St. Stephen's

            Nestled in the hill next to Mount Newton Valley on the Saanich Peninsula, lies the oldest church in British Columbia. In 1862, William Thomson deeded five acres of land to George Hills, in order to build the church and school, and has since been a place of refuge and calm for those that visit and worship there. Everyone in my family has been married there, and many of my relatives have also been christened there. The owners of the property are attempting to sell the piece of property the church sits on, which includes a cemetery. This has caused an uproar in our relatively peaceful community and measures have been taken to protect the church and those buried in the gardens, and although the majority of my family are not very religious (some are not) this place is a landmark, haven and heritage site for us and others. The St.Stephen’s Trust Society was created to preserve the property (link at the bottom).

            The ethical issues of turning the church into a place of business are significant.  Restricted visiting times would likely be in effect, and most people buried in the graveyard still have living relatives who visit often. Though the cemetery should be protected by law, the church was also protected under the heritage act and the fate of that is still undecided. Currently the church is operating in conjunction with St.Mary’s in Saanichton and they have a year to see how that operates before they are reviewed again.

            The first funeral to take place at St. Stephen’s was in 1869 and numbers buried there increased to over 500 in the 1990’s. The majority of burials at the site are traditionally Christian and marked by simple headstones. Family plots are common, as well as graves mostly facing the East. 

To lose this place of peace is not something I like to think about. Although I seldom visit the church, each time I have it has been an incredibly fond and loving memory, and I do not even worship here. The last visit I made was for a group outing in high school, and I ended up skipping the rest of the day just to sit on the bench beneath the trees alone. 

In this specific case, I do not believe it is ethical to close this church. Respect must be shown for those buried in the cemetery and those who frequent it. 

Both of these photos came from the site: http://www.ststephenstrust.net/ and more information can be found here regarding the church, as well as http://www.ststephensanglican.net/