Showing 41 results

People and organizations
Person · 1906-1994

Eric Winston Austin was born in Northwich, England on August 27, 1906. His family came to Canada in 1910. After graduating from medical school in 1932, he was employed for a short time at Large Memorial Hospital in Bella Bella with Dr. George Darby, and then on board the Thomas Crosby III (1932-1938) with Rev. Robert C. Scott. Dr. Austin subsequently became a physician at Wrinch Memorial Hospital in Hazelton (1938-1942). From 1942 until the end of the Second World War, he served the Royal Army Medical Corps. At war's end, he became a surgeon for the Vancouver Military Hospital, then for Vancouver General Hospital, and in later years had a private practice. Dr. Austin married his second wife, Mary Louise Hannah (nee Reid), in 1978. The couple were members of Shaughnessy Heights United Church in Vancouver. Eric Austin died on August 8, 1994.

Booth, Rodney M., 1933-2014
Person · 1933-2014

Rodney M. Booth was born in Arvida, Quebec. He obtained a Master of Divinity degree from United Theological College (UTC). He was later awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from UTC. Booth was ordained by Montreal-Ottawa Conference in 1957 and served congregations in Nakusp (1957-1959) and East Trail (1960-1966). He became the first Director of Student Affairs at Selkirk College, Castlegar in 1966. The following year, he became Director of Broadcasting for BC Conference, pioneering the church's venture into television. In 1984, he moved to Toronto to serve as Media Director/Executive Producer of United Church Television with the National Division of Communication. Booth was Chairperson of the World Council of Churches' Communicators' Network, and over the years provided resources and media coverage for three Assemblies. He also participated in co-productions of documentaries with the BBC, NBC, and CBC, and earned numerous international awards for his writing and documentaries. Booth retired to Surrey, B.C. in 1999 and continued consulting in the field of broadcasting and communications for several years.

Person · 1880-1956

J.G. Brown was born September 6, 1880 in Lakefield, Ontario. He received his university and theological education in Toronto at Victoria College. He was ordained by the Bay of Quinte Conference of the Methodist Church in 1908. After a few years in pastoral work in Ontario, he came to British Columbia in 1912 and ministered at Enderby and Vancouver (including Turner Institute, Ryerson, and Kitsilano Methodist congregations). He was appointed Principal of the newly chartered Ryerson Theological College in 1923. When, in 1927, Ryerson College and Westminster Hall were merged (following church union), Brown became the first Principal of Union College of British Columbia, affiliated with UBC. Under his administration, the main Union College buildings on campus were erected. He had the task of guiding the College through the Depression and then through World War II. Principal Brown also served as President of BC Conference of The United Church of Canada, 1936-1937. After his retirement in 1948, he lived for three years in Oxford, England, until his return to British Columbia, where he assumed the pastorate of the Church of Our Lord in Victoria. J.G. Brown died October 15, 1956.

Person · 1926-2006

Rev. William Lemuel ("Lem") Burnham was born in Summerberry, Saskatchewan. He moved to Vancouver in 1945 and studied theology (Union College) and social work (University of British Columbia). He was ordained by BC Conference in 1954. From 1955 to 1973, Burnham studied and worked in Hong Kong. He returned to Vancouver in 1974 and served the Chinese United Church until his retirement in 1985.

Corporate body · 1959-

The first United Church Chaplain, Rev. M.J.V. Shaver, was appointed to the University of British Columbia after its creation by BC Conference in 1959. An interdenominational committee, the Anglican-United Joint Chaplaincy Committee, was formed in 1969, through the BC Conference Committee on Church and State in Education, to begin the process of creating a joint chaplaincy at UBC. In 1970 the Anglican United Campus Ministry (AUCM) was created. In 1974, the AUCM and the UBC Student Christian Movement (SCM) merged to form the Cooperative Christian Campus Ministry (CCCM) at the University of British Columbia. In 1979, the SCM left the CCCM and the United Church and Anglican Church continued to operate campus ministry at UBC through the CCCM. In 1986, the CCCM was dissolved and the partnership between the United Church and Anglican Church at UBC ended. Later that year, after a brief period without a United Church campus chaplain, the United Church Campus Ministry (UCCM) at UBC was formed. In 2021, Campus Ministry at UBC became a part of Pacific Mountain Regional Council through the formation of Campus United.

