What a year 2023 was for the congregation of St. Michael and All Angels’, Creston, in the Parish of Marystown! It was the centennial anniversary of the current church building, and there was much excitement to celebrate. With the arrival of Rev’d Jeff as the new priest-in-charge in February of 2023, a lot of work was now able to get underway. After a committee was struck in the spring, a series of events were planned to commemorate the occasion.
We began with a Prayer Walk on August 9th, which was held at the Landing Place Trail in Creston. It was a very moving experience for everyone involved, and funds raised from the walk helped fund the banquet, which was held in November. More on that in a bit!
On October 1st, a parish service was held to mark the patronal festival of St. Michael and All Angels. Bishop John Watton was in attendance, as not only did we celebrate our patron and our centennial, but four young men reaffirmed their baptismal covenant in Confirmation. It was a tremendously moving time, and (naturally) a luncheon followed which was enjoyed by everyone.
November 10th saw another time of fellowship with a gospel concert at St. Michael’s Church. A great assortment of performers contributed to a beautiful night of music, with all proceeds going to the centennial celebrations to follow.
The weekend of November 18th – 19th was the big celebration: the Centennial Commemoration Banquet & Worship. November 18th marked the 100th anniversary of the first worship service held in the present St. Michael and All Angels’ church, which happened to fall on a Saturday. It was decided that we would have a banquet on Saturday, followed by a commemorative Eucharist on Sunday. Community leaders, past clergy, deanery clergy, and Bishop John and Archdeacon Terry Caines were all in attendance, with the Rev’d Gloria Wendover serving as our guest speaker. The celebratory cake was cut by the two oldest members of the congregation, Meta Shirley and Grace Legge.
Our commemorative Eucharist was a truly beautiful event, with Archdeacon Terry preaching and Rev’d Jeff presiding. The worship was as closely structured to that which would have been used in 1923 as possible. A full house, and attendance from our past clergy and community leaders, helped make the final event for our centennial truly memorable.
The Congregation of St. Michael and All Angels’, Creston, would like to extend the biggest thanks to everyone who helped in any way to make the centennial celebration the memorable time that it was. May God continue to richly bless us all into the next hundred years!
