St. Anthony
Berwick
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Our History
Prior to the establishment of St. Anthony’s Parish in 1960, Catholics in Berwick, Aylesford, Cambridge, Morden, and even for a time, Middleton, were served by priests of St. Joseph’s in Kentville. With an influx of Catholics during and after the Second World War, Mass was celebratedat the home of Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Boylan. Mrs. Harriet Hefler was the Catechist for the children of the area.
Asthe numbers of Catholics in the area increased and the pastoral needs intensified, it became apparent that the western part of Kings County neededa church or churches. And so, on November 25th, 1956, St. Anthony’s Church in Berwick and St. Monica’s Church in Aylesford were blessed and dedicated as mission churches of St. Joseph’s (Kentville).
St. Anthony’s Church, Berwick NS
The cast of one of the many highly successful dinner theatres
The population of parishioners continued to increase and so on November 6th, 1960, Bishop Albert Lemenager of Yarmouth officially created the new parish of St. Anthony of Padua at Berwick with St. Monica’s (Aylesford), St. Bernadette (Cambridge Reserve), and Stella Maris (Morden) as its missions. The first pastor and resident priest was Fr. Yvon Guerin.
In order to meet the growing need for pastoral care in the area, the Sisters of Notre Dame du Sacre Coeur (of Moncton NB) helped immensely in the areas of catechetics and social action. They were followed by the Sisters of Charity (of Halifax NS). However, both groups were called back to their religious orders because of a decrease in vocations.
The necessity of rebuilding the present churchstructure took place in two phases: The first in 1985-1986 –insulating the building and refurbishing the interior. Thesecondin 1987-1988 -which involved an expansion to meet the dire need of more space for worship and religious education.
Once again, as the church community outgrew the existing facilities, there was need for: more space for religious education; accessibility for the physically challenged and older parishioners; accommodations for concerts, receptions, and workshops; more washroom facilities; and adequate kitchen space. While Fr. Gerald Saulnier was pastor, a decision to build a Parish Centre was made in 1997 with the grand opening and blessing in 1998. A time capsule containing memorabilia of parish history, pictures, list of clergy who served the church, local news clippings and several letters to future parishioners will be opened in the year 2023.
The interior of St. Anthony’s Church
St. Anthony … pray for us!
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