clearly the financial needs of the parish and ensure that we can meet those specific goals. This year, the Parish Council has begun to outline the important components of a long range plan and have already taken steps to address some of the issues noted above.(see the summary that is found in this edition of the Parishioner) This is excellent and I am excited about the next year.
However, at this time we need a number of people to step forward and offer their time and energy as members of our Stewardship Committee. There are excellent resources and support for this ministry. If you or someone you know would like to join this team, please contact one of our wardens:
I know for certain that the work of this group will be vital for ensuring that we at St. James’ will continue to honour the past and prepare for the future.
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all.
