September 2003 West Vancouver nisioricai society WEST VANCOUVER CHURCHES : The Presbyterian Church Anne Vernon This is the first of a series on the history of the churches in our community. St. Francis-in- the-Woods will be in the next issue. Most of you know the story of the Lawson family and of how, after being settled into the old Navvy Jack house for a few years, John Lawson felt that it was time to cease going over to their original church in Vancouver and instead begin holding services in the community. It was September 1908 when a group of 33 people, who had previously gathered at the Lawson house, met for a minister-led worship service there for the first time. They had arranged for a roster of divinity students from Westminster Hall to come over and hold services at "Hollyburn House" every second week. The group included Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists and Baptists, and later, a few Roman Catholics, who all worshipped freely together. The services became very popular, with people sometimes rowing over from Vancouver, to camp for the weekend to join those at "Hollyburn House" where the Lawson family welcomed them and also provided refreshments. The combined Sunday School provided services for 22 children. Eventually the numbers became so great that the congregation outgrew the space available and so, in January 1909, a separate Presbyterian congregation was established. Their Board of Managers were formed of four Johns - Lawson, Harte, Sinclair and Teare, who paid their first student minister the sum of $4 per Sunday. Even larger quarters were soon required, the Hollyburn Ladies Aid was immediately founded and began to raise funds to enable expansion to take place. By the summer of 1909, on a site provided by Mr. Lawson at the southeast comer of Marine Drive and 18th Street, a wooden platform was built and a 23’ x 50' tent erected. At the same time the Methodists established their own place of worship at the home of Mr. W.C. Thompson on the waterfront at the foot of 20th Street. Heavy snows in 1910-11 destroyed the tent and the Methodists helped to build a timber structure, called the Presbyterian Hall, on the wood foundation. This was the first public building in the community and it quickly became a centre for weekday activities as well as a Presbyterian Church and Sunday School on the Sabbaths. In 1912 the Rev. Alver MacKay was inducted as the first minister of the Presbyterian Church, with other clergymen and parishioners travelling from North Van- couver to the service. During the First World War the hall became the Red Cross headquarters, so services were held jointly with the Methodists, who had by this time built a church at the comer of Marine Drive and 22nd Street. Baptists had always worshipped with Presbyterians from the beginning. In November 1919 North Shore Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists and Baptists agreed to amalgamate as the West Vancouver United Church, almost six years before the National Church Union. This resulted in the Presbyterian Hall being moved to the comer of 21st and Esquimalt to accommodate the union and the hall continued in use until 1950, when it was demolished to make way for the new church building. However, some Presbyterians met separately in the Masonic Hall, growing in number to make yet another move necessary - this time to the Palms Ballroom in Dundarave! (This location has also been the site of Sager's Maple Shop, the Dundarave Cafe, and the Brit.) The congregation eventually purchased the Palms, converting it to church use, but again it outgrew its capacity and began a search for another site, eventually finding one (its present location) at the corner of Marine Drive and 29th Street. The church was fortunate in having several mem- bers in the engineering and constmction world and they worked very hard to ensure the building was structurally sound and would meet their needs. An A-frame, to commemorate the original tented church, was chosen, with elongated beams at the apex of the roof to symbol- ise "praying hands". Several members of that group, too many to mention by name here, still serve as energetic members of the present-day congregation. Not only did the members contribute to the actual building of the church, they also carved many of the original pews, the pulpit and the baptismal font - all still in use today! The church opened for worship in the autumn of 1965 and, like many others, has ebbed and flowed throughout the years. Now with the purchase of the property next door on 29th Street, new vistas are opening up for the future. The Editor who, coincidentally, has been a member of the West Vancouver Presbyterian Church since the 1960's, would like to thank May Loudon, and various church members, for the church history which has been presented in a shortened form here. Their continued work is inspiratiottal. A cheerful bunch, they work hard making many contributions to local and overseas good causes.. It seems right to end with a final quote from the recent WVPC cookbook, which concluded with the following paragraph. "The church has experienced a varied and colour- ful history in the 95 years since John Lawson organised the first service at Hollyburn House. It has played an important part in the spiritual and secular lives of thousands of West Vancouver Presbyterians of the past and present, not to mention North Vancouver Presbyte- rians as well." _ . ^ [See insert page for an etching of the church.)