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Ontario's Anglican Cathedrals - Diocese of AlgomaSt. Luke's Cathedral |
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The Diocese of Algoma covers an area of 113,000 sq. km (70,000 sq. mi.) with large sparsely populated areas.
Its urban centres are Thunder Bay, Sault Ste Marie, Sudbury and North Bay.
It has 17,500 on the parish rolls served by 110 congregations in 59 parishes in 5 deaneries.
Beginning in the 1820's, missionaries were sent north to work among the Ojibwa Indians. Algoma was founded in 1873 as a missionary diocese subdivided from the Diocese of Toronto. Frederick Dawson Fauquier, incumbent of Zorra, near Woodstock, Ontario, was appointed its first bishop. In 1906, Algoma became an autonomous diocese able to elect its own bishop and manage its affairs through its own Synod. The present bishop, Rev. Dr. Stephen Andrews, Algoma's tenth, was elected October 2, 2008. On the Feast of St. Luke, 1870, St. Luke's parish church was consecrated by Bishop Alexander Bethune, second Bishop of Toronto. In 1873, the Diocese of Algoma was established and St. Luke's became the Pro-Cathedral of Algoma. In 1892, St Luke's was enlarged with north and south transepts, a chancel at the eastern end and a belfry at the western. On the evening of Saturday, November 22nd, 1952, St. Luke's Pro-Cathedral was severely damaged by fire. During a vestry meeting of April 12th, 1953, plans for the rebuilding were approved. These plans called for the retention of the south transept, the bell tower and the intervening south wall. That portion of the south wall between the bell tower and the west wall of the transept belonged to the original church of 1870. This involved the complete demolition of the chancel-sanctuary of 1896 and the scrapping of the stained glass east window. On October 19th, 1953, the Right Rev. William Lockridge Wright, Bishop of Algoma from 1944 to 1974, laid the cornerstone of St. Luke's Cathedral. St. Luke's Cathedral, 160 Brock Street, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario |