A colourful procession in Victoria at 10 a.m. Sunday will be the first of many events over the next 12 months marking the 150th anniversary of the Church of St. John the Divine.

The Anglican congregation will gather at Fisgard and Douglas streets, the site of the original “iron” church built in 1860 and the first Anglican church consecrated in B.C.

The group will then walk east along Fisgard to 1611 Quadra St., the church’s location since 1912.

The church “is very energizing,” said Rector Harold Munn, who is serving his 12th year at the church.

“The purpose of the congregation is very creative and very clear. It’s not about looking after ourselves.”

The church is very engaged with the community, said Munn, and its doors are open for those who need shelter, warmth and companionship.

Cool Aid uses the church basement during winter months as an overnight shelter. This is one of the few Victoria shelters which accommodates couples and people with pets.

The church also makes room one evening a week for homeless youth, lends its kitchen for a social service club to cook and freeze casseroles and is a training centre for volunteers who mentor men released from William Head Institution.

The church also hosts a food bank twice a week, which allows recipients to choose from a menu.

The Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra is one of the groups that fill the building with music, another way the church thrives.

The church succeeds in reaching a wider audience by combining the arts and social action, Munn said.

“Some people respond more to the arts and some people respond more to the social action side,” he said.

The 200 parishioners who attend Sunday services expect to hear “something significant about the reality of God and how that touches their everyday lives,” Munn said. “It’s not like they’re coming because they’re bored.”

The first church was built in 1860 on land where the Hudson’s Bay long stood on Douglas at Fisgard. It was called the iron church because it was pre-fabricated by a London ironworks and shipped around Cape Horn to Victoria.

Part of the problem with the iron church was the thunderous sound of rain on the roof, said parishioner John Bergbusch.

“The congregation had to sing loudly over the noise and the preachers had to preach loudly over the noise beating down on the roof,” said Bergbusch.

The new building was designed by parishioner William Ridgway Wilson, who also designed South Park School, the Bay Street Armoury and Spencer Mansion (now the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria).

The current church, which accommodates 350 to 400, was rebuilt in 1960 after its predecessor, built in 1912, was gutted by fire caused by an electrical fault.

The anniversary celebrations will include seven services over 2010 with different themes, said Bergbusch.

“In February, we’re going to honour all the former clergy and then in March we’re going to honour the women of the church,” he said.

“In May we’re going to have a brunch honouring our patron saint and in June, we’ll have a community service where we invite all the groups that use the church.”

In September, the consecration service will be reenacted and the November event will be a birthday party.

On the web: www.stjohnthedivine.bc.ca

smcculloch@tc.canwest.com