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THE THIRTY YEARS (1950-1980) THE PEOPLE of ST. JOHN'S
THE RECTORS Fred J. Nicholson 1945 - 1953 Canon Nicholson served St. John's from 1945 to 1953, at which time he became rector of St. Michael's and All Angels Church. He left behind a great monument of work accomplished and a host of friends. As a fitting tribute, the School installed a window in the northeast transept of the church which touched him deeply. In 1958 he moved to Vancouver to become the rector of St. Mary's Church, Kerrisdale, and in 1961 was appointed Chapter Canon of the Diocese of New Westminster. On June 12, 1964, after an illness of a few months, he entered into rest.
E. Ronald Bagley 1953 - 1965 The Rev. Edward Ronald Bagley was born, raised, educated and ordained in England, but has lived in Canada since 1938. Undergraduate and graduate studies at Oxford resulted in an M.A. degree; two years of further study completed his formal education. Reverend Bagley was then ordained curate in the Diocese of Liverpool; however, finding it impractical to remain single and impossible to support a wife on a Liverpudlian curate's stipend, he settled both issues by marrying and setting sail for Canada.
He arrived in Winnipeg in 1938 and took a post as lecturer in history at St. John's College School. Later he became rector of the Winnipeg Cathedral, and then returned to St. John's College to teach English and history. In 1944 he left Winnipeg to teach at Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario. Finally reaching Toronto in 1950, he established the Church of the Annunciation and the Church of All Souls in Lansing. On October 29, 1953 he was inducted as the eighth rector of St. John's.
One of the first innovations attempted by the new rector proved to be an outstanding success. Although the Parish Magazine had long been in existence, its distribution to parishioners was impersonal and expensive - until the "couriers", that is. In answer to his appeal, nearly three hundred parishioners volunteered to be couriers and deliver the monthly magazine to fellow parishioners in their own neighbourhoods. "The Courier" was being distributed to seventeen hundred people by early 1954. Mrs. Gladys Chatterton, at that time Secretary, perfected and looked after the distribution of the magazine for many years.
Another significant change occurred while Canon Bagley was rector. The sale of the old rectory necessitated the building of a new one, and in May of 1955 this was ready for occupancy. The rector soon learned to enjoy the fine facilities of his new home, and, above all, eagerly anticipated the prospect of cultivating and maintaining a brand new garden. Most of the credit for the landscaping of the rectory's lawns and gardens belongs to Canon Bagley.
In 1958 the Deaconess resigned and the rector decided that with the help of the assistant curate, the Church School could be run effectively by the clergy. Over the years, Mr. Bagley's genuine interest in the young people of the parish enabled the School to flourish, and we are grateful for his efforts in that area.
In 1959, in recognition of his service to the Toronto East Deanery and the Toronto Diocese as a whole, Mr. Bagley was made an Archdeacon. And in recognition of his service to our parish in particular, one member of St. John's gave Mr. Bagley a pair of socks, accompanied by a very funny poem, every Christmas. In a continuing suspense story (the donor gave only subtle clues as to his or her identity), which became a highlight of each Christmas season, the rector returned the volley of words - but never the socks - with a poem of his own. The humour and gaiety of these exchanges did not foretell the blow which was about to be struck, for during an exciting hockey game on a night in April of 1960 Archdeacon Bagley suffered a severe heart attack. Needing complete rest, he was confined to hospital and bed for many weeks, and from that time on his schedule of hard work and strenuous activity had to be sharply curtailed; however, he obeyed orders completely and was back to work in September. As a partial reward for his twenty-five years of service as an ordained priest, the parish presented the Bagleys with an all-expense paid trip to Bermuda at a surprise party in 1962.
In the spring of 1965 Archdeacon Bagley announced his resignation as rector of St. John's in order to accept a physically less demanding post as chaplain and teacher at Bishop Strachan School. He retired from the school in 1 979 and is now living at Port Hope, where he pursues his favourite hobby, oil painting.
