The History of St. John's
St.John's Anglican Church of Isle Madame 1828-1978
The church building now known as the St. John's Centre for the Arts has had a long and storied history that is intertwined with the history and culture of Isle Madame. Prior to the Centre (established in 2018 by the Friends of St.John), the building up until 2014 has been as active church that served the members of the Anglican Community of Isle Madame.
The history of the Church was written in 1978 by Marshall Bourinot, Author, Poet, Carpenter, Postman, and Isle Madame historical personage who served the Church and the Isle Madame community until his death in 1991. Marshall Bourinot established a legacy on Isle Madame captured in his writings - of which the History of the Anglican Church of Isle Madame (1978) is a part.
The Bourinot document that details the history of the Church from its beginnings in 1828 until 1978 is available for purchase from members of the Board of the Friends of St. John. For more information Contact Us.
History describes the colourful story of parishioner families, leadership, and the community.
The Ministers of St. John's Anglican Church
The Ministers
Name Dates
James Allen Shaw 1828-1854
Robert F Brine 1854-1872
F Young 1873-1881
Edward Ansell 1880-1903 (from Port Melford before here)
George Backhurst 1903-1907
A Richardson 1907-1909
W Aubrey Huband 1909-1912
George Allen Andrew 1913-1918
Basil P Colclough 1919
W Deathe 1920-1922
Robert A Neish 1923-1924
D V O'Meara 1925-1926
C DeW White 1927-1927
W K Morrison 1928-1929
A E Kingsbury 1930-1935
William J Bridgman 1936-1946
A number of ministers recorded taking part: E T Parsons, Kingsbury (Mulgrave), Canon A F Arnold, from St James, Pictou, G H B Rutter, E B N Cochrane (St George's, Sydney) 1947-1949
W Rippon 1950-1953
W A Trueman 1953-1955
Norman Sorge 1956-1957
No resident minister.
Canon A F Arnold, J T Turner 1958-1962
William Dye 1963-1964
Neil Williams 1965-1966
Winthrop Fish and Isaac Butter
(together) 1967
Arthur Turnbull 1967-1969
C A MacMillan 1969-1971
David Price 1971-1975
Frank Reid 1976-1985
Carolyn M Tomlin 1986-1989
J W G Clarke 1990-1993
Gloria McLure Fraser 1994-1997
Peter MacRae 1997-2002
No resident minister 2003-2005
Susan Best 2006- ?
Evelyn Knorr 2010-2014 (continued after St John's closed in 2018)
Susan Slater Since 2018