St. Andrew's Wesley Church

100 – 1022 Nelson St .

Constructed 1933

With its 14th century-style tower, high vaulted nave, deep transepts, and abundant light flooding in through stained-glass windows, this building looks like a traditional Gothic church, yet its stone walls conceal a modern reinforced concrete structure within. Designed by the Vancouver firm Twizell & Twizell and faced with granite from quarries on Nelson and Haddington islands, the church has a magnificent collection of traditional leaded glass windows, supplemented by recent dalle de verre.

Ongoing guided tours including Leonard Wood's angels and stained glass windows (no tours between 1pm-2pm)

10:30am Talk in the chapel: “ Liturgical hangings and their symbolism” , Mae Runions, local liturgical artist.

1pm Organ recital “ The music of Franz Lizt”: followed by history and tour of pipes.

2pm-4pm Glass sculptor Yves Trudeau will be available in the Narthex to present his “Life of Jesus” carved panels.

Convent of the Sacred Heart

3851 W. 28 th Ave.

Constructed 1912

Originally a convent and girls' school founded by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, this Gothic Revival-style building dominates the neighbourhood with its pointed gables, battlement parapets and bay windows, The façade features delicate details including gargoyles, a granite cross and the crest of the religious order. Following its sale in 1979 to St. George's School , it received a seismic upgrade to adapt it to its new use as the junior school .

St. Georges School is currently celebrating its 75 th anniversary!

Ongoing guided tours led by school boys during the day. The “Old Girls” of the convent will also be on hand to answer visitor's questions

First Baptist Church

969 Burrard St .

Constructed 1910

This monumental façade of cut stone flanked by a stately bell tower introduced the later phase of the Gothic Revival to Vancouver church architecture, which was conceived on a larger scale than the earlier Christ Church Cathedral. The spacious sanctuary, handsomely fitted with a fine wooden coffered ceiling and balconies, was rebuilt after a fire in 1931. An education wing to the north contains classrooms, offices and social halls.  

10am-3pm Ongoing guided tours of the sanctuary with music played in the background.

Holy Resurrection Orthodox Sobor

75 E 43 rd Ave.

Constructed 1954

The original Holy Resurrection Church in Vancouver , serving the Russian Orthodox community, was demolished for the construction of the Granville Street Bridge . This church reflects traditional Russian Byzantine architecture: onion-shaped domes and tall narrow arched windows. Simple wooden chairs are now used for seating, although in the past most Orthodox congregations stood during services. It features 36 traditional golden icons depicting the life of Christ, the apostles and other saints.

10 am, 12 noon, 2 pm Guided tours of the church

11am, 1pm, 3 pm Lectures on church icons
by iconographer, Doreen Kosinuik

Ongoing display of holy artifacts & books

6 pm Visitors are welcome to return for vespers service

St. Paul 's Anglican Church

1130 Jervis St .

Constructed 1905

Local Anglicans moved their rapidly growing congregation from Yaletown to the West End and built this church in what was then the city's most genteel neighbourhood. Designed by W.H. Archer in the Gothic Revival style, it is notable for the array of stained-glass windows, made locally by Harold Bloomfield & Sons. The labyrinth painted on the floor in 1997 replicates the stone one laid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France .

Come & explore a 4000 year old spiritual tool that enhances prayer and meditation as you walk Canada 's first indoor labyrinth

St. Francis of Assisi

2025 Napier St .

Constructed 1938

Completed in 1938, this brick church with its neo-Romanesque façade and miniature campanile (bell tower) evokes the Italy of hill towns and Renaissance paintings. The interior is unaltered and features Franciscan symbols including the square cross, the motto “Pax et Bonum” and important relics of St. Francis and St. Antonio. The elegant parish building, built in 1909 as a family home, was purchased by the Franciscan Order in 1925; it was rehabilitated in the 1990s.

11-12 Organ Recital

Shiv Mandir -
Shree Sanatan Dharm Ramayan

Mandali of Fiji

1795 Napier St .

Constructed 1908

This building was originally a Presbyterian church, erected in 1908 in the newly cleared Grandview suburb. The structure is a BC Mills building system – note the vertical strips (called battens) that cover the prefabricated wall panels. For the last 28 years it has been the Shiv Mandir Hindu Temple , consisting of about 600 local worshippers who trace their roots to Fiji . Religious rituals include traditional music, offerings, incense, colourful deity figurines and prayers in Sanskrit.  

