Showing 162 results

People and organizations
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.

Person · 1903-1991

Mary Violet Deeprose was born in Stockdale, Ontario on February 11, 1903. She attended the United Church Training School in Toronto, 1938-1940, and was designated a deaconess by Alberta Conference, August 18, 1941. She was appointed by the Woman’s Missionary Society to the Crosby Girls’ Home in Lax Kw’alaams (then known as Port Simpson), 1940-1944. She left the work due to a family illness. From 1946-1949, she was employed as superintendent of the Mountview Social Service Home (Calgary). She taught in the public school system in Alberta from 1953 until her retirement in 1962. Violet Deeprose died at Drumheller, Alberta on February 22, 1991.

Corporate body · 1925-

Long before the missionaries came, the Hudson Bay Company had established a trading post known as "Fort Simpson." The Indigenous settlement was renamed "Port Simpson" following the closure of "Fort Simpson" by the Hudson's Bay Company. Methodist missionaries begin their missionary work with the Tsimshian Indigenous peoples in Lax Kw’alaams (Port Simpson) in the early 1870s. Lax Kw’alaams (Port Simpson) began a mission of the Methodist Church in 1874.Within months the Port Simpson Methodist Church was erected for services. In the late 1800s the church became Grace Methodist Church. In 1925 with Church Union the church became Grace United Church. It was later destroyed in a fire in 1931. A new church was opened and dedicated on February 20, 1938. Tragically, a fire destroyed this structure in January 2021.

Corporate body · 1925-

As far back as the 1870s, ministers of the Presbyterian and Methodist churches travelled through Williams Lake and preached. Regular work was not established until 1920, initially under the leadership of Rev. J.H. White. The Rev. Dr. A.D. MacKinnon arrived in the fall of 1921 for a long-term ministry for the Presbyterian Church, serving the people of Williams Lake and the vast surrounding area until 1941. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and manse were built on Oliver Street, Williams Lake, and was officially dedicated in 1922. During church union in 1925, the congregation joined The United Church of Canada and its name changed to St. Andrew’s United Church.

In 1953, St. Andrew’s sold its original buildings and moved to the corner of Cameron Street and Third Avenue. A hall, later to be named MacKinnon Memorial Hall, was built. The congregation intended that a sanctuary would also be erected, but this did not materialize, so the hall served as a sanctuary and Christian Education centre. A manse was built beside the hall, and served the ministry staff until it was sold in 1974 to give the minister opportunity to choose suitable housing.

On April 9, 1980, a fire destroyed MacKinnon Memorial Hall. St. Andrew’s worshiped in the Anglican church and then in local school gyms. St. Andrew’s sold the Cameron Street lot in 1981 and purchased a new site in the 600 block of Midnight Drive from B.C. Rail. A new structure, 1000 Huckvale Place, was completed in July 1982.

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.

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.

Person · 1928-2021

Grant Bracewell was born in Penticton, B.C. After studying at the University of British Columbia and Union College, he was ordained by The United Church of Canada, BC Conference in 1955. He served in pastoral ministry first as a student at Honeymoon Bay, B.C., and post-ordination at Bella Coola, Trinity (Merritt), and Royal Heights (Delta). Having received a testamur in 1955, he completed the thesis requirement for his Bachelor of Divinity degree while in pastoral ministry. In 1967, he earned his Master of Library Science degree and the following year became the first theological librarian at Emmanuel College (University of Toronto) and coordinator of all the libraries of the Toronto Schools of Theology. He retired with his wife, Eleanor, in 1993 to South Surrey, B.C., where both were involved at Crescent United Church.

Bracewell served the United Church in various capacities throughout his life, both in Ontario and B.C. Among his many contributions were: Boys' Work Secretary for the BC Conference Christian Education Committee; chair of the Bella Coola General Hospital Board (1955-1958); chair of Toronto Scarborough Presbytery (1986-1987); chair of the General Council Manual Committee (1980-1986); and chair of the BC Conference Archives and History Committee (1996-2005). He was a member of numerous university and church committees, but most relevant to the archival materials was his work on the Research Committee for the Working Unit on Sexuality, Marriage, and Family (Division of Mission in Canada, 1982). In retirement, Bracewell served on the Board of the Camp Kwomais Society (1994-2004) and volunteered at the BC Conference Archives for 25 years (1993-2018).