Canadian Ecumenical Action
Corporate body · 1973-

Canadian Ecumenical Action began in 1973 as People's Opportunities in Ecumenical Mission (or POEM), for the development and support of new expressions of mission, and support of the expression of faith in work and in daily life by lay people of all churches and faiths. Rev. Val Anderson served as the founding coordinator of the new organization, which was originally organized into the Planning Board and standing committees (most prominently the Executive, the Finance Committee, and the Nominations Committee), the office, and numerous smaller committees or activity groups responsible for specific programs or projects. From the beginning, POEM served as a seedbed for other ventures, providing phone and office services, information, advertising and support through its newsletter and network of volunteers, and in some cases providing space or funding support. Many endeavours began as ventures within POEM, and eventually came to be independent.

In December 1976, POEM's name was officially changed to Canadian Ecumenical Action (CEA); however, the mission, and the organization of the work, remained substantially unchanged. Programs introduced between 1976 and 1979 included Alternatives in Justice and Corrections, the local chapter of the Canada-China Program, the Single Parent Network (also known as the Single Family Network and the Single Parent Action Network or SPAN), Poverty Focus, and the SFU Campus Ministry, among others.

By 1981, CEA's activities were clearly organized into the four divisions. Communication, Education, Community Action, and Administration, each of which had its own managing committee and reported separately to the Board.

CEA was also involved in organizing the 1983 World Council of Churches in Vancouver. CEA's orientation during this time was changing more and more towards sharing and cooperation among peoples of all faiths, rather than just Christian faiths, and in 1985 constitutional changes were made to reflect CEA's emerging identity as "a multifaith community action organization." By the early 2000s, the organization became the Multifaith Action Society, dedicated to the facilitation of interfaith education and dialogue.

Corporate body · 1923-1925

Canadian Memorial Chapel was the result of an amalgamation of Sixth Avenue Methodist Church and Fourteenth Avenue Methodist Church. It became known as Canadian Memorial United Church after Church Union in 1925.

Corporate body · 1965-1988

Canadian Urban Training began as a resource where clergy could prepare themselves for inner city social justice work in Toronto in 1965. CUT was an ecumenical program (funded by the United, Presbyterian, and Anglican Churches) that grew to include others that wanted to work towards social change. As more women and minority groups joined CUT, the program and network evolved to meet the needs of the people it served. The Action Training Collective (a part of CUT) was located at 200 - 1955 West Fourth Avenue, in Vancouver; along with the BC Conference offices. The program was dissolved in 1988 after it was decided that its forms and structures were no longer serving its objectives.

Chan, Phoebe, [1869?]-1953
Person · [1869?]-1953

Phoebe Chan came to Canada in about 1900 to join her brother, Rev. Yu Tan Chan, who served as lay preacher at the Chinese Methodist Church in Vancouver. Because of her experience in a mission school in China, she was engaged by the Woman's Missionary Society as Kindergarten Assistant and Bible Teacher at the church. She spent about 35 years teaching and providing pastoral care within the Chinese community, through the Methodist and United Churches. Following an accident in about 1942, Phoebe Chan retired as kindergarten teacher at the age of 72. She died in 1953, in her 84th year.

Chan, Sing Kai, 1854-1952
Person · 1854-1952

Sing Kai Chan grew up in a Christian household in China and was instrumental in establishing the Wesley Methodist Mission School in Hong Kong. He was invited by the Methodist Church of Canada to serve as lay preacher at Vancouver's first Chinese congregation in 1888. Chan was ordained in 1891 (the first person of Chinese descent to be ordained in the Methodist Church of Canada). After Vancouver, he served Chinese congregations in New Westminster and Victoria before moving to the United States for health reasons. His ministry continued in Oregon and California, where he died.

