The story (below) tells of my personal retirement project and interest in photographing the many beautiful Anglican Church buildings throughout Nova Scotia. A second email will follow, which will include photographs which you may consider using to illustrate the story.
Recently reflecting on my life as a churchgoer, I fondly remember my childhood at St. George’s Anglican Church in Parrsboro, Cumberland County. In that beautiful little small-town wooden edifice, I was christened when barely just a few months old. It was also the faith community into which I was later baptized, confirmed and there, I partook in my first communion. When a teenager, I regularly attended worship services and sang in the church choir, before high school graduation took me off to the big, exciting city of Halifax.
Over the ensuring years, my adult life saw me stumble and step through many significant bumps in the road of life; marriage, divorce, and a life-altering move to Toronto, were but a few of my challenges. A saving Grace in my life occurred when in 1988, I discovered Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto and chose it as my long-time, loving church home. There, participating in, and leading volunteer ministries including the church orchestra, information center and more, made my church and personal life both productive and meaningful. During a 15-month period of time in the early 2000s, working in the part-time staff position of Worship Coordinator solidified my love for, and appreciation of how important organized worship is for its participants.
Unfortunately, life threw yet another big curve at me when a second unsuspecting relationship loss occurred. My ongoing faith, however, then took me to Vancouver, where for the next ten years, the peace and serenity for which I longed, materialized and I enjoyed what were perhaps the best adult years of my life.
Four years ago, I retired after 47 consecutive years of work and chose to return to my native Nova Scotia where I quietly settled in Halifax. I asked God to allow me to enjoy a simple, non-complicated, and active retirement, and God’s plan for me, included a return to my Anglican roots. I chose to attend St. John’s Anglican Church in nearby Bedford, one with a friendly congregation (incidentally, led by its Rector, my cousin, Rev. Randy D. Townsend).
In retirement, I wanted to enjoy an activity which would honour my love of “church,” and at the same time also include my interest in architecture and my combined passions of travel and photography. It therefore seemed only natural for me, after two years into my retirement, to begin a project of photographing as many active and deconsecrated Anglican Church structures in Nova Scotia as I could find.
I have since driven my trusty vehicle many thousands of kilometers along roads adjacent to this province’s beautiful seacoasts, inland country lanes and busy city streets in search of Anglican churches. From lovely Neil’s Harbour to Conquerall Mills, from Morden to Wallace, and from Cook’s Brook to Ecum Secum, I’ve discovered treasured old heritage buildings, and modern, striking structures – beautiful community churches in states of occasional disrepair, ongoing renovation and loving restoration.
Anglican churches with tall steeples or no steeples, buildings painted white, yellow, brown or blue, those surrounded by attractive picket fences and graveyards, and many situated amongst large old trees in beautiful settings have all found themselves at the end of my camera lenses.
Many of my church photographs have been regularly shared on personal and group social media pages; some have also appeared online in newspaper, television and weather websites. It was a special honour to have two of my photographs of Anglican Churches selected to appear in each of the 2020 and 2021 National Church Calendars.
I have to date, taken pictures of the exteriors of more than 200 buildings and my quest continues to “find and shoot” the remaining structures, which hopefully will soon allow me to complete my project of photographing all of the existing, beautiful Anglican Churches of Nova Scotia.
