SAVE THE DATE!
Delayed 200th Anniversary Celebration in Chambly (hopefully) set for September
Historic St. Stephen’s with St. James Anglican Church in Chambly, Quebec, was set to celebrate its 200th anniversary in May 2020. The pandemic put an end to that plan, but a new date has been set: September 12, 2021.
Understanding that the unexpected may recur, a “rain date” has also been decided: November 21, 2021.
The celebration of St. Stephen’s 201st year will be attended by Archbishop Linda Nicholls, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, and Bishop of Montreal Mary Irwin-Gibson. Further details will be given closer to the date.
St. Stephen’s, first envisioned to sit snugly next to Fort Chambly, was built across the road in 1820 so as not to crowd other government buildings. It was one of the so-called “million churches” built from a million-pound British fund established in 1818, as thanks for the victory at Waterloo.
Perhaps to avoid the fate of the original Fort, which was built of wood and burned to the ground, the church is made of fieldstone. Described as “old colonial” style, it is a building of graceful proportions and original fittings that houses an imposing, still working, pipe organ bought for £189 in 1854 and beautifully rendered stained-glass windows in the Renaissance style that depict Biblical scenes and sayings.