Chan, Yu Tan, 1863-1948
Person · 1863-1948

Yu Tan Chan was born and raised in China, where he grew up in a Christian family. He and his brother, Sing Kai Chan, were instrumental in establishing the Wesleyan Mission School in Hong Kong. He arrived in Canada eight years after his brother, in 1896, serving as a lay preacher at the Chinese Methodist Church in Vancouver until 1906. This was followed by pastorates in Victoria, Nanaimo, and New Westminster. Yu Tan Chan was ordained within the Methodist Church in 1923, and continued in ministry within The United Church of Canada after 1925 when it was formed through an amalgamation of the Methodist Church and other denominations.

Corporate body · 1888-1925

(中文版在下面) In 1888, a Mrs. M. Monck, daughter of pioneer missionary Rev. Ebeneezer Robson, began teaching English classes to Chinese students in her father's home. In November of that year, Mr. Chan Sing Kai, who had worked in the Wesleyan Methodist School in Hong Kong for the previous eight years, arrived in Vancouver to set up a mission. After three years, he was ordained by the Methodist Church in Canada. The mission initially met in small quarters near Hastings and Abbott, then relocated to quarters on the south-east corner of Hastings and Columbia Streets. As the mission outgrew its space, it moved to 186 Pender Street West, in the heart of Chinatown. A new building was completed at 531 Beatty Street in 1906; it contained a chapel that would accommodate 300, rooms for Sunday school, and a night school. At church union in 1925, the mission joined The United Church of Canada.

历史简介
1888 年,先驱传教士Ebeneezer Robson牧师的女儿 M. Monck 夫人开始在她父亲的家中为中国学生教授英语课程。同年十一月,曾在香港卫斯理 (Wesleyan)卫理公会学校工作八年的陈星阶 (Chan Sing Kai)先生抵达温哥华设立布道会。三年后,他被加拿大卫理公会按立牧职。传道部最初在Hastings和Abbott街附近的小宿舍会面,然后搬迁到Hastings和Columbia街东南角的宿舍。随着教友人数的不断增加, 聚会空间明显不够,传道部搬到了唐人街中心的 186 Pender Street West。 1906 年,一座新建筑在Beatty街 531 号落成;此建筑含有一个可容纳 300 人的小教堂、主日学校的几个房间和一所夜校。在 1925 年的教会联合会上,此传道部加入了加拿大协和教会。

  1. 中文名陈星阶源于此文 Chan Sing Kai (1854-1952) | Victoria's Chinatown (uvic.ca)并得到档案馆首肯。
Corporate body · 1925-1965

(中文版在下面) (Chinese version below) The Chinese United Church Mission in Victoria was created when the Methodist Mission joined The United Church of Canada in 1925. The United Church Year Book last records the existence of the congregation in 1965.

维多利亚,华人协和教会在1925 年华人卫理公会加入加拿大协和教会时成立。协和教会年鉴最后一次记录该会的存在是在 1965 年。

Corporate body · 1925-1992

(中文版在下面) (Chinese version below) The Chinese United Church in Vancouver had its roots in the Methodist Church, which joined The United Church of Canada in 1925. Shortly afterward, and to better serve the needs of the Chinese community (which had begun to shift eastward), the congregation relocated from Beatty Street to the corner of Pender Street and Dunlevy Avenue. The new church building and Christian Education Centre were dedicated on December 3, 1929. For nearly 70 years, the mission relied on the Board of Home Missions and the Woman's Missionary Society for financial support and leadership, and was known as the Chinese Mission, United Church of Canada. As it worked toward full self-support, which it achieved in 1955, it became known as the Chinese United Church. The congregation officially amalgamated with Chown United Church on April 14, 1992, becoming Chown Memorial and Chinese United Church, located at 3519 Cambie Street.

