Mission Statement

We humbly welcome all who wish to nurture their faith through sharing the Word, breaking the Bread and celebrating God’s love for us. Guided by the Holy Spirit, our mission is to worship and serve God through prayer and service to God’s people, and by striving to live our lives in the likeness and the image of God.

A HISTORY OF THE PARISH….

The first Catholic Church in Glace Bay was built in 1865, under the direction of Father James Quinan of Sydney, and opened on Sunday, December 17 of that year. The Church was named Saint Augustine’s.

On June 15, 1866, Bishop MacKinnon erected the mission of Bridgeport, Glace Bay and Cow Bay (Port Morien) into a new parish whose pastor was to reside in Glace Bay. This was the formation of St. Anne’s Parish.

The first resident pastor of the parish was Father John Shaw.

With the first church in St. Anne’s Parish becoming inadequate for the needs of the people, Father Finlay Chisholm (the third resident pastor of Glace Bay) began the erection of a larger building to replace it in 1890.

The cornerstone of the new building was laid in September of 1892 and the church was dedicated in October of 1893.

Presumably the Church was named St. Anne’s, although the newspapers make no mention of it.

On Sunday, December 30, 1917, fire destroyed the church, the glebe house and the convent of St. Anne’s.

In July of 1920, the construction of a new St. Anne’s Church had begun. By September of that same year, the parish was also in possession of an eight-room building.

In 1963, St. Anne’s Parish Centre was opened.

On Pentecost Sunday, May 30, 1982, fire destroyed St. Anne’s Church and glebe house for a second time.

In 1984, Bishop William Power blessed the site and on May 18, 1986, the new Church was dedicated.

NOTES ABOUT THE CHURCH….

The new St. Anne’s Church was designed by Gerry MacNeil Architects Ltd. Of Halifax and Mr. MacNeil received a citation in architectural design on his project.

The main entrance of St. Anne’s Church leads to a 40′ x 38′ foyer.

A large baptismal font allows for baptism either by pouring or total immersion.

The Altar is composed of modular platforms so that the worship space can take on various formations.

Separate from the main body of the Church, the Blessed Sacrament is reposed in the daily Mass chapel.

The stained glass windows in the main body of the church are called “The Creation” and they are meant to depict Glace Bay’s mining heritage with its rock stratifications.

The window in the repository represents Christ the King with a crown and cross in it.

The window in the Chapel is meant to depict family (represented by roundels) and congregation (represented by glass nuggets). The waterfall that motivates this depicts the whole People of God, after which the window is named.