By Nancy Goodyer

FIRST Baptist Church is “filled with God’s presence, his praise and his people,” agreed senior minister Darrell Johnson and former senior minister Bruce Milne. They were speaking at a celebration October 3 to mark the 100th anniversary of the church's ministry in the same location on the corner of Nelson and Burrard in Vancouver. (The congregation itself is 123 years old.)

Dr. Milne was a surprise guest for the evening, which included a hymn sing and scenes from the congregation’s history vividly dramatized by Chris Hawkey.

The cornerstone for the church was laid April 2, 1910 by John Morton, Baptist layman and first white settler in Vancouver – then “but a tiny collection of shacks in the surrounding wilderness of giant trees.”

First Baptist’s roots can be traced to Robert Lennie, a graduate of Spurgeon’s College in England, who travelled from Ontario by horse and buggy to pastor in the west. He held weeknight meetings successively in a bunkhouse, in a store, in Blair’s Hall (in back of a saloon) and in Sullivan Hall.

One week after the first Baptist Sunday school was organized on June 6, 1986, the city was destroyed by fire.

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The small congregation erected its first building (at a total cost of about $700) on two lots on what is now Main Street, and on March 16, 1887, First Baptist Church was officially born.

Two years later, a new church was built at Dunsmuir and Hamilton, but a fire on May 4, 1905 damaged the roof and foundation of that building.

After five years of construction, the present church was opened, with a sanctuary seating 1,200. First Baptist’s third fire occurred in February 1931, sparing only the tower and Sunday school. The congregation moved to the Dominion Theatre for 10 months until the church could be rebuilt.

Chimes were installed in the tower in memory of those who died in World War I. At 88, they are now the oldest in Canada still in use.

First Baptist helped launch a number of daughter churches, including Mount Pleasant Baptist Church (now at Quebec and Tenth) in 1891, Jackson Avenue Baptist Church in 1894, Fairview Church in 1905 and Kitsilano Christian Community in 1988.

Over the years, the church has engaged in a number of outreach ministries, including sponsoring refugees, hosting Vancouver Christian Counselling Centre, starting an outreach to international students and running a Tuesday night homeless shelter.

Distinguished visitors to the church have included US President Bill Clinton in 1993 and Chuck Colson.

November 2010