温哥华华人协和教会起源于卫理公会。 此会于 1925 年加入加拿大协和教会。不久之后,为了更好地服务华人社区(已经开始向东转移)的需要,教会会址从Beatty Street 搬到了 Pender Street 和 Dunlevy Avenue 的拐角处。 1929 年 12 月 3 日,新教堂和基督教教育中心落成典礼。 约70年间,该传道部的运行仰仗家庭宣教委员会和妇女布道会的财政支持和引领,并被称为加拿大协和教会华人宣教会。该教会努力实现完全自给自足,并于1955年成功实现这一目标,自此被称为华人协和教会。1992年4月14日,华人协和教会与Chown United Church正式合并,成为周氏纪念堂和华人协和教会 [Chown Memorial and Chinese United Church],其地址位于3519 Cambie Street。

Chow, Ling, 1893-1972
Person · 1893-1972

Ling Chow (also known as Rev. Chow Ling) was born in Kaiping (Hoiping), Guangdong, China and came to Canada as a boy of 14 in 1907. He spent his early years in Victoria, attending the Methodist Church there. In 1920, the church sent him to Nelson, B.C. to relieve C.Y. Chow. He returned to China to study theology at Guangdong Union Theological College, from which he graduated in 1929. Soon after his return, Chow was ordained by BC Conference within The United Church of Canada in 1931. As an ordained minister, he served pastorates in Cranbrook (1932-1934), Victoria (1934-1945), Vancouver (1945-1955), and Edmonton (1955-1964), retiring to Vancouver in 1964. While he was serving the Chinese United Church in Vancouver, the Canadian government lifted the Chinese Exclusion Act (1947); Chow was instrumental in beginning night school classes at the church, to help newcomers learn English.

Fong, Dickman, 1860-1946
Person · 1860-1946

(中文版在下面) Rev. Fong Dickman, originally known as Fong, Tak Man, was born in 1860 in Yan Ping, Kwangtung [Canton or Guangdong], China. He came to Canada in 1884 to seek a better life. Initially Mr. Fong made a living by driving stagecoaches between Vancouver and New Westminster, B.C. While attending a mission school at night, first in New Westminster and subsequently in Vancouver, Fong developed a keen interest in Christianity. He was baptized at the Princess Street Methodist Church in Vancouver, and appointed to the Chinese Methodist Church in Nanaimo in 1898 as a missionary at large. At that time, his name was Anglicized to “Dickman.” In 1906, Fong Dickman was transferred to Vancouver to set up and produce the Wa-Ying Yat-Po, (华英日报, the Chinese-English [or Chinese-Canadian] Daily Newspaper, 1906-1909), one of the very early (if not the first) newspapers in the Chinese language published in Canada. After 25 years of service, Fong Dickman was ordained by the Methodist Church of Canada in 1923. During his lifetime, he served in pastoral ministry at Nanaimo (1898-1906 and 1913-1921), Vancouver (1906-1913), New Westminster (1922-1930), and Edmonton (1930-1939). Rev. Fong Dickman retired in 1939, living in New Westminster until 1942, then residing in Vancouver from 1943 until his death on April 10, 1946.

Fong Dickman married Jane Chang in Victoria in 1899, and the couple had four daughters: Lavina Fong Dickman, who later became Lavina Cheng; Esther Fong Dickman; Anna Fong Dickman, who became Anna Lam; and Mary Fong Dickman (who died at a very young age). Aside from their loyal assistance with the church work, Anna was the first Chinese Canadian to become a registered nurse in B.C. and Esther, a school teacher in Vancouver. Mrs. Fong Dickman died in 1927. Beyond missionary work, Rev. Fong Dickman enjoyed creative writing, featuring early Chinese immigrants from his pastoral perspective. Rev. Fong Dickman was a philanthropist, who was noted to have supported a missionary in the city of Fat Shaan in Fong Dickman’s native province in south China.

