About Us

Tour Introduction

A little background information before you take the tour.

A Rich History

St. John’s is the oldest Anglican parish west of the Great Lakes, and consequently we enjoy a bond with the past rivalled by few other churches in this Diocese.

Close Ties

Here you will find frequent references to the Honourable Hudson Bay Company, which had close ties with the Parish in its early years, the Red River Settlement whose people were ministered to by the Anglican clergy of this Parish (in spite of the fact that most of them were Presbyterian!), and the Red River Academy, which evolved into St. John’s College School under Bishop Anderson and many years later merged with another school to become St. John’s Ravenscourt.

Church Buildings

The Churches of our Past

Four church buildings have occupied this site, which was chosen by Lord Selkirk as an appropriate place to build a church to provide spiritual guidance for the Red River Settlers. Until 1852 and the arrival of Presbyterian minister John Black, St. John’s clergy ministered to all non-Roman Catholics in this part of the world.

The first church was a simple wooden structure, built in 1822 by the Rev. John West, who was the first Anglican clergyman west of the Great Lakes and east of the Rockies. The second was built of stone in 1833. It was consecrated as the first Cathedral in Rupert’s Land in 1853. It was replaced in 1862 under the auspices of the Rt. Rev. David Anderson, first Bishop of Rupert’s Land (from 1849 to 1864). Both the third (1862) and fourth (1926) buildings used stone from the second building.

The Church of our Present

The present Cathedral was built in 1926. Designed by Parfitt and Prain of Winnipeg, it incorporates elements of mediaeval English design, with a Norman tower and barrel-vaulted ceiling, and Gothic arched doors and windows. Two of the stonemasons, both in their eighties, who worked on the present Cathedral had also worked on the 1862 building. In 1959, a two-storey addition was built onto the northeast corner and now houses the Dean’s Vestry and Office, the Sacristy, the Church Office, the Choir Room and the Ministries Office.

Cherishing our Past, Living in the Present

While we cherish our heritage, we do not live in the past. This is a lively, committed community of faith, and we move with the times in which we live. We hope that you will decide to worship with us one Sunday morning, to meet and to be welcomed by our members.

In the meantime, we hope you will find this tour of our Cathedral useful and interesting.

Note: References to north/south/east/west are ecclesiastical rather than geographical. In Anglican churches the location of the high altar is always referred to as the east.