Our Pastors
Looking Back – Looking Ahead
We warmly invite you to a special presentation: Meet all current and former pastors of our church – individuals who have shaped, guided, and inspired our community. Discover their stories, their ministry, and the legacy they’ve left behind. A moment of gratitude, reflection, and hope.
Our History
Introduction and Location Cedar Cottage
To this day, St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church belongs into the district of „Cedar Cottage“. By 1910, Cedar Cottage had developed into a small independent village with a post office, about 40 stores and a two-storey schoolhouse and belonged to the district of South Vancouver. Its center was located around Commercial Street (today: Commercial Drive) between E 15th Avenue und E 20th Avenue (about 3200-3600 block of Commercial Drive). The Cedar Cottage brewery was located at the corner of Westminster Highway (today Kingsway) and Knight Street. West of Knight Street the acres of Gibby’s field stretched between E 20th and E 18th Avenue.
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The center of Cedar Cottage was surrounded by a residential area, which was known for its large families. The early settlers of Cedar Cottage were mainly of British and Welsh origin.
The congregation and the buildings of “Robson Memorial Methodist Church”
The congregation of what was later known as “Robson Memorial Methodist Church” had its early beginnings in the year 1902 when Reverend Ebenezer Robson had started a Sunday School in the Schoolhouse that was located on E 20th and Kingsway. [i]
Ebenezer Robson had been one of the first Methodist Missionaries along the West-Coast and had been a minister in New Westminster as early as 1863[ii]. He was born in Ontario and arrived in BC in 1859 as one of four Methodist ministers.[iii]
He was in his late 60s when he started the Sunday School in Cedar Cottage. Soon in the same year (1902) a congregation started to form and was probably called “Epworth Methodist Church”, named after the street-car station located close to the School-House. (It must not be mixed up with Epworth Methodist Church, that existed earlier and closed down after 5 years of existence!)[iv]. The congregation continued to meet in the school until 1906 and in August 1907 the church building was opened and it was decided to call it “Robson Memorial Methodist Church”. [v] It was designed by the Architect Thomas Hooper (1857-1935)[vi], a well renowned architect in BC and all of Canada. The cornerstone of this church building can still be seen on the grounds of 1573 E18th Avenue.[vii]
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South Vancouver building permits show, that in 1913 the church was extended.
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On Dec. 30th (?) 1921 great parts of the church building were destroyed in a fire. In the months to follow the congregation met at the Cedar Cottage Theatre, while the burned church building was reconstructed to serve as a church hall and community centre.[viii] In March 1922 the congregation moved back into the re-constructed building and was holding church services in the church hall until sufficient funds were collected for a new church building and construction had been finished.
It´s believed that one reason for the consideration of a new church building was, that the old building had reached its limits. The congregation counted about 200 members in 1922[ix] and might have outgrown the old building. The aim to build a new church might have already been in place, before the fire occurred, yet so far the only source recording the plan of a new building stems from the context of the reconstruction of the fire-damaged building.[x]
This re-constructed and altered building stood on 1573 E18th Avenue until the year 1966 when it was taken down by the members of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. At that time the building had been severely run down and beyond feasible repair.
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[i] https://archivescanada.accesstomemory.ca/robson-memorial-united-church-vancouver-b-c
[ii] http://bclocalhistory2011.blogspot.ca/2011/01/cedar-cottage.html
[iii] https://www.memorybc.ca/robson-ebenezer
[iv] https://www.memorybc.ca/robson-memorial-united-church-vancouver-b-c
[v] https://www.memorybc.ca/robson-memorial-united-church-vancouver-b-c
[vi] http://dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/node/1524
[vii] For the original church building no building permit was issued. South Vancouver District first started to issue building permits in 1911. – Information according to Heritage Vancouver, Patrick Gunn.
[viii] See articles in the Vancouver Daily World on Feb. 4th 1922, Feb. 11th 1922, March 25th 1922 and March 30th 1922.
[ix] See Article in the Vancouver Daily World on Feb. 11th 1922.
[x] See Article in the Vancouver Daily World on Feb. 4th 1922 and Feb. 11th 1922.
