St. Nicholas Anglican Church
St. Nicholas Anglican Church is hosting a community picnic on Saturday to celebrate its 100th birthday and everyone’s invited.
The south end of Manderly Street will be closed from 12 noon until 3pm to make way for food, music, games, a puppet show, face painting as well as a visit from mounted police and a fire truck.
St. Nick’s has played a central role in Birch Cliff life since it was established by Reverend Charles Luce in 1912.
Luce was from Gloucester, England and the church was named after St. Nicholas Parish in his home town.
St. Nicholas Church, 1914
St. Nicholas Church started in a stable
The original church was in a renovated stable overlooking the Scarborough Bluffs at the base of Warden Avenue, with access off of “Harvey Avenue”, which is now Haig Avenue.
In 1914, it was felt more space was needed and a $1,500 extension was added. Parishioners also contributed oak pews, a lectern Bible and a stone baptismal font.
Sadly, on Sunday, January 16, 1916 parishioners arrived for Sunday service to find the church engulfed in flames. All that could be saved was a piano and the baptismal font.
Needless to say, when the church was rebuilt in a more central location, it was constructed out of brick.
An architectural landmark
St. Nicholas Church
St. Nicholas, which is arguably nicest building in Birch Cliff, was designed by architect Harold Carter in the neo-Gothic style.
Carter’s work can be seen throughout Scarborough as he had a hand in the design of Birch Cliff Heights Public School, Scarborough High School (demolished in 1976, now R.H. King Academy), Winston Churchill Collegiate, West Hill Collegiate and W.A Porter Collegiate.
While the church was under construction, services were held on the lawn under a large tent. The cornerstone was laid on July 16, 1916, during the first service on the lawn.
Community Outreach
For one hundred years, St. Nicholas has not only led the community in a spiritual sense, but it also participates in numerous outreach activities.
Volunteers organize food donations
It’s a founding member of the Churches by the Bluffs Food Bank, which has been operating since 2003.
It hosts concerts, an annual bazaar, the “Amazing Christmas Feast” and provided a lifetime of memories for thousands of Birch Cliff children through the Girl Guides of Canada and Scouts Canada.
In commemoration of St. Nicholas’ 100th anniversary, the church was awarded a Heritage Toronto plaque this summer.
I walked past there yesterday.
The first time I had been on Kingston Road since the 1960s.
It is nice to see some places still look the same.
The rest of Kingston Road was like a ghost town !