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1398 West 15th

St. Richard's Anglican Church
North Vancouver, B.C. Canada
hurch Featu
St. Richard's Anglican Church at 1398 West 15th St. in the District of North Vancouver is on the corner of Philips Avenue and West 15th Street. It was the sixth mission of St. John's Anglican Church and started to provide a Sunday School in the new housing development in the Norgate Park area. Sixty families were contacted and the diocese granted a loan of $1,075 to the parish for the lot purchase and construction costs. The church hall cost $2,200 and was dedicated in 1950. The actual St. Richard's Anglican Church cost $47,000 and was dedicated on February 1, 1955, It became a separate mission parish in 1957.

St. Richard's banner near altar

Norgate Park is an area south of Marine Drive, north of , east of the Native Lands, and west of Pemberton Avenue It consisted of mainly one story ranch homes built on cement slabs for veterans from WWII. Some of these veterans brought their war brides from England here to their new home in Canada. Today the area is simply called  Norgate. Except for renovations like making rooms out of the garage areas, most of the homes remain the same. A few two story homes have been built, mainly versions of the 'Vancouver Special".

Church Sanctuary

The original 1950 Sunday school church building was a rectangular hall positioned with the narrow end facing Philips Avenue. It sat at the location of the present St. Richard's. In 1955 to facilitate the building of a new larger church the hall was moved to the east side of the lot and turned to face 15th Street. The building is now called the St. Richard's Church Hall and serves the community as the Acorn Early Education Centre, Norgate. The present church building has its entrance on 15th Street, but is positioned with the narrow end on Philips Avenue.

Baptismal Font

 The year 2010 may brought to an end to the ringing of this bell, St. Richard's is in the throes of closing. This church that hummed with the children from 60 families in 1955 no longer has a Sunday School. In fact, the total church congregation on a Sunday morning is about 20. The Korean Stump Presbyterian Church congregation worships in the sanctuary on Sunday afternoons.  St. Richard's Anglican Church is the only Christian church building in the Norgate area, and at 10:00 am every Sunday morning the rope was pulled to ring the bell to tell the community the Sunday church service is starting.

Closed: As an Anglican Church in 2011.  Congregation and St. Richard's banner welcomed by St. Catherine's Anglican Church.

Note: Suzanne Marie Wilson attended this church until its closing.  Her granddaughter Holly Marie Misner was baptized here in September 2007.
Photos: Taken in 2007 and 2010.

Update: A June 10, 2011 North Shore News article reports that the church is
is for sale.


Update: St. Richard's Anglican Church buildings have been bought by the Arrahman Masjid and Islamic Center.  The sign "North Vancouver Islamic Association" on the front of the building was observed in November 2011.

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Prayer

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