What was supposed to be a brief period of relief duty at St. Michael & All Angels Anglican Church in Chemainus has turned into 16 years for Rev. Michael Wimmer.
But he has no regrets despite ending a short-lived retirement a long time ago and is still going strong at age 82.
As for when Wimmer will retire again, “God only knows,” he laughed. “I have no idea.”
Wimmer, who still commutes regularly from his home in Nanaimo to Chemainus where he puts in some long days, is firmly entrenched in many facets of Chemainus – and not just through the church.
“It’s good to be much more a part of the community,” he conceded. “The only downside, I don’t actually live in Chemainus. But I can be pretty well integrated into the community. A lot of people outside the parish – the Anglicans – know me.”
As a result of that status, Wimmer became the Chemainus Legion’s chaplain, for example, where he handles a particularly prominent role during Remembrance Day ceremonies and services.
It’s all part of the territory that’s emerged from his long period of service both here and elsewhere.
“I don’t regret anything of the ministries I’ve been called to,” said Wimmer. “With some families, I’ve gone through the whole gamut from baptisms to marriages. In many respects, there’s no substitute for knowing your parishioners this well as a small community like this enables.”
His retirement happened initially in 2005 at the usual age of 65. But everything changed before long.
“Then I was asked to do some relieving work in Chemainus,” Wimmer recalled.
Lynn Oldale had been in the position before him and “she asked if I would cover for her when she was on study leave and vacation,” said Wimmer.
He obliged and, when returning from vacation in 2007, “the diocese asked me to cover for four months,” Wimmer noted. “I ended up covering for 6-7 months. Basically, that never stopped.”
From September 2007 to now, “I’ve been around 16 years,” he added, hardly believing it himself.
Wimmer was officially appointed as the rector in 2008 after the relief duties ended. The appointment to the parish was initially for three years, but kept getting extended until it was made a permanent arrangement.
“Being here has been one of the real joys of my life,” said Wimmer. “I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.”
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, theology was always in the works for him. Wimmer attended the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg for four years, graduating in 1964 with a major in biblical studies and theology and an honours degree in divinity.
In 1965, he went to England to do theological training at the College of the Resurrection in Mirfield, Yorkshire for two years. Wimmer was ordained deacon in Southwark Cathedral in London in 1967.
He also got married that year to his long-time love Patricia (Eales) whom he’d known since she was 13. They’ve now been married 56 years.
“We were not permitted to marry earlier in my course until I completed all my academic studies,” Wimmer noted.
They immediately went back to South Africa and, beginning in October of 1967, Wimmer spent three years at the Cathedral of St. Mary The Virgin in Johannesburg.
He then went into a country parish “which was a baptism of fire in its own way,” said Wimmer. “It was geographically huge with seven different churches in seven different towns. It was 700 kilometres from one end of the parish to the other. I was continually on the road.
“It was very hard domestically because I was away from home virtually all day every day. When we went there we had an eight-month child.”
That was oldest daughter Alison, now Cahill, 52, who currently lives in Nanaimo.
The Wimmers’ other three children followed in rapid succession. Richard, 51, is a high school teacher in Abbotsford; Lesley, 50, is a barrister in the United Kingdom who’s returning to Canada next month; and Peter, 48, is with the Vancouver Police Department. All were born in Johannesburg.
After 10 years in Vereeniging, South Africa, the family emigrated to Canada in 1983.
“In a nutshell, apartheid,” said Wimmer as the reason for the move. “We did not want our children growing up any longer under the apartheid system.”
Wimmer’s first post was on Haida Gwaii, known as the Queen Charlotte Islands at the time.
His time in Masset was cut short from three years to 18 months after he was appointed dean in the cathedral at Prince Rupert.
“The dean left and went to Regina so there was a vacancy,” said Wimmer.
After eight years there, the Archbishop approached him about taking over as the Senior Chaplain of the Missions to Seamen (now Seafarers) in Vancouver, an Anglican ministry to seafarers worldwide.
It was a five-year contract that could have been extended, but Wimmer instead went back into parish ministry in Edmonton. He was also the executive officer for the Diocese of Edmonton.
“I think I’m pretty good at administration but the sole focus of my ministry was not something I wanted to do,” said Wimmer.
The seven years in that position led up to retirement and a move to Nanaimo.
“Pat had always liked the idea of moving to the Island,” said Wimmer.
With daughter Alison in Nanaimo, they’d planned ahead by buying a place and had tenants for a couple of years before moving in.
Then came that temporary relief position in Chemainus.
“I’ve now served longer as the priest in Chemainus than anyone in its history,” noted Wimmer.
“Obviously, the issue of final retirement or next retirement has to be a question. Clearly, at my age I’m not going to work forever. God’s got a plan.”
