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Welcome to the St. Gerard's Catholic Church Community!

Sunday Mass is at 10:30 a.m. St. Gerard's church is located at 1111 Miller Rd., Bowen Island, BC. It's on the corner of Melmore Rd. and Miller Rd., across the street from the park trail to Killarney Lake. From the Bowen Island ferry or the Snug Cove public wharf or marinas, St. Gerard's is just a 1 km walk or drive away. This Bowen Island map shows the main route and scenic walking route. You'll find St. Gerard's in the northwest corner of this Lower Mainland parish map of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Bulletin: Agneta Wright (1909-2009)

Mrs. M. Agneta Wright, a co-founder of St. Gerard's, passed peacefully from this life at 6:40 a.m. on Saturday, June 20, 2009, after receiving the sacrament of the sick the previous afternoon. Agneta, a seasonal Islander who loved Bowen, had been an active member of the Catholic community here since 1958. Read Agneta's obituary, or remember her with the following photo taken by grandchild Maria Wright on Agneta's 99th birthday, Sunday, August 17, 2008. After Mass earlier that day, the people of St. Gerard's had presented Agneta with flowers and thanked her for everything she had done to help establish St. Gerard's and inspire its members. The photo shows only a contented Agneta, but there are actually about  thirty of her family members celebrating with her. She is in her favourite spot in the sunroom with a southern outlook over Deep Bay and the entrance to Snug Cove, Bowen Island.

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What's the history of St. Gerard's?

When Bowen Island was a holiday resort, priests from Holy Rosary Cathedral came to Bowen Island each summer Sunday to say Mass. The venues included the school, a dance hall, and Union Steamships' Evergreen Hall. Around 1960, Bowen Island Catholic Christians set out to build a church, with neighbourly help from fellow islanders. In the early 1960s, Father Gerard Beauregard, who lived with the destitute at the Catholic Charities men's hostel and worked with the homeless in Downtown Vancouver, began serving the Bowen community. Father Beauregard was devout, ebullient, brilliant, eccentric, and deeply good. He loved the island and the islanders, and he was inspired by the project. After reaching Bowen by bus and ferry, he would hike to Evergreen Hall with his backpack and black bag, engaging in animated conversation with whomever he met.
  

Above, Fr. Beauregard pauses near the lagoon to chat with Ernie Peerless, a non-Catholic. Above centre, Fr. Beauregard approaches Evergreen Hall, ready to say Mass in the morning and then start clearing the lot on the corner of Miller and Melmore in the afternoon. Years later, above right, his smile still says it all.

The just-visible figure near the top left corner of the first photo below is Father Beauregard in logging gear, part way up an alder on the St. Gerard's site. With him but out of sight, there's a small work party he'd enlisted after Mass.
 

After the Bowen Catholics had saved up the building costs, the wooden church rose like a fitting part of the landscape on the corner of Miller and Melmore.

 
The people named their new spiritual home in honour of Saint Gerard Majella, Father Beauregard's baptismal patron. On September 5, 1971, the first Mass was celebrated at St. Gerard's. Afterwards, some of the congregation stayed for a photo in front of the church. They are listed like this:

Front row, left to right: Fr. Gerard Beauregard, Sister Philomena Gallant, Mooney boy, Mrs. Augusta Paterson, Sister Loretta McDonald, Sister Jean Mulvaney, Debbie Dumaresq, other Mooney boy. Back row: Mr. Mooney, Mr. Harry Wright, Mrs. Ellen Dorman, Mrs. Agneta Wright, Mrs. Dawn Gunn, Mr. Sam Dumaresq.

On June 18, 1972, Archbishop James Carney consecrated St. Gerard's church.

During the construction, Fr. Beauregard crafted the sturdy tabernacle from his hand-laminated wood. Meanwhile, Harry Wright spent hundreds of hours carving the crucifix entirely in one piece from a yellow cedar driftwood log from the shore of Deep Bay, Bowen Island. From another cedar log, Mr. Wright carved the original "St. Gerard's Catholic Church" sign, which is still there, nestled among the ferns near the church entrance and completing its cycle of life.

St. Gerard's member Camilla Roberts noticed something that was missing: a Way of the Cross. Mrs. Roberts, who combined a mobility disability with artistic ability and commitment, began painting the 14 Stations from her wheelchair. In June 1977, she presented St. Gerard's with our unique Stations of the Cross.
 

Others contributed other talents. Years before the construction began, Alex Rankin, Sam Dumaresq, and John Mayberry had persuaded the Union Steamships' realty arm to "sell" us our corner lot for one dollar. Ellen Dorman, revered on Bowen Island as an angel of mercy, did much to earn wide support. Along with the islanders' good will, prodigious efforts by the St. Gerard's community made the annual Strawberry Tea at Collins Hall remarkably successful. One example of our "unsung heroes" was Mrs. Augusta (Gussie) Paterson, who baked a tableful of apple pies for each Strawberry Tea until past eighty. Others, like the maker of the evocative IHS cross above the church entrance, are anonymous. With dedication and generosity, St. Gerard's was soon able to take another step (above centre), adding our little rectory.

The written accounts of the early days are sketchy, and the pioneer leaders mentioned here have passed on, but much from their work remains.

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What's happening nowadays?

Today, St. Gerard's remains a welcoming, vibrant Christian faith community of Bowen Islanders, seasonal residents, and visitors, plus relatives and friends.

Almost every Sunday, we have coffee after Mass, along with juice and cookies, in the gathering area at the back of the church. Everyone, especially visitors and newcomers, is very welcome to join in.

Participants say the St. Gerard's annual retreats at Rivendell Retreat Centre, Bowen Island, are always a big success. The 2009 retreat was led by Father Hien Nguyen on the weekend of May 22-24.

Maintenance and renovation of the church, rectory, and grounds are ongoing. Hugh Stark, who passed on near the end of 2008, provided strong leadership in recent years, and he is greatly missed by St. Gerard's and Bowen Island, as is the late Tom Donnelly.  Many members of the St. Gerard's community volunteer for work parties, although there is no pressure to do so. (And no logging.)

Another large project was the installation in the church loft of the set of organ pipes, made in 1901, for our "new" organ. It was acquired from a Christian church in Vancouver but was originally used to accompany silent films in a movie theatre. The quality of the organ was evident in a sacred music recital by Darryl Nixon (below right) of St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church, Vancouver.
 

At the front of the loft, we have a stained glass window from an 1840s-built Church of England church in Coventry, UK. Former Bowen Islanders Eleanor and Iain Benson had managed to acquire it and install it in their home. When the Bensons decided to live near Lourdes, France, they removed the stained glass window from their Bowen house and contributed it to their church, St. Gerard's.

While we miss Eleanor and Iain and their seven children, we're glad we received their window (below right). Beneath the image of a young priest holding a small child for an infant baptism are the words "For such is the kingdom of God." It is a phrase from Mark 10:13-16, a passage in which the disciples are impatient with the little children but Jesus opens his arms to them.
 

Africa outreach with Sister Jo

We at St. Gerard's open our arms to children in need by supporting the work of Sister Jo Wright, RSCJ, in Africa. Sister Jo, who has a long association with us, is based near Kampala, Uganda. She travels widely to assist the sisters in many communities in Kenya and Uganda as a leadership team member.

St. Gerard's children have raised funds for the Sisters' Uganda-Kenya Solidarity Fund by selling lemonade and even eggs. When we asked Sister Jo for a photo for this website, she sent the above photo of children at St. Bernadette's Primary (Elementary) School, Nakibizzie, Uganda. She included this commentary:

When I was in Uganda, I often drove our Sisters who teach at St. Bernadette's to school in the morning. As we approached the school, we would see the children running along, many of them barefoot, with colourful plastic mugs in their hands. Many of the children do not have breakfast before setting off for school and do not have food for lunch, so the school provides them with maize porridge for lunch. A number of these children are sponsored for their school fees through our Solidarity Fund. When we receive donations from friends such as St. Gerard's Catholic Church, Bowen Island, these donations go into the Solidarity Fund. Then, when needy children come to our attention, as far as possible we assist them. For example, when Sr. Liz, the head teacher, noticed a young boy standing at a classroom window each day, she spoke to him. His family could not afford school fees, and all he asked was to be allowed to stand at the window and listen to the lessons being taught. As you can imagine, we investigated his situation, and the boy was enabled to join the school.

