Although the Anglican Church of Canada was one of the smaller
churches in membership in Prince Edward Island the Island goes back a long way, to 1777 when St. Paul's parish, Charlottetown,
was established. In the early days it was called "The United Church of England
and Ireland", and was the established or official, Church of the colony.

The principle behind having an established church is often misunderstood.
One aspect of it was to try to prevent the splintering of the Christian Church
into a multitude of sects. Another was to try to bring the influence of
religion to bear in the daily social and political life of the people.

In Prince Edward Island the French, Scottish, and Irish settlers, most of
whom were Roman Catholics, Presbyterians or Battists (misspelled) were, of
course, not attracted by the notion that what they called "the English Church"
should be the established religion. So its official status did the Anglican
Church no good. It encouraged an attitude of resentment towards it on the part
of members of other churches, and encouraged Anglicans themselves complacently
to assume that the Crown would provide for their Church's support. And when the
Anglican Church faltered in providing, or sustaining, a pastoral ministry in
the scattered settlements across the Island, Anglican people were absorbed into
more enterprising and self-reliant Church bodies.

The second Anglican parish established on the Island was St. Eleanor's in
1824, when some of the settlers petitioned the Society for the Propagration of
the Gospel for a missionary so that they might practice "the religion of our
fathers in this secluded spot." In 1840 the Diocesan Church Society was formed,
and in the following 10 years new parishes were set up and many churches built.

In the 1860's a movement to constitute the Island as a Diocese with its own
bishop began in St. Pauls's Parish, Charlottetown, but failed when enough money
to endow the bisphoric could not be found.

In 1869 a second Church, St Peter's was built in Charlottetown, chiefly for
poor people who could not afford the pew rents at St Paul's. The Bishop of Nova
Scotia, Hibbert Binney, who like all his predecessors and successors, had
episcopal oversight of the Island, declared it to be his Cathedral, on the
Island. This placed St Peter's under his authority so that it could not be
controlled by the Rector of St. Paul's; as a consequence St Peter's was free to
develop as a centre of Anglo-Catholic life and worship.

Following the failure of the movement to establish a Diocese of Prince
Edward Island a number of rural missions also failed, particularly in the
eastern end of the Island.

Through the years Island Anglican families have given many sons and
daughters to the Church, as for example, Stephen and Douglas Sherren, Charles
(archdeacon) and E.A. (Canon) Harris; Percy and Walter Aidan Cotton (of the
Community of the Resurrection). Dr. T.H. Hunt and Canon A.E Andrew were both
sons of St Eleanor's Parish, G.S. Tanton served his native Church as
archdeacon, Brother Charles Neville Palmer served East End London's poor in the
Society of St. Francis. The Haslam family of Springfield is famous for the
ministers and medical missionaries it has given the Church- Robert (Canon) and
Leonard and Dr. Florence, of Amritsar, India, and (Phyllis, of the Elizabeth
Fry Society). The Rev. Basil King became a famous novelist. Two brothers of E.A
Harris, Robert and William, served the Church as painter and architect
respectively, and their grand nephew, Walter MacNutt, as a Church musician.
Sister Teresa Cundall became a member of the Sisterhood of St. John the
Baptist. Cuthbert Simpson was a great Dean of Christchurch, Oxford. The list is
almost endless, and we regret space does not permit the list to be complete.

What of the Anglican Church today in Prince Edward Island, it displays a
vitality and diversity remarkable in such a small membership.

In Charlottetowm, St. Peter's Cathedral boasts what has been called the "The
Sistine Chapel of Canada"-All Souls Chapel-a place of prayer, where the veil
between Time and Eternity is (?), a threshold of Paradise. Here the Eucharist,
in which the Lord's death is shown forth till He come, is celebrated daily. St.
Peter's choir, specializing in the Planchant music of the ancient and medieval
period, is one of the best Gregorian liturgical choirs in Canada. The
ceremonial accopaniment of the Cathedral's worship is carried out with care and
devotion. St. Paul's also has a fine choir, reflecting the post-Reformation
development of music and Anglican chant in the Church of england. A Family
Eucharist in the contemparary style is celebrated every Sunday at St. Paul's at
9:30 am, and the worshippers themselves are involved in the design of the
service.

In the western end of the Island is St. Andrew's Day Care Centre, in Port
Hill parish, the Diocesan Church Society remodelled a disused Mission building
and challenged the provincial government to operate a "Head Start" program
within it for preschool children.

The Church Society also owns and operates Camp Kingston, at Crapaud. Each
year Sunday School picnics, camps for boys and girls and young alike, and a
Choir Camp are held here. It is also the usual site for the annual Anglican
Festival in June, when all the parishes come together for out-of-doors worship
and fellowship.

The Anglican Church on the Island has also been in the forefront of the
ecumenical movement in the province, and provided important leadership in the
establishment of first the Summerside Christian Council and later its
counterpart in Charlottetown. The "Sign of the Fish" telephone help-line
service was initiated in Prince Edward Island as a joint project of St. Peter's
and the Presbyterian Kirk of St. James in Charlottetown. This group then
established the "Sign of the Fish" in Summerside, where the Christian Counsel
sponsors it. THE END.

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