St. James' Anglican Church (Massey, Ont.) is part of the two-point parish of St. James' Anglican Parish (Massey, Ont.).
The Massey Mission started as part of the Webbwood Mission in the late 1890s and was administered to by Rev. S.H. Morgan every two weeks as part his regular schedule. Many of the early services in Massey were held in the local Presbyterian Church. In 1906 the Webbwood Mission was divided; Massey, Spanish River, and Walford were moved into the new Massey Mission. In May of this year, catechist Mr. W.H. Trickett began holding regular services. In the Spring of 1906 the Anglican congregation in Massey began worshipping in a small hall. A site for the church building was found in 1907 and the church was built on Imperial Street in Massey by Thomas and Wilfred Teasdale. The church officially opened on May 10, 1908, the service being held by the Bishop of Algoma.
In 1936, the building underwent some renovation: the exterior was completed with stucco, five windows were installed, and the interior re-decorated. A re-opening service was held on September 9, 1936. In 1957 St. James did not have a bell, twelve year old Virginia Armstrong Godin learned that CPR was removing bells from trails and replacing them with electric whistles, she wrote to the CPR and obtained one of these bells for the church. The bell remained in the crawl space of the church for many years until 1983 when a bell tow was built and Virginia's bell was installed. In 1977 a gift of church pews from Holy Family Church in Blind River replaced the original dilapidated pews. The St. James' congregation celebrated their 75th anniversary in 1983. Part of the celebration included a new basement hall, finished on December 4, 1983. In 1990 new siding was installed on the church and in 2006 the church was repainted and protective Plexiglas was placed over all the windows.
St. James Anglican Church (Massey, Ont.) closed in the Spring of 2016.
Incumbents included: Mr. W.H. Trickett (catechist) (1906-1908), Rev. W.E. Phillips (1908-1909), Chas. E. Hewitt (1910-1912), Thomas H. Young (1912-1921), R.M. Fairburn (1921-1922)Rev. S.F. Yeomans (1923-32), W.A.J. (1932-1933), L.A. Sampson (1933-1934), Rev. R.K. Trowbridge (1935-1937), Ernest Dymond (1937-1938), Richard K. Bamber (1939-1946), Charles G. Kehler (1946-1947), E. Wrightson (1948-1951), A. Stringer (1952-1956), D. Sissenah (1956-1962), R.L. Barnes (1963-1969), Michael Hankinson (1970-1975) Rev. Ben J. Cooper (1975-1980), Terry Bennett (1980-1985), Russel Nicole (1985), Peter Homann (1985-1986), Frank Mason (1986-1987), Muriel Hornby (1987-1992), Wayne Putman (1996-1998), Karen Heath (1998), Richart White & Diocesan Lay Reader Robert Lewis (? - 2001), Rhonda Hirst (2002-2004), Steve Pessah (2004-2005), Henk Willems (2005-2016).
Sources:
- "Webbwood Mission", The Algoma Missionary News 11, no. 8 (1899): 8. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_005_1899Aug.
- "Parish History" in Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1908-1995, St. James' Church (Massey, Ont.) sous fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2009-131/001(001).
- "Notes", The Algoma Missionary News 3, no. 6 (1906): 6. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_007_1906June.
- "Signs of Progress", The Algoma Missionary News 4, no. 3 (1907): 2. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_007_1907Mar.
- "St. James' Church, Massey", The Algoma Missionary News 32, no. 4 (1936):13. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_002_003_1936JulyAugSept.
- "Hall completed at St. James' church, Massey, as part of anniversary year", The Algoma Anglican 29, no. 3 (1984): 1. Algoma University Archives, 2013-086_001_014_1984Mar.
