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St. Michael’s & All Angels’ was consecrated on 29th September, 1883. The church building has been added to over the years, with the bell tower in 1912, electricity in 1926 and extensions such as the balcony in the 1950s. Beautiful stained glasses windows and a church organ have also been donated over the years.
St. Michael’s has always strived to keep the buildings current and relevant. With Faith in Formation in mind, St. Michael’s is rejuvenating their grounds with their Visioning Project. Following two town-hall meetings with the parishioners and trial use of the space during the summers of 2018 and 2019, it was found that three trees, an arbutus and two pines formed a perfect space for the altar. These three trees, like the Trinity, form the backdrop to our Outside Worship Altar. The second part of our Visioning Project is the Labyrinth. Walking the paths is often seen as a gateway to the spiritual realm, offering symbolism of the unseen and existing as a representation of the path that is inside us. Ours is now laid and looks magnificent with the dapple light through the trees making it a very contemplative spot. These two spaces were used for the very first time on The Day of Pentecost 2020 (31st May, 2020.) The service can be found on our website under services https://www.stmikevictoria.ca/podcasts/services/2020-06-03-the-day-of-pentecost
Many of our parishioners helped both with ideas and work parties, but with the outbreak of Covid 19 in the spring 2020 our parish physically closed as part of the Province 'lock-down' to prevent its spread. As instructions from the Provincial Medical Officer changed, the construction of these projects became the labour of love for our parishioners, were instrumental in laying out the labyrinth and constructing the Altar platform.
The third part of our Visioning Project is adding a Prayer Path combined with information on the history of our heritage cemetery. The planning and research for this part of the project is in progress and construction will follow soon.
Keeping the space as natural as possible and reflecting the ideas that came out of our town-hall meetings is vital to our project. Sketches and photos of our progress can be seen here in the gallery.
Watch for progress updates and ways to help and donate.