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About
Us - Details
St Patrick’s Church is in the midst of celebrating our 57th year of
worship, learning, fellowship and fun. Situated in Willowdale at 1087 Lillian
St, we are a small, warm, welcoming congregation.
Our
first Church service was held on January 17th, 1954 in Lillian Street
Public School; in the spring of that year the Diocese approved a portable church
building on the property. The name “St Patrick’s Anglican Church” was
chosen. In 1955 the sod for the new church was turned and the corner stone laid
in October. The Church and Hall were officially opened and dedicated on April 27th,
1956.
In
January of 1961, a proposal to extend the Church and Hall and to add a bell
tower and steeple was approved. The dedication service for the completed
extensions, additions, renovated kitchen and the Christian Education Wing took
place in 1963.
In
the 70’s the Rev Jim Tiller began conducting services at Cummer Lodge for the
elderly residents living there. This ministry continues with the help of parish
volunteers. The Salty Shamrocks, a youth singing group formed and sang during
the morning service. In 1974, we celebrated our 20th anniversary.
During
the 80’s St Patrick’s sponsored four persons who had fled war-torn Vietnam.
St Pat’s Players was formed to present Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. One of
our main events was celebrated in 1986 when we burned the “mortgage”.
The
Rev Barbara Sykes conducted her first service at St Patrick’s on Sunday April
24th, 1993. During her incumbency Barbara initiated “The Lillian
Public School Programme”. During the weeks before Christmas and Easter
children from the school were invited to visit the church to hear the faith
stories of Christmas and Easter and to learn the meaning of these important
holidays. This programme is still active with 180 children attending in 2006.
In
2004 we celebrated our 50th anniversary with a special dinner and a
yearlong flurry of activities that were enjoyed by all.
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Our incumbent from 2005-2011 was the
Rev Fran Kovar. During her time we initiated a process of renewal making our
main floor completely accessible to anyone with challenges to their mobility.
In the Fall of 2006 “St Patrick’s Book Club” began and continues for meet on the
last Friday of each month.
From December 2009 to June of 2011, we hosted St. George’s parish while their
church was being re-built and in August 2011 we welcomed Rev. Claire Goodrich
Dyer as our priest-in-charge.
The Special Events Committee plans events as fundraisers, for community building
and just for fun and a knitting group now meets once a week for fellowship and
creativity in any form of needlework. You can get an idea of what else is
happening by checking the Calendar of Events page.
St Patrick’s is a small church with a rich history and we are in the midst of
discerning where we go from here.
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