South River (Ont.)

Grace Anglican Church (South River, Ont.) is now part of the Almaguin Anglican Parish.

Almaguin Anglican Parish is a multi-point parish in the Anglican Diocese of Algoma within the Deanery of Muskoka. Active churches in this parish include Grace Anglican Church (South River, Ont.), St. George the Martyr Anglican Church (Magnetawan, Ont.), and St. John's Anglican Church (Eagle Lake, Ont.) (seasonal). Inactive churches within the parish include St. Andrew's Anglican Church (Dunchurch, Ont.), St. George's Anglican Church (Amyot-Heron Bay, Ont.), St. John's Anglican Church (Dufferin Bridge, Ont.), St. Paul's Anglican Church (Seguin Falls, Ont.), St. Paul's Anglican Church (Sundridge, Ont.), St. Peter's Anglican Church (Midlothian, Ont.) and All Saints’ Anglican Church (Burk's Falls, Ont.).

The earliest recorded church erected was St. George the Martyr Anglican Church (Magnetewan Ont.), pioneered by Rev. William Crompton. The church was founded in 1880 and was later considered the centre of the area’s mission. The church later united with Burk’s Falls. Rev. Crompton was responsible for starting two other churches in the Almaguin Anglican Parish: All Saints’ Anglican Church (Burk’s Falls, Ont.) and St. Andrew’s Anglican Church (Dunchurch, Ont.). The former was established in 1882 and has unfortunately been destroyed by fires twice: once in 1884 and again in 1908. The church was built for the third time on November 1, 1909. As for St. Andrew’s, it was not built until the end of 1896 even though services were being held as early as 1890. The church went through a period of disuse until a peak of attendance in 1957. This did not last long and the church was closed in 1961.

Rev. George Gander was responsible for opening most of the other churches in the parish; he remained in the area until approximately 1900. One of these churches was St. Paul’s Anglican Church (Sundridge, Ont.), opened on December 30, 1888. The church was destroyed by fire on March 5, 1960 and rebuilt May 26 later that year. St. Paul’s in Sundridge is closely associated with Grace Anglican Church (South River, Ont.), another Rev. Gander church. The South River church held its first service on July 3, 1892, and was later rebuilt in 1903. The last church on record opened with Rev. Gander’s help was St. John’s Anglican Church (Eagle Lake, Ont.). This church was built in 1888 largely with thanks to the Quirt, Smythe, Ardiel, and Ralstone families. The first service was held on July 22, 1888. This church is currently operating during the summer only.

Finally, not much is on record for St. Peter’s Anglican Church (Midlothian, Ont.), aside from its short life; it was consecrated in September 1902 and closed in 1957.

Northern Lights Anglican Parish (Haileybury, Ont.) is a multi-point parish along the Ontario-Quebec border around Lake Temiskaming. The parish is composed of Christ Anglican Church (Englehart, Ont.), Grace Anglican Church (South River, Ont.), St. Andrew's Anglican Church (Chamberlain, Ont.), St. Faith's Anglican Church (Charlton, Ont.), St. James' Anglican Church (Cobalt, Ont.), St. James' Anglican Church (Heaslip, Ont.), St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church (New Liskeard, Ont.), St. Luke's Anglican Church (Hanbury, Ont.), St. Paul's Anglican Church (Elk Lake, Ont.), and St. Paul's Anglican Church (Haileybury, Ont.).

In 1907 Mr. Ballard, Curate of the St. Faith’s in Tynemouth, England, was sent to this northern Algoma region to give a donation of $136.83 to Rev. John Leigh (ordained December 20, 1908). This money was to be used in the development of five small churches in the area, the mother church being Christ Anglican Church (Englehart, Ont.).

In the early years, Rev. Leigh would make a circuit of the area performing Sunday services every two weeks. He would arrive in Charlton the Saturday night, leave for Englehart the Sunday afternoon, and the next Sunday leave for Heaslip for a morning service, then a train to Thornloe for an afternoon service, and a last train back to Englehart for an evening service.

The area suffered a devastating fire on October 4, 1922. Five of the mission churches burned: St. Paul’s (Haileybury, Ont.), St. George’s (North Cobalt, Ont.), St. Luke’s (Harley Township, Ont.), St. Oswald’s (Thornloe, Ont.), and St. Faith’s (Charlton, Ont.).

