Emmanuel

The Historic Village Church

The history of Emmanuel Church is a tale of the history of the entire Island and can be read in more detail in an article titled “Historical Background” by Marjorie Bevlin. In 1885 Sidney Gray as appointed to serve as a lay missionary on Orcas Island. The young Englishman’s vision of “Village de Haro” centered around the church. For many years this truly was the case and the activities of the Island were reflected in or initiated by the Church. During the years of economic lows in the Island the church build was kept in order by the St. Agnes Guild ladies who saw that the build had essential repairs and was cleaned for occasional services.

The adjoining Parish Hall was added to the west side of the nave in 1951. In late years the sacristy as expanded and furnished with new cabinets. The parish Hall was used by groups for meetings, classes, dances, celebrations, dinners, counseling as well as church school. St. Agnes Guild continued to be a very active support of the work of the parish. Market Day in July was joined by a clothing sale in the fall. The latter served the local population by recycling good clothing and linens at very low prices to those who needed them. In 1979 the building to the East of the Church yard was purchased and became known as Benson Hall. The addition of a church office, Rector’s office, meeting rooms and Church School rooms allowed even more service to the people on the Island.

On St. Valentine’s Day in 2002, Benson Hall was removed from its site by Emmanuel Church by barge and sailed to Lopez Island. Construction began on a new, two-story parish hall to better serve our growing congregation. The building is magnificent and beautifully finished with church funds exceeding $500,000. It has a cathedral ceiling which matches the beams in the church and picture windows overlooking the Sound.

Although unmarked, the lawn areas and flower gardens around the church are also burial sites used in the late 1880’s. More recent burials of ashes are marked by small plaques in the flower beds or contained in the new Columbarium associated with the Parish Hall. The grounds of the church are planted and nurtured by devoted gardeners and attract much attention from both visitors and local people.