I will never forget when Wilf Fawcett told me about Bruce Coney, the dynamic founder and publisher of the Crier.
When I first met Bruce for coffee, he mentioned that his mom, while visiting from South Africa, had attended St. Simon’s and enjoyed it.
I had no idea when I agreed to this request that I would still be writing for the Crier almost 30 years later.
Life is full of surprises. In an age when many things are discarded and forgotten, the Crier with its new editor Maria Spitale-Leisk has shown remarkable resilience.
Thirty years ago, there was a lot happening in our family. We had recently moved to Deep Cove from serving in Abbotsford. Born in Vancouver, I had never imagined living on the North Shore.
At the grand old age of 33, my wife Janice and I had experienced the birth of our third son.
St. Simon’s recently celebrated its 72nd anniversary, having been birthed in the Deep Cove fire hall, along with a few other congregations who also initially worshipped there.
Our oldest and longest member, Ashley Carr, age 96, returned to Deep Cove from the Second World War with his British war bride Rita.
It is not a coincidence that St. Simon’s started in 1945 with the beginning of the baby boom. Everyone wanted to get married and start a family, having had to wait four years while their men were away in Europe.
In 1949, the St. Simon’s youth group built the blue church building at 1384 Deep Cove Rd.
The blue colour was more recent, painted by the late Eric Johnson, a longshoreman, who did many generous renovations to our building, including redoing the roof and making the building wheelchair accessible.
St. Simon’s has a deep passion to serve others, and gives partial support to a number of missionaries. One missionary who we have supported for 24 years is Elsie Quick, the executive director of Partners in Hope, which works with people coming off drugs and getting out of prison.
In the mid-1960s, with a baby boom in the area, we ran out of room on Deep Cove Road.
St. Simon's purchased two-and-a-half acres for $12,000, near the Seymour Golf & Country Club, with the intention of building there, but sadly, our financial campaign fell short. So, in 1972, we sold the property near the golf course for $17,000, and used the money to add a full basement to the blue church.
St. Simon’s was almost closed several times during trying situations. In 1979, Father Bill Ferris came to the church on a part-time basis. During his attempt to fix St. Simon’s, Bill had a heart attack.
In 1980, while driving on Deep Cove Road, Wilf stopped the car and stepped inside St. Simon’s. He would start attending services and help the church with its finances.
Father Ferris was able to go full-time with St. Simon’s. The congregation grew so much that they again ran out of room, and unsuccessfully tried to rebuild on their site in 1985.
I arrived in 1987 with a vision to build on the wonderful renewal foundation laid by Bill. St. Simon’s began to grow, adding a traditional 9 a.m. prayer book service to our contemporary 10:30 a.m. service.
We led 25 renewal missions, bringing top speakers from around the world to Deep Cove.
In 2004 we outgrew the blue church and moved to Maplewood school, where we today offer a 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. service.
I thank God for Ashley and Rita Carr, Wilf and Marg Fawcett, Bill and Judy Ferris, Maureen Harrison, and so many other great Deep Cove people that we have been privileged to know and serve in the past 30-plus years.
