St. John's Anglican Church

Postcard of St. John's Anglican Church - likely from the late teens.  

Isn't this just an amazing picture of the church that still stands on Reston Main Street just south the the RM office! Did you notice the cow grazing in the backyard? Thanks to Ashlea, a Baldwin connection in Toronto for sharing a copy of this postcard with me. It was the inspiration for today's post and I love when I find a Boulton Blog connection to Reston's Bricks and Boards. My husband Randy's Grandma Elsie Boulton (1884-1968) received the letter below from her brother Walter Edward Bushby (1882-1961) in 1958 with details on building the church with his brother Arthur in the spring of 1906.  Thanks to cousin Sharon for lending a box of her mother Jean (Boulton) Elliott’s keepsakes which included this letter. 

Dear Elsie,

I am a poor one to write, how are you now that you will be 74 years old?

Has Reston changed much since I was their, it is 50 years, since I left Reston 1908.

Your church wanted to find out what year the church was built, Arthur's wife Lou wrote and asked me about it. 

I designed the Church, made the plans, and built it with some help from the Church members.  I had to go to Brandon with Rev. McKinney to have the plans approved by the Bishop.  I was the first one to be marryed  in the Church.  I think it was built 1906. Tom Bolton and his sister was at the Church when it was dedicated, see if they remember.

Has Reston grown much since I was their.  I don't do anything, have to depend on Wife, Daughter and Son John and his wife for support. 

Hope you are all well.  Your Loving Brother Walter

Walter and Martha Bushby and daughter Dorothy
about 1914 in Westfield, New Jersey

According to Trails Along the Pipestone (1981) Rev Joseph McKinney crossed the sea from Northern Ireland in 1903 and made his way to Reston to become the first regular Anglican minister. His wife Rachel and three daughters Florence, Mary and Margaret joined him the next year.  The couple later had 2 sons, Irwin and Fred, who went on to join the ministry as well.  He would have been a driving force behind having a "Church of England" place of worship as Anglican was known in the early days. 

The parish was officially formed in 1906, the year after the Reston Baptists had built their church across the street. Thomas Baldwin and William Brady were the first wardens and likely supervised the building with their carpentering backgrounds.  Rachel McKinney was very musical and Mrs. Lucy Pigg, Joseph and Ada Ward and Mrs. Lou Bushby are also mentioned by name as contributing to the music of the congregation. Organists are named as Gladys Dunbar, Kay Wilkins Castle, Mrs. Dr. Clark and Dorothy Baldwin. A new organ was dedicated in October of 1967.  Catholic congregations used the Anglican building for a time too for a few decades beginning in the 1960’s.

A full list of the Rectors up to the present as well as some current pictures can be found on the Manitoba Historical Society website here. After moving to other parishes, the McKinney family returned in 1918 and the history book says he was presented with a new Ford car when he left as he was so highly regarded! 

 

This large online resource shows the architecture of many of the Anglican churches in Manitoba created with different materials and of all sizes. 

Anglican Church Women had an active role in creating social and fundraising events in the community.  Both an evening and afternoon branch met the needs of all the women of the church.  The small congregation remains very mighty in the Reston community.  Fowl suppers, pancakes and beef on a bun are legendary mouth watering examples prepared by the women and men of the present group.  The Guild transitioned their twice yearly rummage sales to "Hidden Treasures", open 2 days a week as a second hand store in Chapman’s Drugstore building. 

The Parish Hall that sits just north of the Church had been the former St Peter's Anglican Church at Cromer which originally opened in 1915 and had closed in 1936. It was moved to Reston about 1958. A kitchen and bathrooms were added and it serves as a social gathering place. It was placed on the corner lot where the rectory had stood that is shown in the postcard.  After it was no longer used by the clergy for a home, it was a place for Sunday School as well as being a funeral home.  Renovations in the main Church in 1960 saw the ceiling lowered, walls redone, floors tiled, aisle and chancel carpeted. The square tower in the postcard at the top of this post is gone and the entrance is centered now. In 1987, the church was moved off its foundation while a new one was poured.  A ramp, new siding, paint and roofing make it ready for another century.