Rev. Fong Dickman,原名冯德文(Fong, Tak Man),1860年出生于中国广东恩平。他于 1884 年来到加拿大寻求更好的生活。冯先生起初在Vancouver 和 New Westminster之间以驾驶驿马廂车为生。 晚间, 先在New Westminster,尔后在 Vancouver, B.C., 就读教会学校习英文。其间对基督教产生了浓厚的兴趣。他在温哥华的公主街卫理公会教堂受洗,并于1898 年被任命为传教士前往纳奈莫的中国卫理公会任职。同时他的名字被英化为Dickman。 1906 年,Fong Dickman 被调往温哥华,组织并创办了《华英日报》(the Chinese English [Chinese-Canadian) Daily Newspaper,1906-1909). 这是最早的(如果不是第一的话)在加拿大出版的中文报纸之一。为教会工作了 25 年后,Fong Dickman 于 1923 年受封立为牧师。在他的一生中,他在纳奈莫 (1898-1906 和 1913-1921)、温哥华 (1906-1913)、新威斯敏斯特 (1922-1930) 和埃德蒙顿 (1930-1939) 担任牧师职务。Rev. Fong Dickman于 1939 年退休,直到 1942 年他住在不列颠哥伦比亚省的New Westminster市。从 1943 年开始住在Vancouver, B.C. 直到 1946 年4月10日离世。

一八九九(1899) 年,Rev. Fong Dickman 迎娶了维多利亚的Jane Chang小姐,他们育有四个女儿:Lavina Fong Dickman (后来成为 Lavina Cheng); Esther Fong Dickman;Anna Fong Dickman(后来成为了 Anna Lam);以及Mary Fong Dickman (不幸英年早逝)。除了他们对教会工作的忠诚协助外,安娜是第一位成为卑诗省注册护士的华裔加拿大人。 Esther 是温哥华的一名学校老师。Fong Dickman 夫人于 1927 年去世。除了传教工作之外,Rev. Fong Dickman 还喜欢创作,从他的宗教信仰角度描绘早期的中国移民。Rev. Fong Dickman是一位慈善家。他以有限的薪水资助过他故乡的一名传教士,

Corporate body · 1925-1995

In 1925, the Secord United Church congregation was established, and their first church building was erected in 1928. At that time, Secord United was a part of a three point Pastoral Charge. River Avenue Pastoral Charge (1925-1931) included River Avenue United Church in South Vancouver, Secord United Church, and Dundonald United Church, located in South Burnaby. From 1931 to 1935, a new partnership arose with Secord-Renfrew Pastoral Chrage, which constitued of Secord and Renfrew United Churches. From 1936 to 1950, Secord United became a one point Pastoral Charge. In 1950 the name of the church was changed to Fraserview United Church, and in 1953 the building underwent major expansion and renovations. On July 1 1995, Fraserview United Church was amalgamated into Collingwood-Fraserview-Wilson Heights Pastoral Charge, which met as a single congregation at the Wilson Heights church building. In 1998, this Pastoral Charge was renamed Wilson Heights Pastoral Charge.

Person · 1869-1935

Barnabas Courtland Freeman was born in Frontenac County, Ontario, in July, 1869. He went to Saskatchewan as a missionary in 1891, was ordained by the Manitoba and Northwest Conference of the Methodist Church in 1892, and was married to Ida Lawson of Frontenac County the same year. In 1893, he travelled west to British Columbia, serving among the Indigenous peoples at Skidegate, Lax Kw’alaams (Port Simpson), Port Essington, and Cape Mudge. In 1910 he ventured south to serve pastorates in Cumberland, Revelstoke, Port Coquitlam, and Vancouver. He was elected President of B.C. Conference in 1920. Freeman died at Cape Mudge in 1935. Throughout most of his career, he wrote poetry, short stories and essays. His poetry was published in The New Outlook, The Christian Guardian, and other church periodicals.

Person · 1895-1987

Ethel May Pierce was born on March 20, 1895 in Inwood, Ontario. She married Frederick Courtland Freeman, son of Rev. B.C. Freeman, on May 14, 1930. She died on May 16, 1987 in Vancouver, B.C.

Corporate body · 1932-1942

In 1929, Dr. Kozo Shimotakahara of the Vancouver Japanese United Church gathered seven other Japanese Canadian doctors and began a free clinic, held once a month, for babies and children. The clinic was opened under the auspices of the Vancouver Japanese Women’s Auxiliary and the Kindergarten Mothers Group.
Within a few short years, in response to an alarming incidence of tuberculosis among the Vancouver Japanese population, Dr. Shimotakahara and others in the community approached the City’s Department of Health, offering to open a free medical clinic at the church, under the supervision of the department. In 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression, the free clinic opened in the gym of the Powell Street Church. The Department of Health provided the clinic’s supplies and sent two nurses to the clinic but organizations within the Japanese community provided funding. Women of the church donated countless hours of service in these clinics. Dr. Shimotakahara and his colleague, Dr. Uchida, volunteered their services. The clinic provided free inoculations against diphtheria and smallpox, and hosted lectures and films to educate the community on public health.