Corporate body · 1887-1925

The British Columbia Conference was established in 1887 and remained in place until the union of the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches in Canada to form the United Church of Canada in 1925. Prior to 1887, the work of the Methodist Church in B.C. was carried out under the auspices of the Toronto Conference. The Conference was an annual meeting with an equal number of lay and ministerial representatives from each District. Its functions were to elect representatives to the General Conference, to approve any sales of Church property within its jurisdiction, and to appoint and supervise the work of various Church committees and officers within its boundaries. In between sessions of the Annual Conference, a Special Committee of senior members reporting to the Conference was responsible for handling any business that could not be left until the next Annual Conference, with the exception of Church property, which remained the sole jurisdiction of the Conference. Each Conference was immediately preceded by a Ministerial Session whose function was to examine and approve the ordination of ministers and probationers within the bounds of the Conference.

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.

Corporate body · 1896-1902

Kootenay District was created through a division of Kamloops District in 1896. It was divided into East and West Kootenay districts in 1902.

Corporate body · 1881-1900, 1907-1925

Port Simpson District was created from part of the British Columbia District in 1881. Upon the creation of the British Columbia Conference in 1887, Port Simpson became one of four districts of the Conference. For the period 1897-1900, a portion of Port Simpson District was named Bella Bella District, and from 1900-1907, the entire area was known as Indian District. In 1914 a small portion of Port Simpson District became the new Prince George District, later the Hazelton District.

Corporate body · 1897-1900

Bella Bella District was created from part of the Port Simpson District in Northern B.C. in 1897, and existed until 1900 when it became part of Indian District.

Corporate body · 1868-1881

The British Columbia District was created in 1868 as an administrative division of the Foreign Missions Board of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada, and comprised most of the present-day British Columbia Conference. In 1874, B.C. became a mission district of the newly formed Toronto Conference of the Methodist Church of Canada, and in 1881 was divided into the Victoria-New Westminster District and the Port Simpson District, the latter consisting of the territory north of Prince Rupert.

Corporate body · 1900-1907

The Indian District was created in 1900 through an amalgamation of Bella Bella District and Port Simpson District, and was renamed Port Simpson District again in 1907.

Corporate body · 1885-1925

The Victoria District was divided off from the Victoria-New Westminster District in 1885, and became one of the four districts of the B.C. Conference in 1887. Nanaimo District was divided off from Victoria District in 1910.

Corporate body · 1881-1885

The Victoria-New Westminster District was created in 1881 through a division of the British Columbia District. Between 1885 and 1887 it was divided further into the Victoria, New Westminster and Kamloops districts, the latter being created as part of the new B.C. Conference in 1887.

Corporate body · 1885-1925

The Westminster District, or New Westminster District prior to the 1887 B.C. Conference, was divided off from the Victoria-New Westminster District in 1885. After the creation of Kamloops District in 1887, Westminster District consisted of all of the lower mainland except for the interior. In 1896 Vancouver District was divided off from Westminster District.

Edgar, George, 1854-1931
Person · 1854-1931

George Edgar was born on August 24, 1854 on Gabriola Island. He was of Scottish and Tsimshian parentage. He grew up in Lax Kw’alaams (Port Simpson), and served the Hudson's Bay Company on its coastal steamers. In 1877, he responded to the Methodist Church's appeal for a teacher at Kitamaat and began his long association with the coastal mission work headed up by the Rev. Thomas Crosby. From Kitamaat, Edgar's mission work took him to Gitwinksihlkw (Canyon City) and Gitlakdamix (New Aiyansh) on the Nass River, Gold Harbour on Haida Gwaii; Hagwilget and Kitsegucla on the Skeena River; and Hartley Bay and Klemtu on the coast. He was ordained in 1909 by BC Conference of the Methodist Church, in consideration of his years of service. Edgar died on November 7, 1931.

Person · 1917-2000

Wayne Oliver MacKenzie was born at Riparia, Washington. He was ordained in The United Church of Canada by BC Conference in 1958. He served pastoral charges in Alert Bay (1958-1961); Bamfield (1962-1963); North Kamloops (1964-1966); Enderby (1967-1971); Squamish (1972-1974); and Revelstoke (1975-1976). MacKenzie retired in 1976 and served the church at Kaslo as retired supply (1978). In his early charges, he served as skipper of the “Robert C. Scott” and pilot of a Cessna, both part of the marine mission work of the Church on the coast. In his later years, he was a vocal member of the Community of Concern, an organization that arose in response to the Church’s decision to ordain qualified candidates regardless of sexual orientation. MacKenzie died in 2000.

