Christ Church in Surrey celebrates 125 years

Christ the Redeemers heritage building, Christ Church, was written up in the Surrey Leader when the parish marked the buildings 125th birthday in September.

The Rev. Craig Vance made the point that Christ Church was still a working church. Its not a museum, he insisted, as the parish sometimes holds services there, and many weddings take place in what was the first place of worship ever built in the municipality.

Vance, the parishs 25th priest, told the newspaper that the original building took seven weeks to build at a cost then of $1,200. Over the past two years a complete exterior restoration and painting was carried out in cooperation with Surrey Heritage Commission and B.C. Heritage Trust.

Since 1990 the congregation usually worships in a modern building, Christ the Redeemer, across the street from Christ Church, which 12 years earlier had been designated a heritage site.

On Sunday, Sept. 23, the church invited former parishioners, people who have celebrated baptisms, marriages, confirmations, friends and neighbours to an anniversary service and community barbecue.

Cathedral cleans up shoreline

A crew of 16 from Christ Church Cathedral descended upon Hallelujah Point in Stanley Park after church on Sunday, September 16, 2007. It was a baptism Sunday, so perhaps we were invigorated by images of the spiritual importance of water.

With its view back towards our parish, we felt that cleaning this stretch of shoreline was a meaningful way we could act locally, while thinking globally. We collected 167 lb. of refuse and cleaned 1.0 kilometre of shoreline.

- David Van Blarcom, Rectors Warden and Environmental Steward

43 Strategic Planning champions gather at St. Annes

It was an enthusiastic group of 43  Champions for the 2018 Program who gathered at St. Annes in Richmond on September 8 for a day of orientation and training for the upcoming strategic planning workshops.

The session was an opportunity for Parish Champions to meet one another, share experiences and information and ask questions. After a presentation about strategic planning and the process that the Diocese is embarking on, the group participated in an interactive role play to help them in their task as table discussion facilitators at the workshops.

The group received a warm welcome from the people of St. Annes, including an ample selection of their famous pies for dessert.

-Marleen Morris