Although it moved to 474 East Pender Street, the clinic continued to operate until the federal government forcibly removed the community from the coast in 1942.

Ko, James Yee Lai, 1932-1981
Person · 1932-1981

Born in Hong Kong, James Ko was trained in theology at Trinity Theological College, Singapore and was ordained by the Church of Christ in China, Hong Kong Council, in 1962. Rev. Ko came to Canada in 1964 and served with the Presbyterian Church at the Chinese Church in Windsor, Ontario. He was received into the United Church of Canada in 1972, and served at the Chinese United Church (Vancouver, B.C.) until his death.

1909-1989

In 1958 the congregations of Zion United and Trinity United amalgamated under the name Trinity-Zion United Church. They congregated at the Trinity United location on East 7th Avenue, until a new building was erected. In 1962 the new building at 12th Avenue and Semlin Drive was dedicated, and the congregation was renamed Lakeview United Church.

Leung, Chuk Ping, 1884-1965
Person · 1884-1965

Chuk Ping Leung was born in Kaiping (Hoiping), Guangdong, China. He came to Canada in 1922 with his son, So Won, and worked as clergy with the Methodist Church in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. During this time, the Methodist Church of Canada amalgamated with other denominations to form The United Church of Canada. Leung's remaining family members joined him in 1927, the same year he transferred to the Chinese United Church in Edmonton (1927-1930). This was followed by pastorates in New Westminster (1930-1932), Vancouver (1932-1938), Montreal (1938-1943), and once again Edmonton (1943-1952). Chuk Ping Leung died at Vancouver in June of 1965.

Corporate body · 1896-1910

Vancouver District was created through a division of Westminster District in 1896. Vancouver District divided into Vancouver East and Vancouver West districts in 1910.

Namba, Grace Taga, 1914-1999
Person · 1914-1999

Grace Namba was a kindergarten and music teacher employed by the United Church, initially through the Woman's Missionary Society. Her family included Toyonori Namba (father) and Tokiwa Namba (mother; nee Tokiwa Ogura). She taught at the Steveston Japanese kindergarten until she was forcibly uprooted to Greenwood, B.C. during the internment of Japanese Canadians. There, she continued her work with the Greenwood congregation. In 1949, Ms. Namba graduated from the United Church Training School in Toronto and became a deaconess. For most of her ministry, she served the Vancouver Japanese United Church congregation, retiring from there in 1978.

Corporate body · 1999-

In 1999, the recently amalgamated congregation of St. Giles-South Hill changed its name to Oakridge United Church. The congregation continued to worship in the St. Giles building at 305 West 41st Avenue. The church building was demolished in March 2018, and a new sanctuary was incorporated into a six-storey condominium building on the same site. The new sanctuary was dedicate in 2021. On January 1, 2023, Oakridge United amalgamated with Wilson Heights United, and the name Oakridge Unite Church was maintained for the new entity.

Corporate body · 1925-2017

As early as 1910, a small group of Methodists and Presbyterians gathered for worship at the Wilson Road (Kerrisdale) School prior to the establishment of Kerrisdale Methodist Church. Kerrisdale Methodist Church opened on November 26, 1911 in a small building on the north-east corner of 45th Avenue and Yew Street, Vancouver. In 1925, Kerrisdale Methodist Church came into union, and changed its name to Ryerson United Church. Ryerson United required a larger church building, and the present building was dedicated on March 25th, 1928. A Christian Education Centre in the Ryerson Memorial Centre was built and dedicated in March of 1950. The Ryerson congregation amalgamated with Dunbar Heights United Church to form Dunbar Ryerson United Church on January 1, 2017 and changed its name to Pacific Spirit United Church the following year.

