St. James Episcopal Mission church

Locator map: Saint James highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago — Within Saint JamesLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.

Church

Built: 1963-09-01
Coordinates: 45.7510° N, 85.5146° WGoogle Maps: St. James Episcopal Mission church Download KML
Eras: Modern era
Concepts: religioncommunityheritagecelebrationperformanceconstruction
Within: Saint James · Beaver Island

Summary

The St. James Episcopal Mission church is a log chapel on the harbour front in St. James, dedicated on Sunday 1 September 1963 by the Rt. Rev. Charles E. Bennison, Bishop of the Diocese of Western Michigan.¹ It was built to seat more than 100 people and was, at its dedication, the only non-Roman Catholic church building on Beaver Island.¹ Forty years later it was the room in which the concert series that became Baroque on Beaver began: the 2002 Bach programme was performed there before an audience the Beacon put at more than 125.²³

This article describes the building. The congregation is St. James Episcopal Mission.

Building history

The mission was organized as a summer mission in 1954 and held services in one of the island’s older homes.¹ Two planning events already recorded elsewhere precede the building: a January 1961 report of plans distributed and bids received (St. James Episcopal Mission plans a new Beaver Island church, 1961) and a July 1962 report of a campaign for a log church and clergy cottage costing about $10,000 (St. James Episcopal Mission announces a log-church campaign, 1962).

In January 1963 the Beacon reported a campaign to raise $6,000 toward the church and a vicar’s cottage, with $5,000 already earmarked, the site given by Warren Townsend of Holland, Dr. Paul Nelson of Grand Rapids as warden and the Rev. Alexander Wood as clergy.⁴ The dedication followed on 1 September 1963. The report credits the diocesan building fund with making construction possible, notes that the clergy cottage was still to be built, and names the Rev. Alexander Wood, vicar of Christ Church Mission in Charlevoix, as priest-in-charge.¹

Note that the September 1961 planning report placed the intended church “on three lots opposite the Township cemetery,” while the January 1963 report credits Warren Townsend with the site and the 1964 sources place the finished chapel on the harbour. Whether the site changed between plan and construction is unresolved.

Location

Two 1964 items locate the building without fixing it. An August 1964 classified advertisement offers a “Six room house on the harbor - just east of the new Episcopal Chapel,”⁵ and a September 1964 history column says “the Y of the railroad was in the opening where the Episcopalian Church now stands,” with a spur running down to the mill and mill dock at the foot of Free Soil Avenue.⁶ Together these put the chapel on the harbour front in St. James, on ground earlier occupied by the lumber railroad’s wye. The current mapped church point is retained as an approximate representative location; it is not a surveyed chapel footprint, and the historical sources do not establish that the planning site and completed chapel site were identical.

Use as a concert venue

The building’s place in the island’s festival record rests on one season. In June 2002 the Beacon announced that Charles Krutz, Professor Emeritus of Concordia University, would perform “in the guise of Bach” with island and downstate musicians at St. James Episcopal Mission on Sunday 28 July at 7:30 pm.² The August report says more than 125 people crowded in despite intense heat, lining the wheelchair ramp and sitting on the lawn.³ Against a reported capacity of “more than 100,” the building was full.

By June 2003 the mission was still the sponsor but the concert had moved to Holy Cross Hall “to accommodate a larger audience.”⁷ The producer stayed; the venue did not. That move is the first documented step in the venue chain that later reached the Community Center.

Significance

Dedicated in 1963 as the island’s only non-Roman Catholic church building, the log chapel later gave the island’s classical-music festival its first home: the 2002 Bach programme performed there was, by the Beacon’s own account, the origin point of what became the annual Baroque on Beaver festival. The chapel’s small size proved decisive rather than incidental — its move to the larger Holy Cross Parish Hall the following year was the first documented step in a venue chain that the growing festival followed for the next two decades.

Evidence limits

Everything above comes from the Beaver Beacon, current map results, and the county parcel snapshot. No diocesan record, building plan, deed or photograph identifying the chapel has been located, and no OpenStreetMap or GNIS feature names it. The 1963 dedication report is a completion record for the chapel only — the vicar’s cottage is announced, not attested.

