The All Saints parish church building in Ganges was established in 1994.  As noted in the history (here), the core of the building is the original St George’s sanctuary which was moved to the present site and expanded by a visionary team of parishioners.  It has served as a centre for worship for our community, and as well because of its central location and useful hall and kitchen facilities, and renowned (on Salt Spring Island) acoustics of our sanctuary, a centre for a wide variety of community activities and concerts.

Renewal of the All Saints building to make it more environmentally friendly, more useful for the community, and more adaptable for the parish is now after some 30 years timely. In 2019 a parish team developed extensive plans and cost estimates which were to be presented to the parish in 2020 as a basis for fundraising.  Sadly progress was thwarted by the arrival of COVID19. However, this report including our initial cost estimates is available and provides a basis for future discussions, fundraising and implementation when possible.

Projects for which preliminary plans and costs estimates were developed include the following.   

  • Our current windows are reaching end-of-life with serious heat loss, all need to be replaced.
  • The current kitchen seriously needs a redo both to improve traffic flow and update some appliances and cupboards.
  • All our washrooms are in need of redoing together with the installation of showers and laundry facilities to make the building more useful as an emergency reception centre/shelter.
  • General upkeep such as repainting.
  • The floor in the upper floor hall was refinished for the last time in 2017. It will need to be replaced by 2024/25.
  • A review of worship space to make it serve diverse liturgical purposes in collaboration with the worship and liturgy initiative.
  • A change of all lighting to energy efficient LED.

The full 2020 report can be downloaded - click here.  We seek to raise funding for the proposed renovations to ensure we have a building that is an effective community resource and one that meets parish needs with a lower impact on the environment and on our annual operations and maintenance budgets.

If you have expertise in building renovation, and would enjoy engaging with a team of like-minded parishioners in moving forward with these renovation projects, please contact John Metzger or Walter Stewart  - or the church office.