Christ Church, Alert Bay (‘Yalis) on Cormorant Island has been awarded a category C grant of $50,000 by the Anglican Foundation of Canada.
The grant will be used for necessary reconstruction of the east wall of Christ Church. The church was built in 1876 and over time the foundation has shifted and dropped. The east wall houses three significant stain-glass panels, and the repairs will ensure the integrity of these panels.
Christ Church sits on the unceded ancestral Land of the ‘Namgis Nation, and from 1925 to 1974, the diocese ran St Michael’s Indian Residential School in Alert Bay.
Sheila Cook is the incumbent at Christ Church and the first Indigenous woman ordained in our diocese.
“It is a beloved church to the local Indigenous and non-Indigenous community, built by the people,” says Sheila. “A colonial project, as all churches built on these good Lands are, Christ Church is also a painful reminder of the intergenerational trauma that lives and breathes here in Alert Bay, location of the former Anglican-run St. Michael’s Residential School. Some of our people cannot even walk into the church because of the pain it holds for them.”
The repairs to the church building will create a revitalized space that acknowledges the church’s history, fosters healing and reconciliation and fulfills its ongoing commitment to the local community.
As Bishop Anna states in her letter of support for the grant, “The relationship of the physical buildings… and the ministry that takes place in the community is inseparable. The building and its state of repair is a physical representation of our commitment to the community and our responsibilities and obligations.”
As well as the repairs to the east wall, other repairs and upgrades will be made to all three of the church’s buildings. St George’s chapel and a rectory are also located on the site. Molly Willie, a Christ Church parishioner, with WheLaLaU Society and Indigenous Justice Association BC, leases the rectory for youth, family and Elder programming. These additional works will include upgrading the perimeter drainage, repairs to walkways and ramps, and replacing older fluorescent lights with more energy efficient lighting.
The repair works will begin this spring.
