St Stephen's, Thamesville

143 London Road

photos by Nichols Photography, Thamesville

Organist: Kay Heil (pictured)

Churchwardens: Michelle Zavitz (pictured) and Alf Nichols (pictured)

Lay Delegate to Synod: Carol Cartier

Treasurer: Marney Nichols (pictured receiving the 2005 Bishop’s Award for Excellence – see the Announcements page, link to the left and below, for details)

Services are held each Sunday at 11 am. You are most welcome to join us. See the Announcements page (link to the left, and below) for current Sunday schedules and upcoming events. Immediately below is a photo of the joyous and well-attended 2006 anniversary service:

Photo courtesy of the Rev’d Bill Craven

A History of the Church

(thanks to Lynda Van Will for putting the following together for this page)

In 1871, St Stephen’s Anglican Church was the first brick church erected in Thamesville. The red bricks used to build the church were hand carved. The land the church was built on was one-fifth of an acre which was sold for one dollar “upon trust to hold and have forever hereafter the said lands and premises above designed for the express use and benefit of a Church.”

At that time Thamesville, Bothwell and Moraviantown constituted a parish. The priest lived in Bothwell.

In 1881, Thamesville was separated as a mission of Bothwell and a rectory was built near the Church. Thamesville , Bothwell and Moraviantown continued as a parish for many years until the incumbency of Reverend Jack James in 1935, when Dresden and Thamesville were united.

The church has survived two major floods: one in 1937 and one in 1947.

The parish hall was built between the church and the rectory in 1949. A new rectory was built on Wallace Street in 1959 and the old rectory was torn down.

St Stephen’s in Thamesville, St Peter’s in Moraviantown and Christ Church in Dresden were a three-point parish until the incumbency of the Reverend Jack Beedle when St Stephen’s and Christ Church became a two-point parish sharing services and supporting one another’s endeavors, all the while maintaining their individuality. Both churches are now part of the six-point parish, which constitutes the Parish of the Transfiguration.

St Stephen’s has recently undergone some renovations. The church was bequeathed a sum of money from the estate of Reverend Diehl and Mrs. Diehl. Reverend Diehl was the pastor at St. Stephen’s from 1930 -1935. The monies were to be used to maintain the church buildings. The bricks have been repointed and sealed. The inside of the church has been insulated, drywalled, and repainted and some of the floors have been recovered (see photo inset, courtesy of the Thamesville Herald). At St Stephen’s centennial celebration, Nellie Sexton wrote, “If those who were present at the opening service could return, they would readily recognize the building even though they could not the surroundings.” The same could be said today, as there have been some cosmetic changes to the inside of the church, but no major alterations.

It is hard to believe that five years ago we seriously considered closing St Stephen’s because the small congregation could not support the church. Even when we became part of the Parish of the Transfiguration we were still not able to meet our obligations at first, but through prayer and a lot of hard work we are finally able to pay our share. We are the “little church that could”. St Stephen’s holds a pancake supper every Shrove Tuesday, a bazaar auction every November and has been participating in the Rotary Yard Sale in Thamesville for the past five years. We have also been catering the local Rotary Club’s dinners every week.

If you walk into St Stephen’s on any Sunday, you will immediately sense the warmth and caring of a family. If you happen to join us for one of our fundraising events or social gatherings, you will also sense the fun and laughter of a family.

photos by Nichols Photography, Thamesville

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