Caledonia Times
February 2014 The Diocesan Section of the Anglican Journal
St. James, Smithers turns 100 years old!
By Mel Coulson
On November 30th, 2013, the congregation of St. James’ Anglican Church celebrated its 100th anniversary with a Gala dinner at the St. James Centre. St. James’ history began in March, 1913, when a Vestry Committee was formed to take subscriptions for building a church. Sir Alfred Smithers himself gave the first subscription of $50. The church has come a long way in those one hundred years: from the humble first St. James’ Church building at 1st Street and King, the Church was Smithers’ oldest building (in fact the first frame building to be erected in Smithers) The first church building is now renovated and re-purposed as the “Old Church” Performing Arts Centre. It serves as the multifunctional St. James Centre on Princess Street, a 7-day-a-week building which serves the community as a worship space, a Montessori Day Care, a Thrift Shop and a Soup Kitchen. On June 15th, 1913, the Diocesan Bishop, the Rt. Rev. F.H. DuVernet held the very first service in Smithers in Mr. E. Orchard’s large dining room tent. At that time nothing but tents were allowed on the town site, The tents were subject to removal at 30 days’ notice as the town lots were not yet on the market. At the first service led by Bishop Du Venrnet, was attended by 25-30 people. The Bishop announced the appointment of Rev. Henry Grasett Kingstone,
BA, to the parish and who would serve both Smithers and Telkwa on alternate weeks. Rev. Kingstone held the first service in the not quite completed St. James’ Church on 7th December, 1913. The church register shows that 25 people attended and a collection of $5.80 was taken. If this sounds a rather paltry sum, I might mention that the full cost of building the church back in 1913 was $1,501, whereas when a group of us renovated the derelict building in 2004 to create the “Old Church” the cost exceeded $250,000! Using these figures to calculate a rough inflation factor, this $5.80 translates into a respectable amount of $966 in today’s terms. It seems that at that time the church was still without a name. I have on file a letter dated 15th December, 1913, from Bishop DuVernet to a Mrs. Plumtre of the Senior Branch St. James’ Women’s Auxiliary in Toronto accepting, with great relief, a gift of $300 on behalf of her mother, the late Mrs. Wild, stating that he would gladly agree to the church being named “St. James” provided Rev. Kingstone consented. Smithers’ first marriage was solemnized at St. James’ on 2nd February, 1914, uniting Mr. & Mrs. Ernie Hann. Their family still
resides in Smithers. Rev. Kingstone was from Eastern Canada and had volunteered to this pioneer diocese for 2 years. It seems he did not forget his 2 years here however, and his legacy lives on. In 1957, when he died, he bequeathed a substantial sum to the Diocese, expressing the wish that it be used to benefit youth ministry here. It fell upon Canon (later Archdeacon) Arthur Hinchliffe, minister in Smithers at the time, after much cajoling of the Diocesan Executive, to realize that wish by purchasing a large piece of property on Tyhee Lake and establishing Camp Caledonia. Camp Caledonia has since served as a spiritual, multicultural and socially diverse meeting place for the diocese and the wider community for half a century. Of the 22 ministers who have served St. James’ since 1913 Canon Hincliffe’s tenure remains the longest at 11 years. All have contributed in some way to the life of the parish. It is an enviable record of dedication and service and a source of inspiration and pride as the Anglican Church of St. James looks forward to its next one hundred years. Editor’s Note - all pictures sent to the paper, including the ones for this Celebration are placed on the Diocesan Facebook page if you would like to check them out!