| Immaculate Conception Church | |
Immaculate Conception Church in 2010
|
|
| Location | Palmer Road, Prince Edward Island |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Weekly attendance | under 1,000 |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | St. Thomas Mission |
| Founded | 1892 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Francois-Xavier Edouard Meloche[1] |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | Vernon Fougere |
| Priest(s) | Fr. Arthur Pendergast (1990s–2011) |
The Immaculate Conception Church, known colloquially as Palmer Road Church is a 19th century Roman Catholic church located in Palmer Road, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The church is a white wooden Gothic architecture, and it was constructed in 1892.[2]
As of 2010, the church offers Saturday, Sunday and weekday services, and serves Palmer Road, St. Louis, Miminegash, Pleasant View, Skinner's Pond, southern Harper Road and other communities. The church is located at the intersection of Routes 155 and 156, across from the Palmer Road Community Center.
The original church at the site was built in 1867, and was originally known as the St. Thomas Mission, a mission of the St. Simon & St. Jude Church in nearby Tignish. In 1878, the church separated from St. Simon & St. Jude and became its own parish.
In 1890, the original church burned down, and was replaced by the now-existing church in 1892. Designed by Francois Xavier Edouard Meloche (1855-1917)[3] to replace the original, much smaller mission which was destroyed by fire on May 24 1890, the cornerstone was laid August 15 1892 on The Feast of the Acadians.[4]
The church is a wooden Gothic structure, and is the oldest wooden church on Prince Edward Island.[2] The lovely church, so little known to Islanders in general, is an architectural gem of considerable importance, not only to the island, but to Canada as a whole. This is so not only because of its fine design and craftmanship, both inside and out, but also because of its association with Francois Xavier Meloche, an artist/architect who has yet to take his proper place in the annals of Canadian art.[5]
Since the early 1990s, the parish priest has been Reverend Arthur Pendergast, who formerly served with St. Simon & St. Jude Church, Tignish.
In 2007, it was proposed by overseeing Bishop Vernon Fougere that the Immaculate Conception parish be dissolved and merged with nearby St. Simon & St. Jude parish due to declining church attendance.[6] This proposal was largely rejected by Immaculate Conception pastor Fr. Arthur Pendergast and parishioners alike.[7]