1st 175 years of Christ Church Anglican, Markdale
In the beginning:
In 1843, Grey County was a pretty wild place, populated by Iroquois and then Ojibway and a few white settlers. As well, escaped slaves from south of the border were among the early settlers. At that time transportation was over a few Indian trails or by water.
Gradually, trails through the bush widened somewhat to accommodate wagons as families obtained parcels of land to farm. Descendants of McFadden, Walker, Hamilton, Rutledge, and Armstrong families still are part of our community.
In 1843, The Rev. Alphonse Rose arrived in the village of Sydenham, now Owen Sound. Rev. R. A.H Mullholland was appointed as a travelling missionary for Grey and Bruce. Travelling from Owen Sound to Durham on horseback took all day. On Jan 20th, 1850, John Edge Williams was baptized and so began the official history of Christ Church Anglican, Markdale. The second child was baptised in 1852. This was Martha Walker.
The Walker name was a recurring name in the history of Christ Church. Originally services were held in the log school house. In 1856, the Walker family donated the land upon which this church still stands. WE think there was a log church built on that land. Our present brick church opened May 1st 1880. The cost was $4023.92 – that included the furniture and fence. The rectory next door was built in 1890. FYI the insurance policy now values the church and contents at $1,300,000.00, and the rectory at $495,800.
Originally the clergy were responsible for visiting many, many communities. In more recent years our parish included St. Matthias in Berkeley where you can still see the cemetery although the church was demolished in 1969, and St. Mary’s, Maxwell, deconsecrated in 2024.
Over the next few years following the building of this church, various pieces of furniture were added – the font, the church bell and Altar Cloth, a silver alms basin, and the carved Eagle Lectern which was made in Orangeville.
Our Breckels and Matthews pipe organ was installed in 1908. It serves today with only a few changes. Originally, a small child sat in the organ chamber and pumped the bellows which forced air into the wind chests. One of those young lads wrote a message on the inside wall in 1908. “Harold Chapman pumped the organ and they said he done good.”
Eventually, the stops were electrified and bellows were no longer needed. Harold Chapman’s message remained on the wall until 1985.when new wind chests were required. Every able bodied parishioner assisted in carrying the pipes as they were removed, one by one. They rested in the aisles and on the floor of the rectory porch. Young Harold’s message was revealed, only to be painted over by a well meaning volunteer.
If the pipes facing the congregation were taken down now, a fair number of hymn numbers would be found. When accompanying his parents, Kim and Tom, to Gilbert and Sullivan rehearsals, young Duncan Gould, age 1 year, entertained himself by inserting the hymn numbers the slots you can see near the bottom of each pipe.
In the early days, the church was surrounded on all sides by a graveyard, even between the church and the narrow road in front. Bert Walker, who passed away a short time ago, told the story of his ? great, great, great uncles being told to remove the remains of their loved ones from those graves if they wished because the highway was to be widened. If the families did not remove them, the workers would. Bert said the young men cried all the time they dug.
Between 1908 and 1914 most of the remains in the graveyard were removed to the Markdale Cemetery. The stones were stored for the winter in the driving shed behind the church. In the spring, when they were to be moved, they had disappeared and were never found.
Of the original stained glass windows in the church, only one remains. It is the one in the sacristy. They were all alike. Gradually, each window in the sanctuary was replaced and together they illustrate the story of Christ from the Nativity to the Resurrection. Each window was given in memory of loved ones by their family. If you take a look after church, you will see that the Walker name is on several windows.
The round window in the tower behind you is a newer one. The original tower window faced the street but in 1949, during a storm, the wild wind blew the steeple over and broke the window. The steeple was not replaced at that time but in the early 1980’s the building inspector advised that the bell not be rung as it was unstable and could come crashing down. The council of the day authorized the strengthening of the tower. A new steeple and cross constructed of wood and sheathed in copper were lifted into place by a crane and the bell rung on Harvest Sunday 1983.
Getting back to the windows, the final stained glass window is the Good Shepherd window over the altar, was installed in 1985, a gift from Mary (Mamie) Mitchell in memory of the people of St. Matthias church in Berkeley
People stories:
All the women of this church are considered members of the Anglican Church Women, known as the ACW. IN the early years they were known as The Junior Guild and the Senior Guild, often called the Women’s Auxiliary but this was changed to the ACW in 1969.
We were told by the late Edith Dunlop, that many years ago the women raised money to change the space which was a dirt floor cellar into a kitchen. The rector of the day wanted to use the funds to install a furnace. The women said no. Their plan was to use the kitchen to raise money for a furnace. It would not work to use a furnace to raise money for a kitchen. The ACW to this day continue to raise money for our church, often using that same kitchen! As well, over the years, they have used their time and talents to support the community with rummage sales, donations to Monica House, Camp Huron, the Church in the Arctic to name a few. They also contributed money to help replace the furnace when it was changed from oil to gas.
Music is part of who we are as Anglicans. Our hymn books are a rich resource which we enjoy every week.
As well as the pipe organ, we have our piano. The first piano in the sanctuary was a school model that was purchased in the mid 1970’s to accompany the Junior choir. When the Friends of Christ Church Singers began to perform the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, the poor piano was not up to the job. On a fairly regular basis, it would fall apart during rehearsal and poor Gerard, who, at the time, was one of the singers, would be on his hands and knees putting it back together. Little did he know that he would become our organist and music director.
Our grand piano was purchased in part by the Mamie Mitchell fund. She created the fund to be used to support the organ as needed or, after so many years had passed, at the discretion of the council. The interest from the fund was put towards the piano. The remainder was raised by donations from both parishioners and community members in memory of those to whom music was important. The piano was paid for in one month.
We all love our beautiful building but it is the people who make a church.
Over the years, our numbers have fluctuated. In the early 1970’s we were declared a Mission Church because our numbers were so low. In a few years we were thriving again and had a busy Sunday School and Junior choir and Altar Guild. Pews were quite full on Sunday mornings. Once a month, there was a men’s breakfast following a eucharist.
Time moved on and our numbers again dropped. The pandemic did not help!
Now we are growing again! There are many reasons but for this but here are three which come to mind.
1-Rev. Jeff ’s friendly approach and excellent sermons.
2 -Gerard’s awesome musical abilities.
3- Chapman’s Ice Cream bringing young workers to town.
Our congregation is changing and growing and we welcome these changes with open arms.
We would be remiss if we did not give credit to research done by Judi and Joanne, the Markdale history book titled the Crossroads of Grey, the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary booklet for Christ Church, and our memories, collected over many years. We have a rich history and a story which continues to change and grow.
Amen.
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