MARY'S GENEALOGY TREASURES
HISTORY OF ST. THOMAS'
ANGLICAN CHURCH
Historical Society June 1977
Anglican services began in Cardston about 1906-07.
They were held in the Presbyterian Church by the Revs.
J. S. Chivers and D. Jones who came down from
Lethbridge. The establishing of the Anglican Church in
Cardston was the immediate result of an appeal by the
Archbishops of Canterbury and York in 1910. This
appeal, held in England, led to the formation of 'The
Archbishops' Western Canada Fund' whose council com-
missioned the Rev. W. H. Mowat to organize mission
stations in the southern part of Alberta between the
Crow's Nest Line and the International Boundary. The
work was to be done by an 'Associated Mission' or
Brotherhood. A beginning was made in the first week of
September 1910 by the Head of the 'Archbishops'
Southern Alberta Mission,' Mr. Mowat, and his lay
colleague Mr. S. M. Morgan. In the course of their
reconnaissance Cardston was reached on Friday October
14th and a call was made on the Presbyterian minister
who reported practically no Anglican families in the
town. Next morning two or three individual Anglicans
were interviewed without much encouragement and the
Archbishops' men continued on their way next morning.
Within the next few days a requisition signed by
several Churchmen reached the missionaries who were
asked to supply services in Cardston and were assured of
support. To deal with this call from Cardston a further
visit was paid on Thursday October 27th, 1910. Several
individuals in town were interviewed, a meeting was held
on Saturday night and the first services were held on Sun-
day, October 30th. Two services, with a total attendance
of 34, were held by the courtesy of the local Masonic
Lodge in their Hall on Main Street, at hours that did not
conflict with the services of the Presbyterian Church. The
information given by the Presbyterian minister was
found to be misleading; the number of Church people
seemed to be considerable; the promise of financial sup-
port was encouraging. At first the missionaries travelled
from their temporary headquarters on the Dry Fork
between Fishburn and Ewelme. The interest in Cardston
was maintained, a movement was set on foot by the
laymen of the congregation to start a Church Building
Fund, and at the beginning of March the development of
the work prompted the senior missionary, Rev. W. H.
Mowat, to make Cardston his base. After a month's
boarding out, an old log shack west of the Mormon
tabernacle was fitted up as a bachelor's residence and as
headquarters for the Southern Alberta Mission.
On March 13, 1911 a site on Ist Street West was
purchased. A Church, 20 ft. x 36 ft. with a sanctuary 10
ft. x 8 ft. and a vestry of same dimensions, was completed
and dedicated by the Anglican Bishop of Calgary, the
Right Reverend Cyprian Pinkham. This service was held
on Sunday, June 23rd, 1912 and the Bishop named the
Church St. Thomas. In September 1911 a ladies Guild
was established, later affiliated to the Women's Aux-
iliary. The minister writes that the ladies 'soon proved
their usefulness!' A Sunday School was also established.
There were two missionaries resident in Cardston and in
mid-November, 1911 they moved to more comfortable
and convenient quarters in a small bungalow built by
mission funds on a site comprising four lots in the Barker
sub-division of Cardston, generously given by Mr. E. N.
Barker, J.P. The first lay officers of St. Thomas' Church,
Cardston were E. N. Barker, J. P. and H. B. Stacpoole,
M.D., the Church Wardens.
During the first 'Great War', 1914-18, the mis-
sionaries in Cardston left, one by one, to offer themselves
in the war effort. The withdrawal of the missionaries
were intended to be a temporary necessity, but the
ravages of war and needs in England totally disrupted the
Mission. At one time, early in the war, there had been 8
priests, 2 lay brothers, and a layreader in the Cardston
Mission Community. It is uncertain when the last mis-
sionary was transferred. Services were always carried on
in Cardston, sometimes by clergy from other parts of the
Southern Alberta Mission, but the absence of resident
priests brought an inevitable decline in Church life. St.
Paul's School, Blood Reserve, was moved from the north
end of the Reserve to a point seven miles from Cardston
in 1924. Thereafter the priest-principal, Canon Samuel
H. Middleton (later Archdeacon Middleton) conducted
services in St. Thomas' Church, Cardston until his retire-
ment in 1951. Archdeacon Middleton was a resident of
Cardston and district for over forty years and was highly
respected and greatly loved.
In 1958 St. Thomas' Church was moved to a new site
in Standoff and Anglican services continued in Cardston
at St. Paul's Church, which had been moved from St.
Paul's School to land east of the Blood Indian Hospital.
St. Thomas' Church, which had served Cardston
Anglicans for many years, was destroyed by fire
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Mary Tollestrup