A BIT OF HISTORY
St. Croix Church was started by Peter and Mary Ellen Fitch and a church planting team on October 4, 1992. Our original name was St. Croix Christian Fellowship. We were planted under the sponsorship of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Lewiston, Maine, but we weren’t officially adopted by the Association of Vineyard Churches until January, 1994, when we became St. Croix Vineyard.
Right from the start we had a deep desire to grow in terms of understanding worship, healing prayer, care for children, care for broken people, and care for building a strong and healthy community of people that actually helped each other in practical ways. We’ve also had a consistent focus on sharing with those in need outside of our church community.
For three years we met in a small community hall outside of St. Stephen, then we moved briefly to the St. Stephen Elementary School Gym. Later we found offices to rent and a worship space over top of a local pub. Finally, in November of 1997, we moved into the Sara McCaffrey Parish Centre, an old Catholic School.
We continued to rent space in this building for the next period of time, along with the local Boys and Girls Club and several other groups, until the end of December, 1999. At this time, through several wonderful events (including a large unsolicited gift that arrived one week before the closing of the deal), we were able to purchase the school and for a time renamed it The Vineyard Center.Â
A NEW BEGINNING
In 2020, we were asked to leave the Vineyard denomination in Canada because their leadership was no longer willing to accept affirming churches as a part of their movement. For some years, we had believed that the serious relationships of people of minority sexualities are as important as those of heterosexual people. We, therefore, perform same-sex marriages and we celebrate the gifts and lives of all people in our community. Our new name is St. Croix Church. Our building is now called The Victoria Street Centre, a name that reflects its years of being the Victoria St. School and our desire that the building serve the larger community as a cultural centre.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF CHURCH COMMUNITY
There are several other distinctives about our church community:
First is our close relationship with ► St. Stephen’s University. Quite a few of the people who attend our services either work or study at SSU, including many of our church staff members. Over the years, SSU students and alumni have added life and passion to our art, music, and work in the community.
Second is the fact that all of our church staff team have other jobs. This means that much of the pastoring work of the church is done by other people in the church. People tend to do this quite naturally without a lot of planning or supervising from the Leadership Collective.
Third is the sense that God is building a community in our area that is larger than our church and the university but is deeply connected to both, and to other local groups as well. People sometimes move here in order to participate. Although St. Stephen has many social challenges, it is a wonderful town. In recent years there has been a resurgence of creativity, economic development, and the arts.Â
At our 30th birthday party (October of 2023), founders, Peter & Mary Ellen Fitch retired. With the help of an “Imagination Team,” we tweaked the leadership structure of the church, which is now led by a Leadership Collective and Community Support Network. We invite anyone interested to be a part of our future!