St. George’s website

Parish life in 1892 was very different than in 2004! We will take a look at how things were at different times during the life of the Parish.

The Early Days

Parishioners Were Local

In the old days, parishes were geographically defined. In 1896, the parish was defined by a small 2 km² rectangle bounded on the west by Greene Avenue, in the east by Fort Street, in the north by the town limits (either Sherbrooke Street or the mountain), and in the south by Dorchester Boulevard (now René Lévesque Blvd.). Back in those days, the neighbourhood was more populated than it is today.

The Modern Times

Parishioners Come from a Large Territory

Nowadays, most urban churches are not territorial, but draw people from various circles. The Church of the Advent was no exception to this, so in the 1990s, the congregation was not a monolithic group of Canadian born Anglophones. Many members were not cradle Anglicans. And although a good number are born in Canada, many are born in the United States, Great Britain, the Seychelles, Peru, Ghana, Cameroun, Barbados, Trinidad and Togo to name a few. All age groups are well represented. And almost all parishioners lived in Montréal – throughout the entire island actually –, and especially along the Green Line of the metro. And to add to the diversity, most members used English as their mother tongue, but a fair number used French or Spanish as mother tongue.

Activities of a Modern Parish

Our worship expresses the Catholic tradition of the Anglican Church in contemporary language and form.
 

Life after The Advent

A Look at the Future of the Building

The Church building has been sold to the House of Prayer for All Nations, a Pentecostal community with a growing congregation. The Saint-Nicholas Rumanian Orthodox church – which had been renting the church for the last ten years – continues to worship there. And there are a few other ministries: the Open Door soup kitchen which offers lunches on weekdays, the Refugee Centre which has been created in the 1980s.

So even though the Anglican Church of the Advent has ceased its activities, the building continues to be used to worship God. St. Nicholas Rumanian Orthodox Church has started to rent the Church in 1994 and continues to worship there with a growing congregation. In 2005, the building was sold to an emerging Evangelical Church, the House of Prayer for All Nations. And since 2003, the Parish Hall is used on weekdays by the Open Door Ministry.

So the Little Church on Wood and Western has now amalgamated with the large church near Place du Canada. Churches with high and low histories have found common ground. Such is Anglicanism – welcoming, inclusive, faithful to tradition, open to newness. For after all, the Little Church lives ever in our hearts, and the “common ground” is the love we share in Jesus Christ our Lord, our one and only foundation.

The High Altar of the former Church of the Advent is now installed on the Eastern transept of St. George’s Church and has been blessed by Bishop Barry Clarke on Advent Sunday, November 28^th, 2004. With beautiful craftsmanship, it looks as if it has always been there.

So two families have become one. The Spirit of the Advent continues to live on, and together with the spirit of St. George’s, we will hopefully develop a better, stronger and livelier community that will grow in the Spirit of the Lord for many years to come.

© 2005 – Updated onMise à jour le 2009-11-22