Ongoing demonstrations of offerings and prayer during tour hours. Members of the congregation will be on hand to answer questions.

2-4 PM Pandit (Priest) Shiu Mishra will be present for explanations about Hinduism and ritual in the temple.

Holy Trinity

Ukrainian- Orthodox Cathedral

154 E 10 th Ave.

Constructed 1953

This Ukrainian Orthodox congregation was established in 1937 and the cornerstone of the present church was laid in 1948; it opened on Easter Sunday in 1950. Members of the congregation built much of it. Typical elements of Eastern Europe Orthodox churches include the cross-shaped floor plan, the central entry and the dome. The interior is opulently decorated with stained-glass windows, colourful icons, painted banners and chandeliers.

10:15, 11:15, 1:45, 2:45 Guided tours by Father Roman Tsaplan followed by a 15 minute visit to the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, BC Branch , located in the Cathedral basement. The Museum will hold presentations at 10:45, 11:45, 2:15 and 3:15.

Christ Church Cathedral

690 Burrard Street

Constructed 1889-1895

Built in the Gothic Revival style and Vancouver's oldest religious building, Christ Church became the Anglican cathedral in 1929. Its 32 stained glass windows are a highlight of the building, as are the recently restored Douglas Fir floor, cedar ceiling and the new pipe organ. The church is also the repository of the regimental colours for 3 local regiments. It is the city's oldest stone building.

Holy Rosary Cathedral

646 Richards Street

Constructed 1899-1900

Described when it opened in 1900 as the “finest piece of architecture west of Toronto,” Holy Rosary is a Gothic Revival-style building made of sandstone from Gabriola Island. It replaced a wood-frame building that was the first Catholic church in Vancouver. Note the cathedral bells and the tracery stained-glass windows.

St. James Anglican Church

303 East Cordova Street

Constructed 1936

Bearing a strong resemblance to architect Adrian Gilbert Scott's Anglican Cathedral in Cairo, St. James's uses the Art Deco style and incorporates Byzantine motifs. St. James Parish is older than the city itself, its first church having been destroyed in the devastating fire of 1886. The bell tower of this, the parish's third church, offers an extraordinary 360-degree view of the city.

St. Mary's Church Kerrisdale

2490 West 37 th Avenue

Constructed 1913

The St. Mary's congregation met first in 1910 in a tent, then in a local school, before commissioning well-known local architects Sharp & Thompson to build this Tudor Revival-style church. Many memorial objects donated by parishioners, including stained glass windows, decorate the interior and depict events in the life of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

Unitarian Church of Vancouver

949 West 49th Avenue

Constructed 1964

Designed by Wolfgang Gerson, this Modernist church was the first post-1940s building added to the City of Vancouver heritage register. Its form reflects the separation of the Unitarian church from traditional Christian practices. The building complex, clustered around a beautiful open courtyard, features cubic composition, overhanging flat roofs and floor-to-ceiling windows.

Canadian Memorial Church

1806 West 15 th Avenue

Constructed 1928

This granite faced gothic style church was opened on Remembrance Day, 1928, as a memorial to those who died in the 'Great War', and was dedicated to 'Peace.' It contains stained glass windows from each Province and Territory then in Canada, and displays a copy of the Books of Remembrance from the Peace Tower in Ottawa, listing all Canadians who died in both World Wars. The pipe organ was a gift from Americans, in remembrance of Americans who died with the Canadian forces in WWI.

Vancouver Buddhist Church

220 Jackson Avenue

Interior Shin Buddhist Shrine, 1955

Currently celebrating its 100th anniversary, this is the oldest Shin Buddhist congregation in Canada. After relocating their previous shrine to an internment camp in the Slocan Valley during WWII, Japanese Canadians returned to Vancouver following the lifting of settlement restrictions in 1949 and re-established their church at the current address. Don't be fooled by the bland, late-1970s exterior, for inside you will find a splendid, gilded shrine brought from Japan in 1955.

Ryerson United Church

2195 West 45 th Avenue

Constructed 1927

Early Methodist and Presbyterian settlers rowed across the Fraser River to worship in Richmond until 1910 when they took up residence in a local school. The original wood-frame Kerrisdale Church built on this site in 1911 was replaced, soon after the amalgamation of Canada's Methodists, Presbyterians and Congregationalists, by this Gothic-style stone building. It features stained glass windows reputed to be the last ones made using designs by Morris & Co. in England.