St.. Peter's (Little Gaspe)
The early Protestant families that settled in Little Gaspé and the other fishing communities to the east of Grande Grève, St. George’s Cove, Indian Cove, and Ship Head, belonged to the Methodist and Church of England denominations. Some settlers were here for about fifty years before the Methodists built two small churches, one in St. George’s Cove in 1819 and one in Indian Cove in 1834. In the 1840s, the Church of England people acquired two plots of land; one, given in St. George’s Cove by Mr. and Mrs. William West, was used as a cemetery, and the other, given by Thomas Nicholas Kinsela, is the site of this building, St. Peter’s Church.
A small church was built here and came into use in 1848 or soon afterward. A start was made in the 1860s on a larger building. Unfortunately, although the building material and labour were supplied locally, the undertaking proved to be too ambitious for the resources of the congregation, and the next twenty years saw a great struggle to pay off a debt of $170 and at the same time pay the annual assessment to the Church Society of the Diocese of Quebec and continue with the completion of the church.
The annual reports of the ministers of the time tell the story of the struggle and the eventual success. In 1872, the minister wrote, “Here [Little Gaspé] a fine new Church awaits completion to replace an older and humbler one at its side….” In 1880, the minister’s report stated, “…the fishery was a failure and they have as much as they can do to earn enough to pass through the Winter.” Two years later the annual report read, “The congregation is struggling with a heavy church debt of long standing, but have raised this year about $46, by a Christmas tree, for Church purposes.”
The next year (1883), however, brought success and the minister was able to write,
At last I am glad to report that the old debt on the Church is paid….The people agreed to give the proceeds of St. Peter’s day fishery to the Church. It realized about $70 and quite unexpectedly was supplemented by a cheque for $100 from Mr. Luce of Jersey, a member of Messrs Fruing & Co. The two, it seems, more than paid the debt. The S.P.C.K. made a liberal grant of ₤25 and the Church Society one of $100, so that now with the labour of the people, the new Church commenced about twenty years ago can be repaired and finished….
In 1895 the minister reported,
The Church is now completely finished. The interior is ceiled and beveled, and the whole work is stained and varnished…a bell, the funds for which were contributed by the employees and agents of Messrs Fruing, now calls the worshippers to service.
The consecration of the church took place on July 26, 1889, and, in view of its history, it was appropriately dedicated as St. Peter’s Church.
There was never a resident minister in Little Gaspé, the church always being served in the early years by the clergymen of Gaspé or Sandy Beach who were able to come only a few times a year or at the most once a month. In 1892 a clergyman was sent to Peninsula who was to serve Little Gaspé as well. St. Peter’s continued to be linked with St. Matthew’s Church, Peninsula, through the rest of its history. The congregation of St. Peter’s assisted in the construction of a parsonage in Peninsula in 1893-1895 and contributed annually to its upkeep.
The ladies in St. Peter’s Church formed a Ladies’ Guild which, with the rest of the congregation, kept the church in good repair and properly furnished.
The Church was expropriated in 1971 as it was within the boundaries of the Forillon National Park. Its use as an Anglican Church ended and the congregation scattered to other communities. The church was not demolished but was retained by the Park as an ecumenical chapel.
Thus there has been a church on this site for over one hundred and forty years and this present building was begun over one hundred and twenty years ago.
Dorothy Phillips
September 2006
Sources cited are available through the Archives of the Diocese of Quebec.
