St John’s has a beautiful garden of Remembrance on the south side of the church that is surrounded by high hedges and rhododendrons. The garden is intended for the interment of ashes of present and past parishioners of St. John’s and was dedicated by Archbishop Godfrey Gower in 1960. There are several memorial benches around the perimeter of the garden where family members are welcome to sit for quiet reflection at any time.
On September 25, 2016, we held our first annual special service of Choral Evensong to remember and honour all those whose ashes now rest in our Memorial Garden. The Vancouver Courier posted a story about the service, resulting in a flood of phone calls from family members wanting to be added to our contact list to be reminded of next year’s service on September 24, 2017. Please contact us if you have a loved one in the Memorial Garden so we can add you to our records.
We are now in the design stages of the Memorial Garden landscaping project. The trees and shrubs dividing the Memorial Garden and the alley are overgrown and need to be replaced. If you would like more information about this project and/or would like to make a donation towards new trees, shrubs, perennials, vines, fencing, benches or statuary, please contact the office. You may also donate online by scrolling down to the bottom of the home page, and placing Memorial Garden in the comment section.
