Raising funds to keep Church history alive
St. Luke’s Anglican Church will host its second annual Pig Roast Fundraiser on Friday, May 31 from 5 to 7 pm. Proceeds will go toward several needed upgrades to the 127-year-old place of worship, including the rebuilding of the ramp which makes the church accessible and the restoring of the building’s 20 stained glass windows, which were purchased in England in 1886 and gifted to the St. Luke’s congregation by several English friends of William R. Forster, the priest at the time the church was built.
All 20 of the windows came in at about $300 in 1886, and the entire church was built for $3,650. Nowadays, the restoration of the windows will cost considerably more than that whole price, and the congregation intends to chip away at them slowly, replacing the old leading in one window at a time.
“We hope people see the benefit in supporting this effort,” said church member Dorothy Shropshire. “Even though our congregation is fairly small these days, this church has been and remains a vital presence in this community.”
There is also some impressive history in the building and the congregation it serves. It’s not the first building for St. Luke’s – that one was built across the river on the grounds of the cemetery, as early as 1849 or 1850. It was the first church built in the area and as a result, St. Luke’s remains the mother church of south Georgian Bay’s Anglican communion.
Indeed, St. Lukes’ outreach far exceeds the number of people who worship there on Sunday mornings. From the annual Gift of Music concert series to the various dinners held throughout the year, the church is a big part of life in Creemore.
The first resident priest at St. Luke’s was Rev. John Langtry, who has a street in Creemore named after him. Langtry’s parish was large, encompassing all the area north of Barrie, parts of Mulmur and Tosorontio Townships, and Collingwood, the then-brand-new railway terminus. All Saint’s Church in Collingwood was built in 1859, ten years after St. Luke’s. Langtry also founded the Collingwood high school, which would eventually become Collingwood Collegiate Institute.
With the proceeds from the May 31 pig roast and other events happening throughout the year, the St. Luke’s congregation hopes to honour this history and keep their church a thriving part of today’s Creemore.
Tickets for the event are $15 for adults and $8 for children 12 and under. They are being sold in advance only, and are available by calling 705-466-2206.
