Anglican church rift led to building of St. Paul's

Once a community is established it usually doesn't take long before a school and a church become part of the settlement, and if the community is large enough, a number of churches are established to accommodate the various religious congregations.

Prior to 1847, there were few families in Moncton or 'The Bend' who were Anglicans or members of the Church of England. However, there were a number of Anglican families in Kent County at the time and they had established a mission station at Molus River. In 1847, Rev. W. N. Boyer arrived in Saint John from England to take charge of the mission. En route to Molus River he learned that there were also a number of Anglican families in Moncton and suggested to his superiors at the Church Colonial Society in England that Moncton presented a better opportunity for him to establish a parish.

Rev. Boyer was given permission to stay in Moncton and he began holding services wherever he could find a space large enough to accommodate the group. Between 1848 and 1852 they met in the Free Meeting House until they built Saint George's Episcopal Church on Church Street.

All went well until the early 1870s when a rift began to appear within the congregation over the interpretation of theological teachings and doctrine. Some wanted to relax what they saw as the old 'high church' practices and others wanted to maintain the status quo. In 1873 the issue came to a head and in an attempt to settle the matter the Wardens, led by Ezekiel Taylor, locked the church to both groups. The dissenting group then met at the Free Meeting House and the others chose Dunlap's Hall on Main Street.

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To learn more about George David Cummins, click here.

Qwiki fails to mention in its audio that in 1845 Cummins took orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church. After serving as rector of Episcopal parishes in Virginia, Washington, and Chicago, he was appointed Assistant Bishop of Kentucky in 1866.