And so, the journey of St. Catherine's began.

In 1947, as part of its mission outreach, the North Vancouver parish of St. John The Evangelist made plans to establish a church in Capilano Highlands. The rector, the Reverend Paul Wade, attended that first meeting with local residents. The foregoing record of the historic meeting is the first entry in the original book of minutes.

St. John's had originally planned to establish two churches in the area - one at the present location and one in Delbrook - but financial limitations prevented the latter vision from being realized.

St. John's annual, report, dated January 12, 1948, records the following:

"In 1948 St. John's acquired new property in Capilano Highlands. Property for church, hall and rectory, with $500 in cash as a Building Fund. This property has been deeded to the Diocese of New Westminster; and as it lies within the Parish of St. John's - we are responsible for the development. The Rector advised that the work of clearing the lots would commence this week."

The May 28th gathering, noted above, took place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Dobbs on Connaught Crescent. One wonders if that small group of men had any idea of the significance of their vision as they tentatively explored the feasibility of establishing a church in the area.

Eric Allan, later a member of the parish, was undoubtedly the driving force behind the development of Capilano Highlands. Indeed, he founded the firm of developers and
Subdivision consultants - Capilano Highlands Ltd. - in 1945. That year he purchased 100 lots south of Edgemont Boulevard and the first two streets - Newmarket and Crescentview - were developed. He and his wife, Grace, built the first house, located on Crescentview, in June, 1946. For some time they had the only phone in the area! Another parcel of land was purchased, consisting of 150 lots, including the shopping area, up to Colwood and Belmont. Lots sold for $475 to $875. In 1948 the firm purchased 600 lots from Belmont to Sunnycrest and more homes were built.

Early residents in the area, Adolph ("Duff") and Margaret Papin, were among St. Catherine's pioneers, Duff being part of that first meeting. Margaret recalled that when they arrived in 1947 there were only five families living in the area, including the Eric Allans. She described the ground that would eventually be the site of St. Catherine's as "a wooded swamp". The Papins shared a telephone line with five parties, one of which was the Stokes and Stickland hardware-cum-grocery store on Woodbine. With the burgeoning construction in the area, frustration and patience must have been names of the game when trying to place a telephone call!

Following the first meeting in the Dobbs' home, the same group met architect Fred Hollingsworth who showed them rough sketches of a proposed parish hall, together with an estimate of the cost. Paul Wade strongly disapproved of embarking on a building with a heavy mortgage and the others were in agreement. All expenditures would be carefully scrutinized before starting any construction. In the meantime, the first priority was to commence services for the tiny group of Anglicans in the area.

On June 13, 1948 an open-air service was conducted by Paul Wade, assisted by his curate, the Reverend W.C. (Campbell) Daniel. The sun shone on the fifty people who were seated on logs in front of the rough-hewn log altar. St. John's loaned a pump organ and their choir and organist led the enthusiastic singing. It is not difficult to imagine the emotion at that service as these pioneers gave thanks and sought guidance for their vision.

Jack and Jacquie Perkins had moved into their new home on Ayr Avenue the previous April and on that sunny morning they heard music corning from the nearby property.

They very quickly became actively involved in the plans for the new parish. Jake and Wendy Ingram had just marked their first year on Ridgewood Drive, as had John and Eileen Ainslie and Graham and Winnifred Rose who had homes on Newmarket.
Outreach has always been a priority at St. Catherine's. This was evident when a resolution was passed at the first meeting following the open-air service to use the collection for the registration at Camp Artaban of one boy, a victim of the 1948 Fraser Valley floods.

The second item on the agenda was the matter of raising money to build a parish hall. However, it was obvious that some temporary building would have to be constructed before the coming winter and plans were made to prepare the site. The men decided to launch a financial campaign in the area with a minimum objective of a thousand dollars. An anonymous donation of $600 had already been received. They also decided to approach the Diocese of New Westminster for an outright gift and to apply for a diocesan loan.

Later that summer Paul Wade met the diocesan Executive Council and as a result the Venerable James Thompson, Archdeacon of Vancouver, visited the area. He was accompanied by Mr. Wade and Eric Allan and was much impressed with the site and the vision of the parishioners.

