The Friends
of
St. John the Evangelist
In the beginning was the WORD and the WORD was with GOD and the WORD was GOD
The parish of St. John the Evangelist invites you to become one of our Friends.
Some of you reading this may already be our friends in the broad sense. Today, we are hoping you might wish to become a Friend, with a capital ‘F’, of St. John the Evangelist as our singular community of faith builds upon its foundations to strengthen a way forward amidst the opportunities and challenges of the times.
This new outreach begins as our clergy and parishioners determine to seize the moment under the rubric we have adopted for a variety of initiatives beginning in 2023, by God’s grace the 163rd year of our existence.
Our 2023 mission:
Immediate Survival – Modest Maintenance – Fresh Vision – Sustainable New Normal
Why become a Friend?
St. John’s stands in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, bringing the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ, to the Montreal city core.
From anywhere in the world, you can help.
We invite you, our Friend, to consult a few of the highlights of the extraordinary life of Canada’s most venerable Anglo-Catholic parish.
St. John’s continues to offer the Sacraments, and more, in the beating heart of a newly-thriving and increasingly-diverse metropolis.
The parish does this in a city and province which has in recent decades largely abandoned the Faith of its 17th-century fathers and mothers, yet nonetheless thirsts for something beyond the rich historicity, commercial success, cultural energy, athletic enthusiasm and great natural beauty all of which draw folk from across the world to visit and to settle in our midst.
Our History
1859 – Fr Edmund Wood opened mission chapel in Protestant Cemetery to work with the poor in the Cathedral Parish of Montreal.
1861 – Free Seat Chapel of St John the Evangelist opened – “the church with the kitchen chairs” together with St John’s School (now Lower Canada College). Weekly Sunday celebration of Holy Communion began, then a monthly Choral Eucharist, and shortly thereafter Sunday Choral Eucharists, and celebrations of Saints days – on an Altar with cross and candles. A surpliced choir followed – and in 1868 the daily Mass supported by the parish ward of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. Early persecution happened, too: Bishop Oxenden inhibited a deacon for distribution of Anglo Catholic tract “Rule of Life”, which included devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and prayers for the faithful departed and Confession – and later forbade use of a Processional Cross.
1878 – The present church building opened, shortly after which the Sisters of St Margaret came to the Parish, and aided Montrealers during the 1885 smallpox outbreak.
1905 found the debt-free church consecrated, the Bishop permitting the use of incense.
1917 – Prayers for the Faithful Departed were introduced at daily Mass.
1918 – Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament began amidst an Influenza pandemic.
1925 – St Michael’s Mission was founded, shortly afterward run by the Sisters of St John the Divine – both of which moved to the Parish Hall building in 1954.
1951 saw introduction of full Holy Week/Vigil ceremonies; regular Solemn High Masses with three sacred ministers began a year later.
Mass was broadcast on radio for 12 years prior to 1955 – the first televising of Mass at an Anglican Church.
1956-57 – Restoration Fund Campaign enabled the strengthening of the Church structure. Although clouds loomed with the 1963 expropriation of Parish House for building of the subway (le Métro), the threatened complete expropriation of 1967 was not carried out, and thus in 1971 the green metal roof was painted red and St John’s became known as Red Roof/Toit Rouge.
1984 – dedication of Hellmuth Wolff organ and reinvigorated choral music program.
1986 – Diocesan AIDS ministry opened, followed nine years later by the first annual AIDS Requiem.
2011 – we celebrated our 150th Anniversary with the Primate of All Canada.
St. John’s is the historic Anglo-Catholic presence in Montreal,
and the only full-time Prayer Book parish in the province of Quebec.
Become a Friend
and stay up to date.
Use this form to sign up for the Friends of St. John the Evangelist mailing list, or email rector@redroof.ca directly.
Please include your name and email address. If you would like to do so, please include your postal address and the name of your local parish in the body of the message.
We understand you may have more questions that can be answered by this page, so by all means feel free to contact the Rector, Fr Keith Schmidt, at rector@redroof.ca who will respond and if necessary ask one of the Wardens to assist with specific matters.
Friends: “what then shall we say to these things?”
All the Friends are asked to undertake the first of the following requests, and to consider the others as they feel able.
1
Pray regularly for the parish.
Your prayers are a great gift. St. John’s relies strongly on the intercession of the whole church, that great cloud of witnesses on earth and in heaven, to continue carrying out our work. Consider remembering us before God publicly or privately at your Sunday services during the intercessions or prayers of the people, or in your recitations of the Daily Office.
2
Attend Mass with us if visiting Montreal.
Though Christ is not divided and is present at every altar in every place, we would love to welcome you in person if you are visiting the area. Your presence is a source of joy and support for us.
Please consider coming to High Mass should you be in Montreal on Sunday or a Feast Day. We would also be happy to see you at any of our celebrations of Low Mass during the week.
3
Access our weekly bulletins.
Reading our bulletins will inform you about the liturgy celebrated at St. John’s, and provide you with up-to-date information about the daily goings-on at our parish. We hope that this may help you feel connected to us, and that it may inspire you to remember particular causes in your prayers.
4
Read quarterly emails of News for our Friends.
The Friends of St. John the Evangelist has a mailing list! We would love to keep you apprised of the longer-term projects undertaken by the parish and of our various doings to promote Anglicanism, Anglo-Catholicism, and the Book of Common Prayer in Montreal and on the wider world stage, so that more may come into the loving embrace of God through the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Print copies are also available. We would be happy to mail these to Friends who are not online.
5
Consider donating to the parish.
You can support St. John’s concretely by donating to the parish’s general needs.
The Rector is also available for consultation regarding current special projects which might commend themselves to your support.
All donations are tax-deductible if you pay Canadian tax.
Any cheques should be payable to
The Church of St John the Evangelist
and mailed to
137 President Kennedy Ave, Montreal, QC H2X 3P6
Donors with a Canadian bank account may donate via an Interac e-Transfer made to:
office@redroof.ca
Follow your banking institution’s instructions regarding e-Transfers. For more information, see Interac’s website.
We also invite you, in your charity, to consider remembering the parish in your Will.
6
Pass on this material.
Please share the news of the Friends of St. John the Evangelist with your friends who may be interested for any reason! We welcome interested parties from across the world, whether they be Anglican enthusiasts, ecumenical onlookers, Prayer Book fans, liturgy librarians, historians, architecture admirers, musicians, or simply Montreal neighbours of that church with the red roof.
We can provide print copies of this information at your request.
Thank you
for your kind consideration & support
for the ongoing work of this historic Anglo-Catholic church!
And the WORD was made flesh : and dwelt among us