At the February 1949 vestry meeting a fund was established for the construction of permanent buildings.

That month the Reverend Charles Bishop was appointed rector of St. John's Church and so inherited the responsibility for the new Capilano congregation. In appreciation for his "kindness and services" during the period between Paul Wade's departure and Mr. Bishop's arrival Campbell Daniel received the princely sum of ten dollars.

While the area surrounding the church was rapidly being populated, the vestry committee had no way of knowing how many residents were Anglicans, so in May they decided to conduct a door-to-door canvass. Canvassers informed residents about the church and Sunday School, as well as plans for the future growth of the parish. No mention of financial requirements was made. As a result of that survey, the vestry committee was able to compile a parish list, but unfortunately that list has not survived.

Charles Bishop's top priority was the establishment of monthly Holy Communion services as soon as possible. Also, he increased the number of services from twice a month to every week. The first baptisms were celebrated on June 26,1949, when Craig Perkins, Penelope Ingram, Sandra Gorman, Charles Burnett and Cindy Lou MacLeod were received as new Christians. Winnifred Rose's glass rose bowl was used as the font.

At the September 1949 vestry meeting, Treasurer Graham Rose presented the financial position. The bank balance was $72.80 and the building fund boasted $310. While they firmly believed that "God will provide...", the committee was fully aware that their vision would require much hard work, sacrifice and far more than $310 in their building fund. With faith and determination the committee proposed that the following motion be presented at a general meeting: "Resolved - that we begin construction of the church hall April 1st, 1950. The estimated cost will be between ten and twelve thousand dollars, and our financial objective will be $6,000 in cash or pledges by that time." At an earlier meeting Charles Bishop had suggested that individual weekly donations to the building fund of as little as twenty-five cents would achieve an acceptable overall revenue for their goal. Separate envelopes were issued for this purpose.

Plans were made to concentrate first on the construction of a hall which would also serve as a worship place, followed by a vicarage and then a church. (It is interesting to note that at the time, diocesan canons dictated that parishes that were not self-supporting would have vicars and vicarages. The incumbent of a self-supporting parish would be a rector and his house would be a rectory.) A Building Committee was appointed under the leadership of Eric Allan.

Mrs. Cameron, supervisor of the Sunday School, informed the December vestry meeting that the shack was "completely inadequate" for the fifty-two registered children who attended the Sunday classes. Consequently, neighbouring residents were asked if they would make their basement available for the children and teachers. At that time Ruth Grant, a present member of St. Catherine's, joined the Sunday School teaching staff.

Architect Fred Hollingsworth was hired by the vestry committee and asked to submit working plans. The committee decided to contact the Diocesan Synod immediately, in order to outline the building plans. Subsequently, the Synod offered a loan to help with the construction of a hall, but it was decided to withhold acceptance for six weeks, pending efforts to raise cash in the area. A letter of thanks was sent to Synod with the promise of further representation concerning the financial requirements and ability to repay any Diocesan loan.

The planned April 1st start of construction was not met and after considerable confusion concerning the agreement between the parish and architect Hollingsworth, and dissatisfaction about cash donations to the Building Fund, Building Committee chairman Eric Allan called an emergency meeting in an attempt to solve the problems. The committee decided that application should be made for a $6,000 loan from the diocese, $3,000 of which was needed immediately with the balance to follow.

Dean Cecil Swanson from Christ Church Cathedral was guest speaker at the General Meeting of Capilano Highlands Anglican Church on September 21, 1950. He spoke at length on the formation of new parishes, including the choice of names. The ladies' group had submitted a list of eight possible names and after lengthy discussion the list was reduced to two: St. Catherine's in the Mountains and St. Catherine's, Capilano. Following Patrick Alley's motion, seconded by Tom English, the choice of the latter name was unanimous.

At the same meeting Eric Allan invited comments about the construction of the new hall. Pat Alley moved, seconded by Larry Knight, that construction proceed with no further delay. The motion was carried unanimously.

From all accounts the construction proceeded without major complications, other than a delay which resulted from the footings being out of line by twelve inches. The original cost estimate was $12,000, which ballooned to more than $30,000 before the building was completed in the Fall of 1951.

The Right Reverend Sir Francis Heathcote was the Bishop of New Westminster from 1940 until 1950. If he visited St. Catherine's parish during the last two years of his episcopate there is no record. In any case, it was his successor, the Right Reverend Godfrey P. Gower, who dedicated the new building on Thursday, October 25, 1951.
The building, which was to be used as a hall as well as for worship, seemed to be a disaster from Day One. Those who have memories of that first permanent hall recall the attractive rustic design, but unfortunately, the construction left much to be desired. The roof leaked. Things became rather damp on rainy days if someone neglected to drape the organ bench with plastic or place empty containers in strategic places to catch drips from the leaking roof. Curiously, there were no stairs to the organ loft and organist David Pownall recalls that, fortunately, he was in good physical shape: "to get to the organ I had to reach up and grasp the edge of the balcony and then chin myself up. Needless to say, once there I was in place until the service was over."

The congregation became used to the noise of water running through pipes in the church. A further mystery of running water was solved when it was discovered that metal downspouts from the roof descended through the middle of the brick pillars. The Reverend John Godkin, later rector of St. Catherine's, recalls that there was often reason to reflect on Psalm 42 - "Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy water-spouts. All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me." Rattling drains also added to the commotion. The floor was made of hollow tile through which hot air from the furnace was forced. The theory may have been sound but fell apart in practice. Heat was lost through the gable heads on the high-pitched roof. The floor began to sink as a result of a broken pipe under the building. The kitchen facilities occupied a comer of the building, separated from the main area by a curtain. When working there the ladies were careful to remain upright, otherwise their rear-ends would emerge from behind the drapes!

Shortly after the church had been dedicated it became obvious that even though it was a vast improvement over the shack, the building was still not large enough to accommodate the rapidly growing church family. However, members had to make the best of an inadequate situation until such time as finances permitted a larger facility.