At a meeting in August the committee agreed that a temporary structure would be built immediately to house a worship place and Sunday School. They anticipated the cost would be approximately $800 and they felt that the building would fill the needs of the community, at least for the winter.

The committee was anxious to proceed with a permanent parish hall and vicarage for which they already had the draft architectural plans. Eric Allan and Graham Rose were appointed to work with architect Fred Hollingsworth, in preparing final plans for a church, as well as a hall and vicarage.
Construction of the famous "tar paper shack" commenced on September 18, 1948. A professional builder donated his services and was assisted by a small army of volunteers.

The small structure that was to serve the parish not for one winter but for three years, measured approximately 24 x 48 feet and accommodated roughly forty people. There was room for only a few rows of six chairs on either side of a centre aisle. As there was no insulation, during the winter months the congregation roasted in the middle of the building and froze nearer the walls. That first winter was a chilly one and the wood-burning stove was inadequate, to say the least. A duty roster was formed of men willing to light the stove each Sunday morning. Parishioners huddled together until it was warm enough to begin the service. Nearly a year later an oil heater was purchased and Jack Perkins was in charge of keeping the building comfortably warm. An early anecdote from Eileen Ainslie tells the story of her father, Tom English, also very active at the church, who was surprised to find his dog contentedly sitting beside him during a Sunday morning service.

At the General Meeting on November 7, 1948, Duff Papin and Graham Rose respectively were elected Vicar's and People's Wardens. It was also decided at that meeting that future services would take place at 9:30 a.m. on the second and fourth Sundays.

When Paul Wade left St. John's in November, the Reverend Campbell Daniel was put in charge of that parish and was also responsible for the Highlands congregation. The Reverend A. Venables, also from St. John's, occasionally assisted at the new church.
Mr. Daniel lost little time in establishing a Sunday School in the shack and among the first teachers were Audrey Counter and Patricia Homewood. Still a parishioner, Patricia recalls that there was no organized curriculum; the teachers told stories to the children. The classes were separated by grain sacking curtains hung on wire. Following the Sunday classes the children were dismissed and the furniture rearranged to make room for the morning service.

Mrs. Krinks, a member of the United Church, and a resident on Wellington Crescent, played the pump organ in the shack until David Pownall became the first organist. He frequently complained about the air leaks in the instrument, particularly after a Christmas Eve service when he was exhausted from pumping the organ for an earlier carol-sing as well as the scheduled service.

Activity and progress were fast and furious in those first months. At a vestry meeting, held in the Capilano Highlands sales office, members discussed the purchase of offering envelopes, a registration book for birth, deaths and marriages and a vestry book to record all services.

Mrs. Marjorie Fortin invited a number of ladies to her home on Sunset Boulevard in November 1948 with the intention of forming themselves into a parish group whose objective was fund-raising for such things as kneelers and prayer books. Mrs. Margaret Papin was elected president and her officers were Dorothy Dobbs, vice president, Myrtle Murphy, secretary and Winnifred Rose, treasurer.

So urgent was the need to furnish the new building there were few restrictions as to the type and number of fund-raising events. Once a month some type of function took place and the goal was to raise at least one hundred dollars at each event. Jacquie Perkins and other friends in the congregation cycled around the neighbourhood on door-to-door ticket-selling campaigns for bake sales, fashions shows and teas, etc. One fund-raising event was a garden party held at the home of Temple and Betty Keeling at the south end of Edgemont Boulevard where the complex of condominiums stands today.
An Altar Guild was appointed and the first members were Marjorie Fortin and Winnifred Rose. Later, Margaret Papin and Winnifred Dickenson were invited to join.
The main access to the building was off Emerald Drive and Wellington Crescent, both well-defined, even in those early days. Climbing the rough trail from Ridgewood Drive was a struggle so the vestry members approached Eric Allan about cutting a more convenient path to provide additional access.

At the first vestry meeting of 1949 members decided to name the new congregation "Church of The Holy Cross". There is no record of a decision to use another name; however, the minute book refers to a "Vestry Meeting of the Capilano Highlands Anglican Church on February 28, 1949."