History

Crossroads United Church began on July 1, 2009 as the amalgamation of Royal Heights United Church and St. John's Strawberry Hill United Church.

Royal Heights United Church, located on 116th Street, was constituted in May 1959 and a church was built in 1960. In 1969, Royal Heights joined with Oak Avenue United Church to become the two-point pastoral charge of Oak Avenue-Royal Heights. In 1984 Royal Heights became a single-point charge. In 1987 due to overcrowding an extension was made to the existing church.

Religious services had been held in a rural area of Surrey known as "Strawberry Hill" since 1910, mostly in the old school house, and the congregation had been served by Methodist and Presbyterian student ministers. St. John's Strawberry Hill thus originated as a Presbyterian congregation and in 1922 built its first church in Strawberry Hill. St. John's Strawberry Hill cooperated with Sullivan United Church (which had been holding services in the Farmers' Institute Hall) in 1934, sharing services with a series of student ministers. From 1937-1942, the Presbyterian church allowed the United Church congregation to use St. John's for evening services. In 1942, the agreement was terminated; however, the Presbyterians discontinuted their own services at St. John's and the church remained unused for two years. In September 1944, a petition drawn up by local residents was presented to the Presbyterian Church asking to rent or sell St. John's Church for religious services. In 1945, the United Church congregation bought St. John's Church for $800, and after considerable repair and alterations, it was re-opened for services on May 6, 1945. One addition was built in the 60's (the current CE Hall) and a new sanctuary and office/program space was constructed in 1983 after the old sanctuary was condemned.

The former congregations of Royal Heights and St. John's cooperated in ministry through the decades, and even occasionally mentioned the word amalgamation, but it was not until 2007 that the conversation began in earnest. A visioning event (held at St. Cuthbert's Anglican church and facilitated by the Rev. Don Robertson) provided both the energy and the vision the two congregations sought in order to amalgamate for more than merely practical reasons. The vision statement articulated out of that event, and the sense of shared purpose, cooperation and faithfulness to God's call increasingly felt by members of our two founding congregations, carried us through many difficult decisions. The overwhelming experience of Crossroads United Church is that throughout our journey, God has given us everything we have needed. Thanks be to God!