The Northern Lights Parish was established officially in 1998 with five congregations: It originally consisted of five congregations: St. James’, Cobalt, St. Paul’s, Haileybury, St. John’s, New Liskeard, Christ Church, Englehart and St. Faith’s, Charlton. In 2005, St. Faith’s, Charlton, closed its doors and the congregation was invited to join the congregation of Christ Church, Englehart, which is a ten minute drive from Charlton. In 2013 the congregation of St. John’s, New Liskeard, made the decision to close its doors, while working through a parish assessment laid out by the Diocese. St. Paul’s, Haileybury, opened their arms and the invitation of a merger between the two congregations was offered. Haileybury is approximately a 10 min. drive from New Liskeard. The two congregations are now merged and the identity of both churches was voted on and accepted as The Church of St. Paul and St. John.

Northern Lights Parish has a Parish Council which consists of the Clergy and the Wardens and a member at large of each congregation.  The Council oversees all activities throughout the parish and makes decisions in temporal matters. Parish Council passes down information from the Diocese to the individual congregations, and determines the share of the expenses to be paid by each congregation

Sources:

• “The Story of St. Faith’s”, 2000, St. Faith’s Anglican Church (Charlton, Ont.) sous fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2010-197_001_001.
• "Parish Profile: Northern Lights Parish", Diocese of Algoma. 

Grace Anglican Church (South River, Ont.) is a church in the Almaguin Anglican Parish, which covers the eastern part of the Parry Sound District of Ontario.

In 1891 Grace Anglican Church was built on land donated by Mr. W. C. Connolly. A year later Rev. George Gander held the first service on July 3, 1982. The church was consecrated a short time later on June 23, 1984 by Right Rev. Edward. The South River and Sundridge parishes united in 1898, and a year later Rev. Gander left the church in 1899, after which it was ministered to from St. Paul’s Anglican Church (Sundridge, Ont.).

In 1903 Grace Anglican Church was rebuilt with thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Ard. The Guild later helped renovate the church in 1918, and in 1920 donated a new altar which was dedicated by the Archbishop on March 12, 1921. In 1928 the parish hall was added.

On December 23, 1963, Grace Anglican Church became a self supporting church and combined with the parish, which included: St. John's (eagle Lake, Ont.), St. Paul's (Sundridge, Ont.), St. George's (Magnetawan, Ont.), and All Saints' (Burk's Falls, Ont.).

The church was again renovated in the 1970s. 

Incumbents have included: Rev. George Gander (1887-1899), Rev. Charles John Batstone (1900-1901), Rev. E.J. McKittrick (1902-1906), Rev.  Alfred Percy Banks (1906-1907), Rev. L.A. Trotter (1907-1912), Rev. Sidney F. Yeomans (1912-1913), Canon Edward F. Pinnington (1913-1916), Rev. Fredrick William Clayton (1916-1917), Rev. J. Norman (1917-1921), Rev. J. Templeton (1921-1922), Rev. W. Daniels (1923-1925), Rev. Christopher Lord (1926-1927), Rev. W. M. Whitely (1927-1940), Canon R.H. Fleming (1941-1948), Rev. L.B. Willis (1948-1954), Canon Sidney F. Yeomans (1954-1956), Canon Edward F. Pinnington (1956-1957), Mr. Allan F. Thompson (1956), Mr. Ernest D. Eldridge (1957), Rev. C. F. Passey (1958), Rev. Ernest D. Eldridge (1958-1961), Mr. McKenzie Smith (1961), Rev. Roswell Crighton (1960-1962), Rev. Robert Cuyler (1962-1963), Rev. Lloyd Hoover (1966-1974), Rev. Gregory Lynn (1974-1976), Rev. Duncan Lyon (1976-1981), Rev. Elliott Alton Sheppard (1981-1991), Rev. Alan Eric Knight (1992-?).

Sources:

• T.B. Higginson, “Historical Notes”, [1992-2007], Alan Knights fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2009-220_001_018.
•  “Clergy”, [1992-2007], Alan Knights fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2009-220_001_027.
• “Notes on Past Clergy”, [198-?], Almaguin Anglican Parish (Sundridge, Ont.) fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2012-010_001_006.
• "History of Grace Church South River 1892-1982 (90th)", [1982], Diocesan Heritage Centre History files collection, part of 2013-078/004(012).