Shiloh-Sixth Avenue United Church is accessible by transit - Bus #154/155 from 22nd Street Station or #106/112 from New Westminster Station

Photo of Shiloh-Sixth Courtesy of Dave Emery

About Our Church

The people of Shiloh-Sixth Avenue United Church are progressive and radically inclusive followers of Jesus seeking God's healing and transformation for ourselves and our world.  What is Progressive Theology?  By calling ourselves progressive, we mean that we are Christians who? 1. Have found our approach to God through the person, life and teachings and person of Jesus; 2. Recognize the faithfulness of, and respect others who have other names for the way to God's realm;   3. Understand the sharing of bread and wine in Jesus' name (communion) to be a representation of an ancient vision of God's feast for all peoples (and thus have a communion table which is open to all);   4. Invite all people to participate in our community and worship life without insisting that they become like us in order to be acceptable (including but not limited to):   - believers and agnostics,   - conventional Christians and questioning skeptics,   - women and men,   - those of all sexual orientations and  gender identities,   - those of all races and cultures,   - those of all classes and abilities,   - those who hope for a better world and those who have lost hope;   5. Know that the way we behave toward one another and toward other people is the fullest expression of what we believe;   6. Find more grace in the search for understanding than we do in dogmatic certainty - more value in questioning than in absolutes;   7. Form ourselves into communities dedicated to equipping one another for the work we feel called to do: striving for peace and justice among all people, protecting and restoring the integrity of all God's creation, and bringing hope to those Jesus called the least of his sisters and brothers; and   8. Recognize that being followers of Jesus is costly, and entails selfless love, conscientious resistance to evil, and renunciation of privilege.   9. Take the Scriptures of our faith seriously, but not literally; seeking to understand them within their cultural, historical, literary context as well as our own.

Statement of Beliefs

UNITED CHURCH OF  CANADA CREED We are not alone, we live in God's world. We believe in God: who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus,     the Word made flesh,     to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others     by the Spirit. We trust in God. We are called to be the Church: to celebrate God's presence, to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,     our judge and our hope. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God. About Our Church The people of Shiloh-Sixth Avenue United Church are progressive and radically inclusive followers of Jesus seeking God's healing and transformation for ourselves and our world.  What is Progressive Theology?  By calling ourselves progressive, we mean that we are Christians who? 1. Have found our approach to God through the person, life and teachings and person of Jesus; 2. Recognize the faithfulness of, and respect others who have other names for the way to God's realm;   3. Understand the sharing of bread and wine in Jesus' name (communion) to be a representation of an ancient vision of God's feast for all peoples (and thus have a communion table which is open to all);   4. Invite all people to participate in our community and worship life without insisting that they become like us in order to be acceptable (including but not limited to):   - believers and agnostics,   - conventional Christians and questioning skeptics,   - women and men,   - those of all sexual orientations and  gender identities,   - those of all races and cultures,   - those of all classes and abilities,   - those who hope for a better world and those who have lost hope;   5. Know that the way we behave toward one another and toward other people is the fullest expression of what we believe;   6. Find more grace in the search for understanding than we do in dogmatic certainty - more value in questioning than in absolutes;   7. Form ourselves into communities dedicated to equipping one another for the work we feel called to do: striving for peace and justice among all people, protecting and restoring the integrity of all God's creation, and bringing hope to those Jesus called the least of his sisters and brothers; and   8. Recognize that being followers of Jesus is costly, and entails selfless love, conscientious resistance to evil, and renunciation of privilege.   9. Take the Scriptures of our faith seriously, but not literally; seeking to understand them within their cultural, historical, literary context as well as our own.

Church History

photo - Dianne London/New Westminster Public Library Sixth Avenue United Church worships in a beautiful heritage building that was originally constructed in 1911. History (Source - New Westminster Public Library) In 1890 Mary Street Methodist Church (now Queen's Avenue United) felt the necessity for the extension of the Methodist into the west end portions of the city. A church was built and dedicated on Sunday, November 9, 1890 and called the West Side Church (later known as the Sixth Avenue Church). The church was built at a cost of $2,000. In 1903 the church building was sold to the New Westminster School Board. Then the church purchased the Presbyterian Church located on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Twelfth Street, where the College Apartments stands today (the church actually was moved a short distance at one point all on the same property. At one point it was on the corner of 12th St. and 6th Ave. and it now stands farther away from the corner). Sixth Avenue Methodist Church (1903-1911) -photo New Westminster Museum The first service in this church was conducted April 12, 1903. Further expansion of the church became necessary so the property was bought back from the school board in 1910. The new building was constructed at a cost of $30,000. Construction of the current building, 1911. photo - New Westminster Museum The corner-stone was laid on July 4, 1911, and the church opened on Sunday January 28, 1912. The church, as it now stands, was designed in the style of the English Arts and Crafts tradition by architect Thomas Hooper. The church features a side-steeple with a bold art glass window treatment on the gable facade. For further information see R287.92 Ad19h BC "History of Sixth Avenue United Church 1890 - 1965" by R.W. Adams and the newspaper "Royal City Record/New Westminster Now" Sun. Nov 25, 1990, p.7 (in VF NW - Churches), and Nov. 21, 1990, p.13 If you would like to book the Sixth Avenue facility for a wedding, funeral, baptism or other event please contact the office at 604-522-3443.