In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we welcome you to St. Mary’s web site.

We are a eucharistically-centered Christian community, seeking to serve God by preaching the Gospel, teaching the faith, administering the sacraments, and making disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ.  All are invited to join us in our mission to build up the Body of Christ by Word and Sacrament, equipping the people of God for the work of ministry, that Jesus Christ may be known, loved, worshipped, and obeyed in our homes and parish, community and diocese, and throughout the world.

The parish was founded in 1791, and the work in those early days extended up the north side of the St John River to Mactaquac, down toward Maugerville and northward to Stanley and the upper Miramichi valley. The first St Mary’s Church was built at Mouth of Keswick in 1826 (from which the Altar survives), the second at Durham in 1835, the third on Union Street in Devon, directly across the river from down town Fredericton, in 1881, and the present church also in Devon, but on McEvoy St, in 1978.

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For well over two centuries St Mary’s Parish has borne faithful witness to the essential truth of Catholic Christianity, and remains to this day a bulwark of orthodox Anglican practice. From its foundation, St Mary’s has “contended for the faith once for all delivered to the saints,” the Catholic and Apostolic faith grounded in Holy Scripture as interpreted by the Fathers and Councils of the undivided Church.

 

St Mary’s today continues these traditions. We profess the faith as proclaimed in the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. We believe that the Bible contains all things necessary for our salvation, and that Scripture bears the authority for the governance of the Church and for the living out of our lives.

Our liturgy is unashamedly traditional, but not stuffy! We draw strength from words and ceremonials we have come to know by heart , allowing them to speak to the depths of our being. By not having to wonder what is coming next we can concentrate upon the important things with which the liturgy challenges us and measure our own lives against those of Christ our Lord, his blessed Mother (our patroness), and all his saints.

 

We believe that the Holy Spirit is moving amongst us in bold ways to explore the timeless Gospel of Jesus Christ and to live out that Good News day by day. We seek to embrace the mission of redemption, wholeness, compassion and healing which Christ left to His disciples.  

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So we invite you to join us at St Mary’s where we pray you will find a welcoming parish family seeking to serve God faithfully in words and actions that offer life and love and hope of all of His people.