Ronald H. T. Owston 1965 - 1968 The Reverend Ronald Owston was inducted as the ninth rector of St. John's in 1965. He and his wife Marion, along with their two small daughters, moved into the rectory in the early fall of that year. Before coming to our parish he had served in the Royal Canadian Navy and had studied arts and divinity at the University of Toronto's Trinity College. He served his curacy at St. John's from 1957 to 1961, and was rector of St. Christopher-on-the-Heights Church in North Toronto for five years. From the fall of 1966 to the spring of 1967 he served as coordinator for Bishop Snell's programme for the Renewal '67 Conference.
After four years at St. John's, Reverend Owston decided that being a rector was no longer his true calling. As he wrote in the April 1968 "Courier":
The decision I have made, to leave St. John's at the end of April, has taken more than a year . . . I have felt a growing difficulty with being a Jack-of-all-trades and master of none . . . . I have practiced: preaching, administration, counseling, teaching, radio and TV, public education, theological education, public relations, church music and the skills that go with parish ministry. Counseling with individuals and groups has emerged as the one area where my natural inclinations and interests came together.
Thus he resigned in the early part of 1968 and after training with the Toronto Institute of Human Relations became a family counselor.
Charles Rupert King 1966 - 1967 The Rev. Charles Rupert King came to St. John's in November, 1966, as an assistant to Mr. Owston and was Priest-in-Charge while the latter served on the Renewal '67 Conference. Rupert King's love and sense of humour endeared him to all in his short time with us.
Stuart Frederick Summerhayes 1968 - 1974 Born in England in 1934 of Canadian parents, Stuart took his primary education in Canada, his secondary in England, where he attended Malvern College, and his university training again in Canada at the University of Toronto. He graduated from Trinity College in arts in 1957 and in divinity in 1960; he then took a further year of post-graduate study while serving as a tutor on the staff at Trinity.
He was ordained to the priesthood in the Diocese of Edmonton in 1960. He assisted at St. Andrew's, Scarborough, during the summer of that year, and was Priest-in-Charge at St. Andrew's-by-the-Lake while tutoring and taking his post graduate year at Trinity. From 1961 to 1963 he was Assistant Priest at All Saints Cathedral, Edmonton, and was then transferred to the Diocese of Toronto, where from 1963 to 1968 he was rector of St. Agnes Church, Long Branch. He married his wife Joy in 1956 and has three sons.
Mr. Summerhayes came to St. John's in 1968. During his tenure, emphasis was placed on community work and many new programmes were tried; an experimental 9:30 a.m. service, the Beaches Friendly Visitors and the After School Programme were but three of these. During this time Mr. Summerhayes also served as chairman of the Citizens' Housing Committee of Metropolitan Toronto and was instrumental in helping to get the Alexandra Park Co-operative Housing Project started.
Stuart Summerhayes resigned from St. John's in 1974, leaving a record of creative endeavor for his Church.
Arnold Herbert 1974 - 197S Canon Arnold Herbert was Priest-in-Charge of St. John's from late 1974 to the summer of 1975. He and his wife, Mary, both originally from England, served in the Canadian Arctic for over forty years.
Canon Herbert came to St. John's as an interim Priest-in-Charge and it was a most difficult time for him. During the previous few years an experimental, as opposed to traditional, service had been carried on by a small group of parishioners. Canon Herbert found this very much of a challenge. The 9:30 service was discontinued following a motion passed by Vestry in January, 1975.
During his short stay at St. John's Canon Herbert helped to hold the parish together by his constant visiting and his concern for the welfare of the whole parish. He now resides in Oshawa with his wife and he assists at Christ Memorial Church, where he recently celebrated fifty years in active ministry.
J. Jeremy Van-Lane 1975 - The Rev. Jeremy Van-Lane grew up in North Toronto in the parish of St. Timothy. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1957 and later became a divinity student at Trinity College. In 1963 he was ordained Deacon at St. Timothy's by Bishop Norris of Brandon, Manitoba. From 1963 to 1966 he served as curate at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Brandon and then as rector in Birtle, Manitoba for a little over two years until 1968. It was during this time that he met and married his wife, Dorothy, and became the father of her three young sons.