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 · 1912-2000

George Affleck was born in Lanark, Ontario on March 7, 1912. He was educated at the University of Toronto, Emmanuel College, and St. Andrew's University in Scotland. He was ordained in the United Church in 1939 and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by Union College (Vancouver) in 1969. George Affleck and his wife, Fronia, served United Church congregations in British Columbia, including Skidegate, Kimberley, Vernon, Crescent Beach (Surrey), Powell River, Port Alberni, and Parksville. From 1972 to 1977, he was Presbytery Officer for the Vancouver Island Presbytery. George Affleck died July 15, 2000 at Nanaimo, B.C.

Corporate body · 1973-1996

BC Conference introduced the position of presbytery officer in several presbyteries between 1969 and 1973. The aim was to divide up the work of the two Superintendents of Home Missions in the Conference, and to improve communication between the Conference and the presbyteries. The position was conceived of as a resource for the presbytery, providing coordination, consultation and counselling for all levels of the church within the presbytery, as well as serving ecumenical functions at the local level. George Affleck was appointed to the position (originally named Comox-Nanaimo-Victoria Presbytery Officer) in 1973, and served in that capacity until 1976. He was succeeded by Leslie U. Clark (1976-1982) and William L. Howie (1982-1996), after which the position was discontinued. Two separate Conference Ministers for Victoria Presbytery and Comox-Nanaimo Presbytery were introduced in 2008.

Kwomais Camp
Corporate body · 1910-2007

Kwomais Camp is located at Ocean Park on Semiahmoo Bay near White Rock, B.C. The first church camp was held there in 1910 under the auspices of the Methodist Church. The Church bought the property in 1913 and it was the first church-owned campsite in B.C. The camp, known originally as Ocean Park Camp, became interdenominational in 1916. BC Conference sold the camp to the City of Surrey in September 2007 for use as a city park.

Person · 1916-2009

Lloyd Hooper was born Jan. 25, 1916, in Salford, Ontario. He was ordained in 1954 and served as a minister of the United Church of Canada in many small towns in B.C. including Cape Mudge, Skidegate, Fruitvale, Brentwood Bay, Greenwood, Chemainus, Tahsis, and the West Coast of Vancouver Island. He was involved in youth work in all these places in Scouting, 4-H, church youth groups and camps. He died at Nanaimo on October 14, 2009.

Person · 1912-1997

Harold M. Wingfield was born at Wanstead, England on April 12, 1912. He received his schooling in Alberta and was ordained by Alberta Conference of the United Church of Canada in 1941. He served nine pastoral charges in Alberta and B.C., including Fort Saskatchewan, Thorhild, Edson, Queen Charlottee City, Ocean Falls, Halibruton (Nanaimo), Squamish, and Lake Cowichan. He died January 11, 1997 at Cowichan Lake, B.C.

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 · 1892-1925

Kamloops Presbytery was one of the original four presbyteries that made up the Synod of British Columbia, which the Presbyterian Church in Canada established in 1892.

Corporate body · 1892-1925

Victoria Presbytery was one of four presbyteries created in 1892 when the Presbytery of Columbia was replaced with the new Synod of British Columbia. It was originally called Vancouver Island Presbytery and was renamed Victoria Presbytery in 1895.

Corporate body · 1892-1925

The British Columbia Synod of the Presbyterian Church in Canada was created in 1892. Prior to that, Presbyterian work in B.C. was carried out at the presbytery level (known as the Presbytery of Columbia). After 1892, the administration of the B.C. Synod was carried out like any other synod in Canada. The chief officer was known as the Moderator, the second officer was known as the Clerk, and there were several standing committees that paralleled the boards and committees of the General Assembly (the national governing body of the church). The B.C. Synod was represented at the General Assembly, and the Assembly had staff, such as the Superintendent of Missions, at work in the Synod.

The B.C. Synod was divided into presbyteries, with five such presbyteries in existence at the time of church union in 1925. Although the synod represented a higher level of church government, the presbyteries were invested with the greater power. In turn, the presbyteries were made up of congregations and pastoral charges.

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.

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.