Open questions

Where exactly does the chapel stand, and does it survive?
Was the clergy cottage ever built?
Did the site move between the 1961 plan (three lots opposite the Township cemetery) and the 1963 dedication (a site given by Warren Townsend)?
Are the “Beaver Island Episcopal Church” named in later island sources and this 1963 chapel the same building?
Did the mission’s building host concerts other than the 2002 Bach programme?

The dated record

13 dated events · 1958–2018These years on the timeline →

Sources

Google Maps, St James Episcopal Church place result, retrieved 2026-08-06.
Current mapped church point on the harbor front used as a representative location for the historic mission chapel; the held historical sources locate it generally but do not provide a surveyed coordinate.
Charlevoix County parcel snapshot, August 2026.
PIN 013-751-003-00 is an exempt parcel owned by the Association of the Diocese of Western Michigan, with representative point -85.51460526, 45.75099558 on Gallagher Avenue. It closely agrees with the current church map point and supports the diocesan property association, but is not a surveyed chapel footprint or proof that the 1961 planned site and 1963 completed chapel were identical.
county · charlevoix · parcels_arcgis · 2026-08-01 · island_parcel_attributes
Beaver Beacon, January 1963, "New St. James Episcopal Church."
Reports a campaign to raise $6,000 toward a new St. James Episcopal Church and vicar's cottage, announced by the Rt. Rev. Charles E. Bennison, Bishop of the Diocese of Western Michigan; says the church site was given by Warren Townsend of Holland and that $5,000 had already been earmarked; names Dr. Paul Nelson of Grand Rapids as warden and the Rev. Alexander Wood as clergy. A fundraising notice, not a construction record.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1963-01_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, January 1963, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held five-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1963-01_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, September 1963, "Services Mark Dedication of St. James Church."
Reports that "the new Episcopal Chapel to be known as St. James Church was dedicated at a special service held at 10 a.m. Sunday, September 1st," conducted by Bishop Bennison and assisted by the Rev. Kenneth Okkerse of Allegan; says the summer mission was organized in 1954, that until then services had been held in one of the older homes, that the log chapel was "built to accommodate a seating capacity of more than 100 people" with help from the diocesan building fund, and that a cottage for visiting clergy was still to come. This is the completion evidence the 1961 and 1962 planning articles lack.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1963-09_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, September 1963, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1963-09_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, August 1964, classified advertising.
A for-sale notice describes "Six room house on the harbor - just east of the new Episcopal Chapel." Locates the chapel on the harbour front to within a lot, and nothing more precise.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1964-08_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, August 1964, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1964-08_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, September 1964, island history column on the lumber railroad.
States that "the Y of the railroad was in the opening where the Episcopalian Church now stands," with a spur running down to the mill and the mill dock at the foot of Free Soil Avenue. A recollection published in the paper, useful as a locator and as evidence of prior land use, not as a survey.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1964-09_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, September 1964, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held eight-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1964-09_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, June 2002, notice of a Bach concert on Beaver Island.
Announces Charles Krutz performing "in the guise of Bach" with island and downstate musicians at St. James Episcopal Mission, Sunday 28 July 2002 at 7:30 pm, with Brandenburg Concerto highlights, arias and cantatas, and orchestral-suite selections. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2002-06_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, June 2002, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held thirty-six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 2002-06_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, August 2002, report on the Bach concert.
Reports that "more than 125 people crowded into St. James Episcopal Mission church for Sunday night's performance," with listeners on the wheelchair ramp and on the lawn, and describes Krutz in wig and cutaway coat. Attendance is the reporter's estimate; a seating capacity of "more than 100" was reported in 1963. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2002-08_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, August 2002, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held thirty-six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 2002-08_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, June 2003, Baroque on Beaver programme notice.
Reports that "St. James Episcopal Mission will once again sponsor the concert, but to accommodate a larger audience the performance will be in Holy Cross Hall" — the mission continued as producer after the concert left its building. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2003-06_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, June 2003, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held thirty-six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 2003-06_Beaver-Beacon

Added 3 August 2026 · revised 6 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “St. James Episcopal Mission church”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/structures/st-james-episcopal-mission-church/, accessed [date], citing Google Maps, St James Episcopal Church place result, retrieved 2026-08-06. (and 15 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-06. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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