January 9, 2011

1044 St. Georges Avenue

St. Andrew's United Church
North Vancouver, B.C. Canada

St. Andrew's United Church at 1044 St. George's Avenue in the City of North Vancouver was built in 1912 as St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church.  The architects were Alexander and Brown.  However, in 1903 the first St. Andrew's congregation met in Dorman's Shack (See Blog Post 9/2/12.) on East 13th Street and Lonsdale Avenue.  The first church they built was in 1904 and located on East 6th Street facing Victoria Park. (See Blog Post 11/18/12.)  The "newest" church built in 1912 is the one we see today, a shingle-clad adaptation in the Gothic Revival style.

Sanctuary 2011

The banked nave of the sanctuary has only two side aisles with the bulk of the congregation seated in the wide central pews.  During the Christmas season tall candle holders light the church from the ends of the pews. The altar in the front of the sanctuary is sided by two transepts, with the piano in one and the choir seated in the other.  The distinctive heavenly blue vaulted ceiling is transversed with jointed wooden beams and beading. A large multipaneled stained glass windows on the south wall of the balcony features a representation of St. Andrew.  The exterior of this window is seen above the front doors of the church.

Vaulted Ceiling of the Sanctuary 2011

In 1925 the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregational Churches in Canada joined together to form the United Church of Canada.  The following year, 1926, two churches in North Vancouver, Sixth Street Methodist at the south west corner of St. Georges Avenue which had opened in 1910, and St. Andrew's Presbyterian joined to form St. Andrew's United Church.   At the time of the union, St. Andrew's had a membership of 340 and the value of its property was $19,000.  Sixth Street Methodist had a membership of 140 and the value of its property was  $7,050. Some of the members of the Presbyterian congregation chose not to join and moved their worship services in the Oddfellow's Hall in the old 6th Street Methodist Church.  In 1934 they built a church at 121 East 12th Street. (See Blog Post at 2/13/11.) They met in this church until 1952 when they joined with the congregation of St. Stephen's Presbyterian Church to form St. Andrew's and St. Stephen's Presbyterian Church at 2641 Chesterfield Avenue.(See Blog Post 3/3/13.)

Balcony Stained Glass Windows 2011

In the early 1970's there was some talk of the St. Andrew's United Church  being demolished and an apartment building being built on the site.  The church would continue at that address, but in the street floor of the new building.  This idea was never carried out.


Directly behind the church and across the lane to the north is the St. Andrew's United Education Centre. Here over the years many programs have been provided for the community. In the 1970's there was the Margaret Fulton Centre, an adult day care to give a daytime break to adult children caring for senior parents that benefited from supervision.  To the east of the Church Hall is St. Andrew's Park, a children's park where in recent years an annual Teddy Bear's Picnic has been held. From the front steps of the church you can look down St. George's Avenue right to the blue waters of Burrard Inlet.


Today the inspiring church spire of St. Andrew's continues to act as a witness to the Christain Community in North Vancouver. 


Book: Heritage Inventory, City of North Vancouver 1994.
Reference: St. Andrew's United Church, North Vancouver, 1925-1975 a history 
                by J.S. Terry.  Available at the North Vancouver City Library.
Photos: Exterior photo taken March 2002 by SW.  Interior photos taken
                January 2011 by SW.
               Black and White photos taken in 2004 on file at the North Vancouver
               Archives.
               Color photo taken for the Y2K Project on file at the North Vancouver
               Archives.

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Prayer

God, be with the persecuted Christians through out the world. Amen (SW.)