St. James Anglican Church (Vancouver)

St. James' Anglican Church (third and present building)

St. James' Anglican Church in 2007
Location Vancouver, British Columbia
Country Canada
Denomination Anglican Church of Canada
Website www.stjames.bc.ca
History
Founder(s) James Raymur
Events Great Vancouver Fire
Architecture
Architect(s) Adrian Gilbert Scott
Style Art Deco
Byzantine Revival
Gothic Revival
Romanesque Revival
Completed Summer 1936/Third bldg.
Specifications
Materials Concrete
Slate
Administration
Deanery Kingsway
Archdeaconry Burrard
Diocese New Westminster
Province Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and the Yukon
Clergy
Bishop(s) Lord Bishop of New Westminster
Rector Vacant
Laity
Organist(s) Gerald Harder

St. James' Anglican Church (Parish of Saint James, Vancouver) is a unique church building in the Diocese of New Westminster of the Anglican Church of Canada located at the north-east corner of East Cordova and Gore Streets in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[1]

The original building was completed in the spring of 1881 on Alexander Street to the north west of the present site and was sponsored by Captain James Raymur, the manager of Hastings Mill.[2] This building burned down in the Great Vancouver Fire of 1886.[3] The heat of the fire melted the church bell into a puddle that was eventually put on display at the Museum of Vancouver.[4]

The present and third church building was designed by Adrian Gilbert Scott [5] and is the second to be built at this location on land donated by the Canadian Pacific Railway. Its design is a combination of Art Deco, Romanesque Revival, Byzantine Revival, and Gothic Revival architecture.[6] The walls are made of concrete,[7] while the roof is made of slate.[8] The building was constructed between 1935 and 1937 and consecrated in 1938.

St. James was the first Anglican church in Vancouver, formerly named Granville, until the establishment of a local church (daughter church) that would eventually become the congregation of Christ Church Cathedral.[9]

The parish is Anglo-Catholic. Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer are said daily. Low Mass is said daily except Saturdays. Solemn (High) Mass is sung every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. while Evensong and Benediction is sung on the last Sunday of the month.

Brian Rocksborough-Smith is St. James' Rector's Warden.[10] The People's Warden is Reece Wrightman and the Associate Warden is Betty Carlson. The position of Rector of St James' parish is presently vacant. The 'Priest-in-Charge' is Father Douglas Fenton, Archdeacon of Burrard.

References

  1. ↑ Vancouver, Victoria and Whistler. Hunter Publishing. 2006. p. 87. ISBN 2894647638.
  2. ↑ Robert A. J. McDonald (1996). Making Vancouver: Class, Status, and Social Boundaries, 1863-1913. University of British Columbia Press. p. 24. ISBN 0774805552.
  3. ↑ Harold Kalman; Robin Ward; Mike Harcourt (2012). Exploring Vancouver: The Architectural Guide (4 ed.). Douglas & McIntyre. p. 54. ISBN 1553658663.
  4. ↑ Constance Brissenden; Hamid Attie (2006). Vancouver and Victoria Colourguide (3 ed.). Formac Publishing Company. p. 17. ISBN 0887806910.
  5. ↑ Chris McBeath; Chloe Ernst (2012). Frommer's Vancouver and Victoria (17 ed.). John Wiley & Sons. p. 170. ISBN 1118093135.
  6. ↑ Alison Appelbe (2009). Secret Vancouver 2010: The Unique Guidebook to Vancouver's Hidden Sites, Sounds, and Tastes. ECW Press. ISBN 1550229117.
  7. ↑ Harold D. Kalman; Ronald A. Phillips; Robin Ward (1993). Exploring Vancouver: The Essential Architectural Guide. University of British Columbia Press. p. 49. ISBN 0774804106.
  8. ↑ Andrew Hempstead (2011). Vancouver and Victoria: Including Whistler and Vancouver Island (5 ed.). Perseus Books Group. p. 34. ISBN 159880748X.
  9. ↑ Fred Thirkell; Bob Scullion (1996). Postcards from the Past: Edwardian Images of Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Heritage House Publishing. p. 75. ISBN 1895811236.
  10. ↑ William Law; P. G. Stanwood (1978). A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life ; The Spirit of Love. Paulist Press. p. ix. ISBN 0809121441.