H-03500
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St. Luke's Church, Saanich H-03500 |
In the first year, there were twelve people in the congregation. Twenty-seven services and three baptisms were held, and ten children and a teacher comprised the Sunday School.
In 1861, thirty-six services and three baptisms, were held in the Irvine home. J. Leynard substituted as Lay Reader when the Reverend Mr. Garrett was not present.
In 1862, eight acres was purchased for a small school chapel. The money for building the school was provided to the Bishop by Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts. The Chapel was used as a day-school for children during the week with the sanctuary curtained off. The Bible was the only textbook. Mrs. William King was the teacher.
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St. Luke's Church, Saanich A-07133 |
A Ladies' Guild was formed in 1890, and a president (Mrs. King) and vice-president (Miss Tolmie) were elected. Miss Tolmie was the daughter of Dr. Williams Fraser Tolmie, a physician and Hudson's Bay Company Chief Factor, who was a staunch supporter of the early St. Luke's Church.
The Missionary period ends with the assignment of a first incumbent, the Reverend M.C. Browne in 1891. The first Rectory was built across the road from the church, where the Lutheran church now stands.
The Rectory burned in 1895. It was replaced at a cost of $600, much of which was raised by the Ladies' Guild. The location of the Rectory was changed to its present site.
The first pipe organ was installed in 1908.
The church was wired for electricity in 1911. The old school Chapel-Hall was torn down and a new Parish Hall was built on the present site of the auditorium. The Sunday School was housed in the basement for many years. The Rectory was enlarged as well, during the incumbancy of the Reverend H.A. Collison who died in 1941.
In 1927, the St. James Church in James Bay was torn down and some of the stained glass windows were installed in St. Luke's. Work on improvement of the cemetery begun as well.
A new altar and panelling as a War Memorial was created in 1941. During this same year, the north transept and chapel were added to accommodate a growing congregation which included the boys from the University School.
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St. Luke's Church, Saanich A-07132 |
By 1951 a major extension to the church was made when the nave was extended to the west during the incumbency of Canon Pike, doubling the length.
Reredos were installed in 1953. Carved in 1911 as a memorial to Canon F.M. Williams, it was originally incorporated in the Lady Chapel of Hereford Cathedral, England, and was given to St. Luke's in 1953 when the Chapel was extensively renovated. The carver, Peter Rendl, of Oberammergau, Germany, was a well-known actor in the Oberammergau Passion plays which are performed every ten years since the 14th century. The covering doors were the work of W.E.G. Thompson of Peterborough, England, and for a time were used as a reredos for the side chapel of St. Luke's.
The old Rectory with its many additions and extension was torn down in 1965, and replaced by a modern, more easily maintained structure. The money was raised from the congregation by means of no-interest bonds, during the incumbency of Archdeacon Wolff.
By the 1970s and 1980s, while the Venerable D.E.F. Moulden was
Rector, many stained glass windows went into the church, and
improvements made to the heating and parking lot. Re-roofing of
church and hall, and most recently (1984) a major renovation work
to the foundations of the older part of the Hall.
