Author: eastvangelist

Annie Girard became responsible for the building at 823 Jackson Avenue in 1969 based on the decision of the Presiding Elder of the Afican Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Seattle. With that decision, the presence of the AME in Vancouver effectively ended, although the title transfer was not finalized until 1974.

Girard (pictured above in front of 823 Jackson Avenue) was born Annie Lluella Barry in 1922 in Stonybrook Alberta. She grew up on a farm with her three siblings and 10 half-siblings. In 1936 she moved to Kelowna and lived there for two years before moving to Vancouver in 1938 at the age of 16. Girard’s first husband was Herman Cecil Walker and they had three children; she was known as Annie Walker when she first took over the building.

Girard describes in an interview from 1977 (Opening Doors unpublished interview, Marlatt and Itter) how she had a life changing vision in June 1969 in which she was visited by an angelic being who instructed her to “Go and claim the old cloured people’s church for the glory of God.” It wasn’t easy but she worked hard to make this a reality. She worked at cleaning up the church, started preaching in her own non-denominational worship services at the church and eventually was able to purchase the property.

Girard established a ministry in the name of the “Cry in the Wilderness Church”, which is how the listing of 823 Jackson Avenue appears on city directories from 1975 to 1985, although she still referred to the building as the Fountain Chapel during this time. Ms. Girard hosted people associated with the Jesus Movement at the Fountain Chapel for a period of time in the early 1970s and eventually broke with them, while continuing her own sanctuary for youth. She recounts in her 1977 interview how she would drive her red station wagon to Jericho Beach and talk to young people and offer them a place to stay at the church.

Girard’s third husband was Pierre Girard, and they established a landscaping business in the church, “P.G.’s Pruning and Gardening Co. Ltd.,” and for many years Annie and Pierre operated the business together.  Girard was injured in an accident and could no longer work in the landscaping business. Pierre subsequently returned to Montreal and without a source of income Ms. Girard was forced to give up the church in 1985. Annie Girard died in 2007 and is buried in Abbostford, BC.

J. McRee (“Mac”) Elrod was the last African Methodist Episcopal (AME) minister to hold services at 823 Jackson Avenue. Mac Elrod (pictured second from right with his children from left to right Matthew, Christine, Cara, Lona and Laura) was an ordained AME minister (later becoming a Unitarian minister) as well as a prominent librarian and cataloguer who served as head of the cataloging department at the University of British Columbia (UBC) from 1967 to 1979.

Mac Elrod was born in Gainesville, Georgia, in 1932. He held graduate degrees in theology as well as information technology and library sciences.  He was raised in the Methodist Church and was originally ordained as a Methodist minister. After living in Korea with his wife Norma Lee Cummins from 1955 to 1960, they returned to the United States and he transferred his ordination to the AME. While living in Ohio, Elrod volunteered to be the minister for several small AME churches there.

Elrod was heavily involved in the civil rights movement in the United States as well as the anti-Vietnam war movement. He decided to emigrate to Vancouver in the summer of 1967 in part because of his strong opposition to the Vietnam War. While not subject to the draft himself, he was instrumental in assisting draft dodgers in Vancouver through his work with the Vancouver Committee to Aid American War Objectors.

The photo above, from the steps of 823 Jackson Avenue, is from a newspaper article in 1969 entitled: “Historic Negro Church Reopens Here” and notes that the building had suffered “long years of neglect.” Elrod recollects in an interview from 2002 (Rudder, University of Victoria, 2004), that the AME Bishop in Ohio upon learning that Elrod was moving to Vancouver, said: “Oh we have a building there … I will appoint you as minister, see if you can get the congregation started again.” When Elrod first arrived at 823 Jackson Avenue it was not being used to hold church services but as a shelter for the homeless.

Alas, Elrod did not succeed in restarting the AME congregation. He estimated that there were about only about 20 members left at the time. In the end the presiding AME Elder from Seattle, who had authority over the building, decided to sell the building to Annie Girard. We will have more to say about Mac Elrod and Annie Girard in future posts.

Rev. Ulysses S. Robinson was the first Pastor of the newly formed African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church in Vancouver. He crossed into Canada on October 17, 1921 so we can assume that the first official AME services started shortly thereafter. Rev. Robinson was born in 1888 in Chappell Hill, Texas and had been working in Denver, Colorado prior to arriving in Canada. He was married and 33 years old when he arrived.  City directories confirm that the occupant of the building at 823 Jackson Avenue changed from the Norwegian Lutheran Church in 1921 to the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1922. The city directory for 1924 was the first time that the name “Fountain Chapel” appeared in the listing.

Leading up to the arrival of Rev. Robinson, many members of the black community in Vancouver had been working hard to purchase the building from the Norwegian Lutheran Church. Nora Hendrix (pictured with her husband Ross Hendrix) was instrumental in this process and she explains the establishment of the church in an interview from 1977 (Opening Doors, Marlatt and Itter, 1979). The building was available for $1000 and the AME head office agreed to put up $500 if the new local congregation would raise the other $500. As Ms. Hendrix explains this was a challenging task since typical wages were $1.50 per day and it took a while but they were eventually able to purchase the building.  As there was no Canadian branch of the AME, the Fountain Chapel was subject to the oversight of an AME Presiding Elder from Seattle.

Nora Hendrix was born in 1883 in Knoxville, Tennessee and moved to Vancouver in 1911 from Seattle. Nora and Ross Hendrix were originally brought to Vancouver because Ross had a job there and they stayed and raised a family and spent the rest of their lives in Vancouver. Ross Hendrix died in 1934 and Nora Hendrix died in 1984.

Rev. Benjamin A. Sand (the Pastor for the Norwegian Lutheran Church) applied for water service for the new Church at 833, later 823 Jackson Avenue on November 15, 1910. According to the November 14, 1910 building permit application, the estimated cost to build the church was $2500. Architect Frederick William Mellish (pictured) is listed as the builder though he was likely the architect as well. He also took out in April 1910 a permit for a similar design for Saint Saviours Church on 1st Avenue at Semlin Drive.