Saint Stephen, Kazabazua

We see here Saint Stephen’s Church, Kazabazua, as photographed by Brian Glenn on 24 April 2010. Any newcomer to Saint Stephen’s Church, Kazabazua—however momentarily mystified they may be by the form of this house of worship—has no excuse for not finding the front door. Although the cement walkway appears to be leading toward a chancel wing, the beckoning tower confirms that one is heading toward the main entrance. Any doubts are dispelled by the cross atop the end gable signalling the location of the altar at the far end.

Kazabazua first emerged in the Mission of Aylwin, with the Rev. William Ross Brown holding services in 1870 in a log school. We are told that by 1870 a church awaited consecration.  Was that Saint Stephen’s? In 1894, a room was fitted up for Divine service in Kazabazua, and by 1895 the Saint Stephen’s congregation near Kazabazua was the third church in the Mission of Aylwin.

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We learn, confusingly, that in 1898, Clarendon Deanery approved removing Saint Stephen’s, Kazabazua to a lot opposite the Aylwin parsonage. Whatever it means, we do not know whether or not it was ever acted upon. Certainly, it was not until 1900, the Saint Stephen’s Church we see here, at Kazabazua, was consecrated.

The entrance wing we see here seems not to have been added until the late 20th century.  As built, the worship space consisted of an auditory box, with the only concession to High Victorian Gothic Revival design being the narrow side windows. The pointed arches of those windows contrast with the rounded arches in the octagonal belfry. The eight sides of the belfry and the spire follow Christian tradition in alluding to the eighth (or first) day of the week when our Saviour rose from the dead. By contrast, a hexagonal structure such as a vault in a graveyard or a belfry on a jail alludes to death, as on the sixth day of the week our Saviour was crucified.   

The life of rural parishes can be challenging. In 1919, Aylwin, Alleyne & Cawood and River Desert missions were re-organized into the six-point parish of River Desert, worked by two priests. Area parishes, it would seem, are nothing new.  In 1921, River Desert was divided into two parishes: River Desert and Aylwin. Aylwin consisted of four churches: Saint John’s, Aylwin; Holy Trinity, Alleyne; Saint Peter’s, Cawood; and Saint Stehen’s, Kazabazua.

Saint Stephen’s, it turns out, is the original log school, later covered with asphalt siding, and now vinyl. By 1969, a team ministry was appointed to Aylwin-River Desert with one priest looking after Kazabazua and Danford Lake while the other looked after Maniwaki and Wright.  In 1983, Wakefield and Lascelles were added to Aylwin-River Desert. In 1986, Aylwin-River Desert was reorganized into a four-point parish under the care of a single priest. By 2001, the Parish of Wakefield-Chelsea-Lascelles consisted of churches at Chelsea, Kazabazua, Lascelles and Wakefield.

The Archives collects documents for parishes, including parish registers, vestry reports, service registers, minutes of groups and committees, financial documents, property records (including cemeteries), insurance records, letters, pew bulletins, photographs, scrapbooks and parish newsletters.