photo peter davison

DECONSECRATION — The second St. Agnes.

A round the year 1910 a minor canon of Westminster Abbey in London, England, was instrumental is raising funds for the erection of St. Agnes' Church in Edgewood, in the Diocese of Kootenay. His name was Jocelyn Perkins who, when I met him in 1956 at St. Deiniol's Library in Hawarden, near Chester, was in his eighties, but still the Canon Sacrist at the Abbey. I was then an undergraduate at Balliol College, Oxford. A periodic visitor to Balliol was the Reverend Euan A. L. Donaldson from St. Andrew's, Broughton, in the Diocese of Peterborough. He was interested that I was a Canadian, and told me he had served in the Diocese of Kootenay before going to Queen's Theological College in St. John's, Newfoundland. Along with an Australian fellow student, I ended up helping in his parish a couple of times a year. It was only after my wife Sabine and I came to the Vernon Area Ministry in 1994 that I discovered Fr. Donaldson had been one of my predecessors in Edgewood. There were other connections as well. Fr. Donaldson had trained at the same seminary near Oxford, which I attended — Cuddesdon Theological College. In addition, the matriarch of St. Agnes' parish was Adie Jackson, who was born, brought up, and lived much of her life in Edgewood. Adie's maiden name was Jowett. She was a cousin of perhaps the greatest Master of Balliol ever — the famous Benjamin Jowett, who transformed an undistinguished college into a top ranked place of learning. While Adie never got beyond grade three, she was highly intelligent and a voracious reader, who was pleased to borrow my copy of Benjamin Jowett's biography. Adie's daughter Penny married Bill Penner, and they were instrumental in constructing the new St. Agnes' Church after the original building was lost to the flooding by B.C. Hydro of the Arrow Lakes area.

On May 24, 2008 I was privileged (though sad) to be part of the service of deconsecration of St. Agnes' Church, which had served, not only Anglicans, but also the Roman Catholic and United Church members of the community. Services had been discontinued for several years, as less than a handful of worshippers remained to keep the church going. The building has been sold and its furnishings collected for use by other congregations. Bishop John Privett (accompanied by his wife, Alida) presided at the service, which included prayers of thanksgiving for the faithful witness of the past, a time of story telling, and a formal declaration of secularization read by Regional Dean, Canon Chris Harwood-Jones. Teresa Nesbitt represented the former Roman Catholic congregation. Penny Penner read one of the lessons, as did the Reverend Arthur Gans, while I read Psalm 84. After the service, Bill and Penny had prepared delicious refreshments for all to enjoy after this final service.