Corporate body · 2011-2022

The Seniors Working Group (SWG) originated in 2011 with representatives from the pastoral committees of five United Church congregations on the west side of Vancouver: Dunbar Heights, Knox, Trinity, West Point Grey, University Hill. The working group formed partly in response to a growing gap in community services for seniors west of Granville Street. Within a few years, it grew to encompass further westside congregations, including Anglican parishes.

The SWG's main purpose and vision was to help seniors/elders age with vitality and expanded options, working within church congregations and the wider community. It sponsored pastoral care training events; held public forums on a variety of topics; and undertook networking and collaboration with other community groups with similar aims. Congregational pastoral care committees within the SWG membership supported an array of activities, including prayer groups, transportation, education/communications, food support and programs, visitation, and card and flower ministries.

Collaborative work with the nascent Westside Seniors Hub – which operated out of Kitsilano Neighbourhood House – began in 2015. The Westside Seniors Hub gradually assumed the community-wide programming of the SWG, and the SWG dissolved after transferring its funds to that organization on May 27, 2022.

Corporate body · 1925-1999

St. Giles United Church began its life as Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church. A Union Sunday School had been meeting at 7th Avenue and Westminister Road (now Kingsway) as early as 1890. In 1891, a Presbyterian Mission was established at the Temperance Hall on 10th Avenue near Westminister Avenue (now Main Street). The Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Mission was formally organized in February 1892, and their first church was built on property between 7th and 8th Avenues on Westminster Road (Kingsway). Due to the rapid growth of the congregation, a new church was built and dedicated in January of 1910. The congregation voted to enter church union in 1925 and changed their name to St. Giles United Church. In the years following World War II, the southern area of Vancouver grew rapidly and St. Giles United moved to a new neighborhood on 41st Avenue, east of Cambie Street. The new church was dedicated in November 1949. In 1996, St. Giles and South Hill United Churches amalgamated to form St. Giles-South Hill United Church. In 1999, the name of this congregation was changed to Oakridge United Church.

Corporate body · 1921-1979

In 1921, the SCM of Canada was created. It was formed through student departments in the YMCA and YWCA as well as local Student Christian Associations. In 1926, The Student Christian Movement of Canada, University of British Columbia Branch (SCM, UBC) officially became a member of the Student Christian Movement of Canada. In 1974, the Anglican-United Campus Ministry and SCM, UBC amalgamated to form the Cooperative Christian Campus Ministry (CCCM) at UBC. In 1979, the SCM, UBC left the CCCM; campus ministry continued at UBC through the CCCM and later, United Church Campus Ministry.

Corporate body · 1925-1942 ; [ca. 1950]-

The Japanese Methodist Mission was established in Vancouver in 1896. It fell within the purview of the Home Missions Board until well after WW II, even though the congregation had become self-supporting by 1936. The congregation's first building was constructed in 1907 or 1908 at the corner of Jackson and Powell Streets. It became known as the Powell Street Church. A gymnasium and social hall were added in the 1920s, for which the congregation raised $12,000. The Woman's Missionary Society (WMS) was involved with the Japanese Mission from very early on. They taught kindergarten and home economics at the Mission, held prayer meetings, and raised funds to add to the voluntary contributions of the congregation and Home Missions. The congregation boasted an excellent Sunday school, Tuxis and Explorers groups, Mission Band, and CGIT. The Rev. Dr. Kosaburo Shimizu served the congregation from 1926 to 1942. He introduced many Christian education opportunities within the congregation, established the Young People's Union, introduced monthly English-speaking worship services, and started a relief department providing food and clothing during the Depression of the 1930s. He also helped the congregation achieve self-supporting status.

Members living in Vancouver's Fairview neighbourhood raised enough money, along with a Home Missions grant, to build a second Japanese Church in 1928 (by then part of The United Church of Canada).The Fairview Mission later became known as the Columbia Street Mission (from 1949 on), which was sold in 1977. From 1942 to 1949, the two buildings were used by First United Church, St. Giles, and the WMS while Japanese Canadian citizens were interned in internment camps. The Powell Street and Columbia Street buildings were held in trust by the Board of Home Missions during the war. In 1953, the Powell St. property was sold. From then on, the Japanese- and English-speaking congregations met in a number of different venues, none of which they owned, beginning with First United Church. In 1958 both Nisei and Issei (Japanese speaking) church members were worshipping in Fairview Church on Columbia. In 1962, they moved to Renfrew United Church. In 1978, the congregation purchased St. Luke's United Church building.

