Our History

The original St. Bartholomew’s church, on the unceded ancestral lands of the Skwxwu7mesh Nation, was established in 1892 by The Rev. H.G. Fiennes-Clinton.

Reverend H.G. Fiennes-Clinton

The building was fully restored and incorporated into the present-day structure as our ‘Bethlehem Chapel’ in 1991. The original belfry still calls congregants to worship each Sunday.

In 1935, the church of St. Aidan’s was established in Roberts Creek under the auspices of The Rt. Rev. A. U. De Pencier. When the two church families joined in worship at St. Bart’s in 1984, the building was decommissioned.

It still stands on Roberts Creek Road. The Anglican Parish of St. Aidan & St. Bartholomew was created in 1984 with the merging of the congregations of St. Aidan’s church in Roberts Creek and St. Bartholomew’s in Gibsons.

The parish is part of the Capilano-Sea to Sky Deanery situated in the Diocese of New Westminster.

Rev. A.U. De Pencier and sons

Rev. A.U. De Pencier and sons

In 1991, the combined congregations built a new church around the original St. Bart’s. The enlarged building includes a bright, airy sanctuary with unparalleled acoustics; a church hall and adjacent newly-renovated kitchen; and office space. The plaza level is home to Chartwell Childcare. The Sanctuary and Hall are available for community rental.

St. Bart’s Stained Glass Window

The Stained Glass Window was made by Susan Furze in 2009.

The committee (Susan Furze, Jim Lee, Patricia Richardson-Logie, Dick Williams) worked together to develop the criteria for the design which were:

  • The window have a contemplative quality.
  • The light from the south facing window be reduced.
  • The window pull all the existing artwork, present stained glass windows and colours in the church together, rather than be another separate piece of art.
  • The window be modern to fit with the interior of the church extension.
  • The window be enhanced with a wooden frame to support the glass but also tie in with the existing wood returns around the church windows and doors.

It was decided to make the window more rectangular with a subtle cross in each window and a central hint of a circle.

The circle was important in representing the “circle of life” defined as eternity with no beginning and no end.  The centre of the circle was broken up so that it did not look quite like a bullseye but also that the middle would represent life’s travels with all its trials and tribulations and choice of different roads or paths.

About 90 percent of the glass is handblown and colours were chosen to enhance the existing windows, quilt and artwork.  Due to the size of the windows, reinforced lead and brass channels were used with zinc borders.  Bob Johnson helped Susan to putty (to strengthen) most of the windows.

Susan also chose predominantly blues as this would have a “cooling effect,” match much of the blue in the church, and also that in religious stained glass, blue is a very traditional colour.  Blue represents the colour of love, peace, infinity and harmony in the heavenly body.  The outer circle is brown and represents the earthly, and the next in the circle is white representing innocence of the soul, purity, and holiness of life.  All the other colours have their meanings too, i.e. orange is joy, happiness; purple the colour of greatness, mastery, strength; red for love, faithful and sacrificing.