RUMFORD – The Rev. Henry A. Male, priest-in-charge of St. Barnabas Church announces that the Rt. Rev. Chilton R. Knudsen, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine, will visit St. Barnabas Sunday, June 8, to observe the centennial year of the parish.
The bishop will be celebrant and guest preacher at the 9:30 Eucharist. A dinner will follow the service at the American Legion Hall.
St. Barnabas war organized and accepted into the diocese in 1903 by a small group of residents who met regularly in the upper courtroom of the bank to worship God. The church building, often called the “stone church,” was actually built of stones from the Swift River in 1905 with the first service celebrated on Palm Sunday. The mason who did the construction was Bernard McCafferty, a local illiterate man who made made all his calculatons by rule of thumb.
The St. Barnabas Centennial observance will begin with an open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 7, in the parish hall. There will be copies of the history of the church, memorabilia, tours of the church and undercroft, photos from the past and refreshments. The public is invited.
Wednesday, June 11, is the Feast of St. Barnabas. A service will be held at 7 p.m. with the Rev. Linton S. Studdiford, canon to the ordinary, as guest priest. All are welcome.
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