At its general meeting in May 2009, BC Conference made a statement of Recognition and Apology to the Japanese United Church for the sale of the Powell Street church building 56 years earlier. In June of that year, a Service of Reconciliation took place at the Vancouver Japanese United Church. Early in 2017, the English-speaking congregation disbanded.

Corporate body · 1925-2022

Wilson Heights United Church was founded as Wilson Road Methodist Church. The church was built in 1910. The membership grew quickly, and a new church was built and dedicated in March 1912. This church was named Wilson Heights Methodist Church. In 1925 the congregation came into church union, and was renamed Wilson Heights United Church. A new church was built and opened in 1958. In 1995 Vancouver-South Presbytery established a three point Collingwood - Fraserview - Wilson Heights United Pastoral Charge, but all three met and worshipped at the Wilson Heights church building. In 1998 the Pastoral Charge name was changed back to Wilson Heights, and it was recognized as a one point Charge. The congregation amalgamated with Oakridge United Church on January 1, 2023.

Person · 1889-1956

(日本語版は以下に記載) (Japanese version below)
Yoshinosuke Yoshioka was born in Sasebo, Japan in 1889. He graduated in 1912 from Kwansei Gakuin University at Shizuoka, Japan, and was baptized within the Christian church in 1914. Yoshioka married Hisa Misaki (1890-1975), then a primary school teacher, in Shizuoka, Japan, where they lived until they left for Canada. In 1921, he was ordained in the Methodist Church. He served the Steveston Methodist Church from 1922 to 1925. This was followed by an appointment at the Japanese Mission on Powell Street in Vancouver (1925-1926). He completed theological studies at Emmanuel College, University of Toronto, and earned Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Arts degrees. In 1929, he was called to the mission at the Japanese United Church in Kelowna, British Columbia, where he served until 1952. He went on to serve in Lethbridge, Alberta, where he died May 26, 1956.

The Yoshiokas had two sons, Edward and James. Edward Yoshioka was born in 1923. He attended Victoria University and Emmanuel College, University of Toronto. Having been ordained in 1947, he served as a United Church of Canada minister in several locations across Canada and as a missionary in Trinidad. He died in 1990. James Yoshioka was born in 1925. He earned a medical doctor's degree from the University of Toronto in 1949; thereafter he practiced medicine in Montreal, Quebec, and Oakville and Toronto, Ontario until he retired.

履歴 :
吉岡芳之助は1889年に佐世保市にて生まれた。1912年に関西学院大学を卒業。1914年に洗礼を受け、キリスト教に改宗。静岡在住時に小学校教員のミサキヒサ (1890年-1975年) と結ばれる。1921年にメソジスト教会より牧師に叙階されると、翌年にカナダに赴任。1925年までスティーブストン (英: Steveston) 日本人メソジスト教会にて仕えた。1925年-1926年パウエルストリートの日本人ミッションに参加した後にトロント大学のエマニュエルカレッジに入学。神学を専攻し、学士号と修士号を習得した。1929年より23年間ケロナ市 (英: Kelowna) 、ブリティッシュコロンビア州の日系人合同教会にて仕える。後にアルバータ州のレスブリッジ市の教会に赴任した。1956年5月26日没。

吉岡家は二人の息子に恵まれた。長男の吉岡エドワード(1923年出)はヴィクトリア大学(英: Victoria University)及びトロント大学のエマニュエルカレッジを卒業し、1947年に牧師として叙階された後、国内のいくつかのカナダ合同教会の牧師として勤めた。また、トリニダードにおいて宣教活動も行った。1990年没。
次男の吉岡ジェームズ(1925出)は1949年に医師の学位を習得。ケベック州のモントリオール、オンタリオ州のオークヴィル市(英:Oakville)とトロント市で引退まで働いた。