For decades, St. Dunstan’s Anglican Church provided a venue for worship and community service in the Greater Victoria neighbourhood of Gordon Head — pursuing its motto to be “a family of Christ walking with our community.” That legacy was remembered and celebrated at a final service earlier this year.
On February 6, 1966, the parish of St. Dunstan’s held its first service in a newly constructed church. The parish was the consolidation of the parishes of St. Richard’s and St. Chad’s, both mission churches of the parish of St. Luke’s, Cedar Hill. The church was dedicated one month later by then-metropolitan Harold Sexton.
The wood frame church building sits on a large “meadow” on a corner lot. Inside, the sanctuary is simple but striking, with a soaring wood-beamed ceiling. On sunny days, the many windows cast a golden glow on the wooden pews.
Over the years, the church and its hall became a focal point for the community. The sanctuary’s amazing acoustics made it a highly sought out venue for choirs and other musical performances. The hall was used by multiple community groups, particularly those that couldn’t afford the high rental fees at other venues. The meadow has been used by after school groups, Guides and Scouts and Cathedral School students (St Dunstan’s houses a Junior Kindergarten program for the school) — as well as many generations of deer.
St. Dunstan’s enjoyed a long period of growth and stability under the leadership of John Steele, who served as incumbent from 1996 until 2017. During that time the congregation rose to over 70 and the church had a thriving Sunday school, a youth choir, a senior choir, two Sunday morning services, two weekly Bible study groups and gardening and craft groups.
John Steele resigned in October 2017 to make the move to St. John the Baptist, Cobble Hill. Debra Brown, a St Dunstan’s warden for many years to the present day, notes that John Steele’s resignation marked the beginning of a long period of transition for the church. St. Dunstan’s was served by an interim clergy, Bruce Bryant-Scott, until Jeremy Carr filled the position of incumbent in October 2018.
Attendance had begun to decline, and this was only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Jeremy Carr left in 2022, and Heather Robinson was appointed as interim clergy to help the congregation determine its ongoing viability.
“Over the next two years we worked very hard to generate sufficient rental income to meet our financial commitments, repair and maintain the buildings and care for our very large lawn and gardens,” Debra Brown told Faith Tides via email. “We achieved considerable success in those efforts, but a lot of volunteer commitment was required. At a certain point, it became clear that our parish resources of time, talent and treasure were increasingly limited, and not sustainable. It was time to look for an alternate path forward.”
That path involved working with the diocese to find a property developer who could revitalize the St. Dunstan’s property into a community hub with housing, a daycare centre, retail space and a worship and meeting space for the parish and community groups. Ultimately, that path was abandoned as they could not secure a developer. Meanwhile, the number of volunteers available to maintain and administer the parish was dwindling.
Despite its beautiful, naturally light-filled sanctuary and useful community spaces, the construction of the church continued to present challenges. The exterior wood frame had not weathered well, a new roof was needed, there had been longstanding issues with leaks in the ceilings, many of the windows needed replacing and the bathrooms in the lower hall needed upgrading to be fully accessible.
Heather Robinson and Bishop Anna began to discuss the possibility of having the St. Dunstan’s parish worship at St Peter, Lakehill, which is part of the Two Saints Ministry where Heather is now the incumbent. They approached the wardens and then parish councils of both parishes, to consider the possibility. Debra Brown writes that at first the notion of letting go of St. Dunstan’s came as a shock, but over time, and in consultation with the parish council and the congregation, it came to be seen as a “sensible solution.”
In January 2025, the Two Saints Ministry parish and the parish of St. Dunstan’s began worshipping together every Sunday at St. Peter’s, and the two parishes have continued to worship together since. Debra Brown writes that there have been many positive aspects to the arrangement and that joint parish meetings have allowed them to work through any “pinch points.”
Meanwhile, in December 2024, Bishop Anna wrote a pastoral letter to inform the diocese of the parish’s decision to “let go of their large and aging facility.” On June 7, 2025, St. Dunstan’s held a final service of celebration and thanksgiving, led by Bishop Anna. The service was the first time the parish members had worshipped at St. Dunstan’s this year.
The St. Dunstan’s leadership worked hard to make it a memorable and meaningful service. There was freshly baked bread for communion and a hymn written especially for the St. Dunstan’s parish by Marnie Barrell, who was recently appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to hymn writing.
There were over 100 participants, including clergy from around the diocese. “It was an emotional day for everyone,” writes Debra. “Former parishioners attended to honour and celebrate the years of fellowship and community service. It was a bittersweet mix of grieving and celebration, with many tears as well as happy reunions and laughter.”
What does the future hold for St. Dunstan’s? The diocese is in the process of finalizing the sale of the church building. But as the rite of deconsecration states: “the presence of God is not tied to any place or building.”
“We’ve been exploring ways to worship and work together with the members of the Two Saints Ministry since January,” writes Debra. “Our parish families are forging connections around fellowship and community service. In October, the two parishes voted on whether to amalgamate into one parish. The vote was unanimously in favour.
Debra Brown hopes that the spirit of the parish of St. Dunstan’s will live on. “We sincerely hope that the core elements of what has made St. Dunstan’s such a strong parish family over the decades will live on in our expressions of love of music, our connection to the beauty of God’s creation and our commitment to caring for each other and to serving our neighbours in need.”
