History of St. Andrew’s

In the spring of 1929 two visionary women drove a buggy through muddy roads and bush soliciting interest in beginning a Sunday School in the local Jasper Place School. From the nucleus of Sunday School attendees grew a desire for a real church building.

In 1945, four lots were purchased on 149 Street. As building materials and funds were very short after the war, initial construction was limited to a church basement covered by a temporary roof. Through dedicated giving and ingenuity, services were held in the completed Jasper Place Church sanctuary in 1951. The church was named St. Andrew’s in 1958. To alleviate crowded conditions for the Sunday School, a Christian Education Building was constructed at the present site and dedicated in 1959. The first church was sold in 1962 and services moved to the basement of the Christian Education Building.

This new church officially opened in 1963. The worship space was designed for a large, dynamic congregation. A cross, made in an industrial aircraft plant, became the visual focus of worship and light streamed through colored windows. The furniture was hand-crafted and a sculptor shaped brass symbols of wheat, bread, grapes and chalice.

Through the 1970s, St. Andrew’s grew its mission and outreach through the West End Daycare and Little Friends Nursery School which provide quality child care in a nurturing environment. Guided by their vision of building community, St. Andrew’s congregation was strengthened when members of St. James United Church were welcomed into fellowship in 1992.

In 2013 a service of celebration marked the 50th Anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone, continuing worship services, and gathering together in supportive friendship and trusting faith.