Fox Point (Ont.)

The Lake of Bays Anglican Parish is a family of four country churches around the shore of the Lake of Bays in Muskoka. The Lake of Bays Mission officially formed in 1955. 

Two of the parish's four active churches are open year-round St. Ambrose in Baysville and St. Mary Magdalene in Dorset. St. James in Port Cunnington and St. John's in Fox Point are open in the summer (July and August).

Incumbents have included: Rev. Canon A.W. Hazlehurst (1895-1927), Rev. R.C. Warder (1927-1934), Rev. W. Ruthford Tindle (1934-1938), Rev. Canon Banks (1938-1940), S.S.J.E. Cowley Fathers (1940-1955), Rev. Roy H. Nixon (1955-1959), Rev. Tom James (1959-1963), Rev. Francom (1963-1967), Rev. Robert Lumley (1967-1973), Rev. Jonathan Patrick Earle (1973-1975), Rev. Murray Bradford (1975-1983), Rev. Ray Porth (1983-1989), Rev. Michael Cottrell (1989-1993), Rev. Thomas Cunningham (1994-?).

Sources:

• “Priests Who Have Served Lake of Bays Anglican Parish Including Baysville, Dorset, Port Cunnington (Fox Point)”, [1997], Diocesan Centre history files collection, Algoma University Archives, 2014-037_001_001.
• Gary Denniss, "A Brief History of the Churches in Muskoka", 1996, Synod of the Diocese of Algoma fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2009-156_002_009.

St. John’s Anglican Church (Fox Point, Ont.) is a church located within the Lake of Bays Anglican Parish. St. John's began as part of the Franklin Mission, which was formed in August 1899. 

The mission was under charge of Mr. Harold King, catechist, with Archdeacon Llwyd's supervision from Huntsville. The church was built in 1900 and its first service held on August 19; it was nicknamed “St. John-in-the-Woods”. The Bishop of Algoma consecrated and dedicated St. John's on January 15, 1901.

At first, the church was only accessible by boat. In the 1920's,the parish church of St. Mary in Stafford, England, was working to purchase a boat for the Baysville mission (later Lake of Bays Mission, then Parish). Rev. Richard C. Warder retells his experiences ministering to a mission by water in his book, "Northern Exposure".

Between 1930 and 1931 the church building received a new roof and a fresh coat of paint. 

Sources:

• "Parish Register", 1899-1943, St. John's Church (Fox Point, Ont.) sous fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2009-183/001(001).
• "Around the Lake of Bays", The Algoma Missionary News 27 no. 2 (1931): 4. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_002_003_1931MarApr.
• Gary Denniss, "A Brief History of the Churches in Muskoka", 1996, Synod of the Diocese of Algoma fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2009-156_002_009.
• Sheila Klyn, “St. Ambrose Anglican Church, Baysville, Ontario”, 1998, St. Ambrose’s Anglican Church (Baysville, Ont.) sous fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2009-216_001_001.