The event is the culmination of efforts by each congregation to grow in love and partnership with our fellow Christians. Starting in 2017 with CtF, and in 2021 with SMCK, St. Paul’s has shared its building with each congregation. Each exercises their own worship and ministry, and each enjoys office space for their administrative needs. In return, St. Paul’s receives help in covering its financial obligations. But these relationships are about so much more than a blessing of space and finances: they have brought about a flourishing of spiritual vitality and mutual care.

For St. Paul’s, one of the spiritual benefits of this partnership is regular exposure to church traditions very different from our own. Holy Week, for example, revealed both the unity and diversity of Christian traditions in a striking way. With some creative scheduling due to the Coptic season overlapping with the Anglican, the people of St. Paul’s and the SMCK were encouraged to visit each others’ services to experience them for themselves.

As a church founded in first century Egypt, Coptic musical and linguistic traditions are very different from Anglican practice. However, the points of unity were just as profound. The Nicene Creed and Lord’s Prayer were immediately recognizable to all, and the Eucharistic Prayer pointed to the common trust we have in Christ and in his sacraments. Mutual visitation has only increased the sense of unity which Jesus has preserved within the diversity of Christian expression.

Catch the Fire is distinctive in a different way. Founded in 21st century Canada, it embraces a Pentecostal tradition of spontaneity and liveliness in worship. Its members and St. Paul’s parishioners often attend one another’s services, and they pray for each other regularly. Jeff Duncan, Catch the Fire pastor, sees this as one of the greatest benefits of cooperation: “I remember the first time I saw a St. Paul’s bulletin and our congregation was listed as a regular prayer request. I was deeply touched.”

This commitment to prayer, along with social gatherings like the potluck, has been a powerful sign of care for one another. With each passing month, parishioners have grown more committed in friendship and in appreciation for each other’s way of living out Christian life. Fr. David Azer, priest at SMCK, echoes this: “The blessings have been many. Our two communities have developed genuine friendships and deeper understanding of Christian unity. Joyful moments—like the potluck and celebrating feasts together—stand out.”

None of this cooperation has resolved all the barriers to visible unity between the churches. There remain differences that prevent sharing some ministries and sometimes even sharing the Eucharist. We’re still saddened by these barriers, as they still detract from our common witness to the world. Yet, the simple commitment to deeper friendships, greater understanding, and mutual appreciation has laid the foundation for that deeper unity Jesus calls his church to embrace. In God’s grace, it is something we should all continue to strive for.

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 “St. Paul’s history begins with Irish settlers who arrived here in 1818,” notes Canon Roger Young, a member of the congregation and a descendant of one of the parish’s founding families. While local Anglicans first met in a church used communally by several local denominations, they soon outgrew it. “To meet the needs of a growing community, a larger new Anglican or ‘English Church,’ called St. Paul’s, was built and opened across the road in 1874.” 

Since then, the building has been replaced twice: once in 1937 to rebuild after a devastating fire in 1935, and once to replace that church with the current modern building in 2004.

With Bishop Shane Parker presiding, the anniversary celebration featured a service of Eucharist with confirmation and the reaffirmation of baptismal vows, followed by a potluck luncheon. “The service was beautiful and very meaningful for me” said Lynn Williams, who along with Marsha Fisher reaffirmed her baptismal vows in the service. “We even sang two hymns that we had 45 years ago in the U.K. when I was baptized and confirmed.”

For Margaret Anthony, a fellow parishioner, the “celebration service was topnotch! It was a joyful experience made even more so by the attendance of so many familiar faces from the past. I was particularly moved by Tabea [Silverthorne]’s confirmation. It reminded me of my confirmation in May 2022, which I considered to be a huge step in claiming publicly and proudly that I am a Christian.”

In gratitude for their past service, two former incumbents and their spouses were honoured through the rededication of different areas of the church building. The late Canon Rick Marples and his wife Judy were honoured with the rededication of the parish nursery in their name, while Canon John and Gayle Bridges were honoured with the rededication of the parish chapel in theirs. Both couples were instrumental in the parish’s growth over the past three decades.

The service also celebrated the parish’s history with an extensive display of photographs and other artifacts from the church’s past and with greetings shared from past clergy. “I was here when they broke ground for this church,” said Bishop Peter Coffin (ret.). “This has always been a faithful and a passionate congregation, and so you built a new church.”

Parishioner Heather Colls agreed, noting the church’s involvement with the Kanata Food Cupboard (KFC) as an example. Founded in 1985, “it started actually as an inter-church council referral line. We wanted the community to tell us what they wanted or needed,” she said. With the volume of grocery requests going up dramatically, St. Paul’s partnered with other local churches to start a food bank in the church’s basement. It remained there until the Food Bank outgrew the space in 2020. Heather still coordinates the St. Paul’s contingent of volunteers who help at the KFC’s new space.

St. Paul’s plans to keep up an emphasis on the parish’s history over the coming year with a number of events and pictorial displays.

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