Bulletin: Sr. Jo will be in Canada this summer. She will be visiting BC and looks forward to seeing the people of St. Gerard's. Because of the passing of her mother, Mrs. M. Agneta Wright, Sister Jo's schedule is uncertain.

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Which priests serve St. Gerard's?

St. Gerard's is affiliated with Holy Trinity Parish, North Vancouver, and we're delighted to share the parish clergy, mainly Fr. Tom Smith, although he has recently been named pastor of another parish. Holy Trinity pastor Fr. Jim Comey joins us once a month. Father Varghese George Edattukaran, who mercifully goes by "Fr. George," is shown below at a goodbye gathering after he was transferred to another parish.
 

St. Gerard's contacts

St. Gerard's information: New to Bowen Island or St. Gerard's? Comments about this St. Gerard's Website? Other questions? Email StGerards@rcav.bc.ca. Please indicate your topic in your subject line.

Clergy and parish office: Phone 604.988.6304. Or visit the Holy Trinity office, which also serves St. Gerard's, for additional contact information.

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Links

Prayer: Pause in the Sacred Space or explore spirituality with the Irish Jesuits. Sing along with hymn words and music from St. Gerard's Choir, Singapore. Start an online retreat with Creighton University Ministries, Nebraska. Or let this day be a A Good Day, starting with Br. David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk.

The B.C. Catholic online: The B.C. Catholic, the Archdiocese of Vancouver's weekly paper, aims to serve the needs of the Catholic community in BC.  Note: The B.C. Catholic site includes a set of St. Gerard's articles.

Catholic information: Questions about the Catholic faith? The Discovering the Faith page addresses frequently asked questions.

Coming home: For people who have been away from the Catholic Church, there's a "How do I come home?" page. You might also be interested in a one-minute C'mon Back Story from Wisconsin.

Catholic Calendar: Combine daily scripture readings with guided reflections.

Encyclicals: Papal Encyclicals Online is a guide to online papal and official documents of the Catholic Church.

Sisters' website: Sister Jo is a member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart.

Christianity in stained glass: Click on the thumbnail images to appreciate the stained glass windows of Holy Rosary Cathedral and Let There Be Light.

Zulu sculpture: Receive cross-cultural inspiration with the Most Holy Trinity
sculptures and Stations of the Cross carved in thombothi wood by Joel Mbuyisa for Sacred Heart of Jesus church, Mangete, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Bowen churches: The Bowen Island Municipality site and BowenOnline list Bowen Island churches. Besides St. Gerard's, Bowen Island Christian churches with websites include Cates Hill Chapel and Bowen Island Community Church. One can also visit the ecumenical Canadian Christianity online.

Good day to visit? Check the Bowen Island  weather forecast. In any case, with a visit to Bowen and/or St. Gerard's, it can be a good day for you.

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Why Mission?

Our church community is officially called St. Gerard's Mission, the name on the newer of the two St. Gerard's signs in front of the church. People ask about it.

Many dioceses use the term mission for churches that are not full parishes. In that sense, St. Gerard's has always been a mission of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver. The concept of mission also appealed to Fr. Gerard Beauregard, who saw his role as that of a missionary, especially to the homeless of Downtown Vancouver.

The word mission has the same Latin root, miss-, as Mass, which comes from the word missa in Ite missa est. That phrase, the priest's final words in the traditional Latin Mass, is an idiom that freely translates as "Go, you are sent." Since our Christian community is called a mission, our name is a reminder that we are sent to be witnesses to God's love, to carry on Christ's work.
 

We, the Christian community of Saint Gerard's Catholic church, Bowen Island, invite you to come to our church. And to share in our mission.

Thank you: This website is hosted by Notre Dame Regional Secondary on the Millennium Servers administered by teacher Peter Vogel, along with the information technology services of the Archdiocese of Vancouver. 

Copyright © 2009 St. Gerard's Mission, Bowen Island, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver, BC, Canada.
This Saint Gerard's Catholic Christian Church website was last updated on June 23, 2009.

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