Sunday Church Special

St. Andrew's Pioneer Church
Courtenay, B.C.

St. Andrew's Pioneer Church is situated at 4778 Island Highway. It is one  mile north of downtown Courtenay, B.C. and 27  miles north of the Fanny Bay Inn (See October 2nd, 2010 blog post, Saturday Travel Feature, the Fanny Bay Inn, Fanny Bay, B.C.) on the very same highway as the Inn.

Courtenay, B.C. on Vancouver Island (Mapquest)

"Used since 2002 by Living Word Reformed Episcopal Church, this building is also known as St. Andrew's Pioneer Church. It was constructed in 1876 after a group of local Presbyterians, who had been meeting  jointly with the people of St. Andrew's Anglican Church, chose to form their own congregation. The building was actively used by the original congregation until about 1950, at which time it was temporarily taken over by a Lutheran congregation in the process of building their own facilities. From approximately 1955 to 1977 the building was vacant and fell into disrepair. In the late 1970's the descendants of the original builders restored the building. It came back into use as a church in 1989 when Covenant Congregational Church began using it. They met there until late 2001. The main body of the church remains essentially unchanged. A small addition was made to the back of the church in the mid-1990's to house a kitchen and washrooms downstairs and office and Sunday School space upstairs.

"The building is a great example of early Vancouver Island pioneer architecture, built from local materials. Of special interest is the portion of wall just inside the main doors. Preserved behind glass is a section of wall showing the original plaster made on-site from oyster shells and horsehair. The floors in the nave are still the original hand-cut timbers. The church is situated in the city cemetery which was originally the parish cemetery. Grave markers for some of the founders are just outside the north door of the building." (Link 1.)

Thank you: To Mapquest.
Photo: Taken in Courtenay B.C. in 2005 by SW.
           For other photos see Link 2.
Link 1:
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3ZH1_Living_Word_Reformed_Episcopal_Church
Link 2: http://homepage.mac.com/klock/lwec/index.htm