Parish ProfileSt. MatthewSt. John, the Evangelist

Our rural parish is located on scenic Baccalieu Trail on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador, about 100km from St.John's.

St. Matthew's Church is located in Bay Roberts and St. John the Evangelist is located across the harbour in Coley's Point.

St. Matthew's Church on Church Hill

St. John, the Evangelist Church is located on Coley's Point.

St. John, the Evangelist, Coley's Point

History of the Parish

The parish began as part of a much larger Conception Bay mission which was established by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 1765. The first member of the society in the region was the famous Rev. Lawrence Coughlan who served the area from Harbour Grace. In 1826, the mission of Port de Grave was established to serve the area from Bay Roberts to Brigus. For the next ten years Coley's Point, along with Bay Roberts, was part of Port de Grave Mission under Rev. Charles Blackman.

The mission of Bay Roberts was established in 1837 to encompass the settlements from Coley's Point to Upper Island Cove. Although Bay Roberts was only now receiving the status of a separate mission, its residents already had their own church in Mercer's Cove. The first St. Matthew's Church had been started in 1824 and consecrated in 1827.

The first Society for the Propagation of the Gospel missionary in charge of the Bay Roberts mission was Rev. Oswald Howell in 1837. The missionary society continued to supply clergymen until the Parish of Bay Roberts was created in 1906.

Rev. R. T. Lowell

One of Rev. Howell's successors, Rev. R. T. Lowell, who served in the period 1843-1847, is perhaps worth special mention. Lowell was an American and a brother of the poet James Russell Lowell. Rev. Lowell, the son of a Unitarian clergyman, was born in Boston, graduated from Harvard University, and was ordained a priest of the Episcopal (Anglican) Church in 1843, the same year in which he started his ministry here.

He is the author of the book, "New Priest in Conception Bay", the setting for which is the village of Peterport, the fictional name by which he referred to Bay Roberts.

The Story of Each Church

St. Matthew > >

St. John the Evangelist > >