Fonds - St. Aidan and St. Bartholomew Parish (Gibsons, B.C.) fonds

In 1987, The Parish of St. Aidan and St. Bartholomew, Gibsons was created, to minister to the area formerly served as the separate parishes of St. Bartholomew's, Gibsons and St. Aidan, Roberts Creek, both served from Gibsons. The new parish was formally incorporated under the name on May 31, 1993. Initially, services were held mainly in St. Bartholomew's and occasionally in St. Aidan's. The St. Aidan's church building was secularized in March 1991, after which all services were held in the St. Bartholomew building. St. Bartholomew's celebrated the 100th anniversary of their building in 1992. The original church is a framed cedar shingled building with a bell tower and several memorial stained glass windows. In 1988, a new, 2,6000 sq. ft. parish hall, containing a stage, meeting rooms, modern offices, a kitchen, storage and wash rooms was completed. This new building is connected to the original church building by a spacious common narthex. Proceeds from the sale of land at Highway 101 and Park Avenue helped to finance the hall project and provided additional funds for future building needs. The parish became self-supporting in 1992 and in 1993 undertook an ambitious programme to raise funds to enlarge their buildings to provide space for additional ministry initiatives. Part of this plan involved professional child care as a means of parish outreach into the community. The Nine-Three-Seven Childcare Society was registered to facilitate the development and on-going management of this programme. At the same time, the parish was also considering the best use of the property resources of the former St. Aidan's property in Roberts Creek.