Chinese United Church (Vancouver, B.C.)

Identity area

Type of entity

Corporate body

Authorized form of name

Chinese United Church (Vancouver, B.C.)

Parallel form(s) of name

    Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

      Other form(s) of name

      • United Church of Canada, Chinese Mission

      Identifiers for corporate bodies

      Description area

      Dates of existence

      1925-1992

      History

      The Chinese United Church in Vancouver had its roots in the Methodist Church. In 1888, a Mrs. M. Monck, daughter of pioneer missionary Rev. Ebeneezer Robson, began teaching English classes to Chinese students in her father’s home. In November of that year, Mr. Chan Sing Kai, who had worked in the Wesleyan Methodist School in Hong Kong for the previous eight years, arrived in Vancouver to set up a mission. After three years, he was ordained by the Methodist Church in Canada. The mission initially met in small quarters near Hastings and Abbott, then relocated to quarters on the south-east corner of Hastings and Columbia Streets. As the mission outgrew its space, it moved to 186 Pender Street West, in the heart of Chinatown. A new building was completed at 531 Beatty Street in 1906; it contained a chapel that would accommodate 300, rooms for Sunday school, and a night school. At church union in 1925, the mission joined The United Church of Canada. Shortly after union, and to better serve the needs of the Chinese community (which had begun to shift eastward), the congregation relocated to the corner of Pender Street and Dunlevy Avenue. The new church building and Christian Education Centre were dedicated on December 3, 1929. For nearly 70 years, the mission relied on the Board of Home Missions and the Woman’s Missionary Society for financial support and leadership, and was known as the Chinese Mission, United Church of Canada. As it worked toward full self-support, which it achieved in 1955, it became known as the Chinese United Church. The congregation officially amalgamated with Chown United Church on April 14, 1992, becoming Chown Memorial and Chinese United Church, located at 3519 Cambie Street.

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      Functions, occupations and activities

      Mandates/sources of authority

      Internal structures/genealogy

      General context

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      Control area

      Authority record identifier

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      Rules and/or conventions used

      Rules for Archival Description

      Status

      Final

      Level of detail

      Full

      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      Created March 14, 2019

      Language(s)

      • English

      Script(s)

        Sources

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