He was also very active in his diocese, serving as chairman of the Christian Education Committee and of the Camp Committee, and was also a part of the Diocesan Planning Committee. He worked closely with Church Schools, Scouts, and the A.Y.P.A., both in Brandon and Birtle.
In 1968 the Van-Lanes returned to Toronto to the parish of St. Richard of Chichester in Etobicoke. While there, Jeremy and Dorothy were blessed with a fourth son, Christopher. September, 1975, marked the beginning of a new era for St. John's when Jeremy Van-Lane became its eleventh rector.
Attendance had dropped oft drastically, finances were low, and strong leadership was badly needed. At his first Vestry meeting in January, 1976, he had the unpleasant task of informing the parishioners that if St. John's was to survive financially the old parish hall had to be demolished and the basement of the church renovated to be used for all church functions. After much debate, this was accepted in principle and further plans were presented at other Vestry meetings to raise funds. This work was completed, and since then St. John's has forged ahead under the strong leadership of Jeremy. Many and varied programmes have increased the size of our congregation and it was through Jeremy that a good number of the members of the Church of the Nativity, which had closed its doors in 1976, joined our parish. Jeremy Van-Lane is indeed a man of many talents, and we truly thank God for sending him to St. John's.
CLERGY ASSISTANTS 1950 - 1980 The roll call of clergy assistants at St. John's is a long and distinguished one. Assistants not only share same of a rector's burdens but also bring to a parish their own unique talents and style. The following is a list of these assistants, grouped under the incumbent with whom they served. Canon Nicholson: Fraser Baurnes James O'Neil Margery Pezzack
Archdeacon Bagley: William Riesberry Winnifred lIsley R. J. Shires Ronald Owston Paul Hopkins Tom Wilding John Simmons Tim Sharpe Duncan McNab
Rev. Owston: Keith Adams Rev. Summerhayes: David Flint Rev. Van-Lane: Mary Elizabeth Kilbourn David Danner Sara Boyles
A parish regards its clergy and assistants as "family" and takes pride in viewing their many accomplishments and successes. In the "Centennial Book" mention is made of former clergy who became Deans and we now add that the Rev. H. H. Clark, who both grew up in the parish and served as a curate here, became Primate of Canada. The Rev. John Langstone, who was also an assistant to Canon Baynes-Reed, became the Bishop of Edmonton. The Rev. L. S. Garnsworthy, assistant to Canon Nicholson, became Bishop of Toronto and Metropolitan of Ontario. The Rev. Margery Pezzack, who grew up in the parish and later served as an assistant to Canon Nicholson, became the first woman to be ordained a priest in the Diocese of Toronto. John Frame grew up in the area and served here as a student and later became Bishop of the Yukon.
CHURCH WARDENS 1951 - 1980 The Churchwarden is the liaison between the rector and the people of a parish. He also assists the rector in his everyday practical duties, and serves as the chief offlcer of the church as a corporation. The following is a list of those who have carried out these tasks over the last thirty years at St. John's:
ORGANISTS AND CHOIRMASTERS 1950 - 1980 "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast," wrote Pope. Sacred music goes further than that: it expresses through noble harmonies our vision of God. At St. John's we have often been blessed with fine musical leadership in our services. The choir of our parish have also provided secular entertainment far people; in the 1960's, for example, Mr. Harvey directed performances of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, and later Mr. Bretney presented "The Sound of Music". At present our choir has thirty-five members; this expansion came about in 1976 when Ted Reid and the choir of the former Church of the Nativity came to St. John's, and has continued under his dynamic leadership. Through their efforts, the choir has given everyone much uplift with their anthems and concerts. Organists and choirmasters who have contributed to the musical life of our church since 1950 are:
SECRETARIES 1954 - 1980 I St. John's has been very fortunate with regard to its secretaries. The hours given far exceed those shown on the payroll. The secretary is the mainstay during the times a parish is without a rector, and keeps everything running smoothly with as little upset in routine as possible. The following have served St. John's since the 1950's:
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