A church with campuses in several Lower Mainland cities will soon be moving into Sapperton.
In a Feb. 6 post on Facebook, Coastal Church announced it had purchased the Knox Church building at 403 East Columbia St.
“For over 15 years we have prayerfully considered a Coastal Church campus in New Westminster. It’s with great joy that we share the news of our most recent purchase of a heritage church building located within the growing Sapperton community,” said the posting. “This beautiful building is perfectly positioned as a place for our church to come together and worship. We are excited to GO! and serve this community, sharing the love of Christ as we work together to HELP make the city a better place.”
A For Sale sign went up in front of the Sapperton landmark in late 2023. The 16,000-square-foot church at the corner of East Columbia and Sherbrooke streets – long known as Knox Presbyterian – had recently been renamed Trinity Sapperton.
A listing said the building houses a 230-seat church that is 123 years old and is in “pristine” condition.
In September 2016, Knox Presbyterian Church celebrated its 125th anniversary with an open house and worship. It had been located at the East Columbia Street location since it was founded in 1891.
Last weekend, Knox held the final thrift sale in its hall. This Sunday marks the congregation’s final church services, before Coastal Church takes possession of the property.
Through the decades, Knox Presbyterian Church has provided meeting spaces for various community groups and has housed day-care and out-of-school programs. Comical and thought-provoking messages posted on the church sign on the front lawn have long attracted the attention of passersby.
Moving into the building is Coastal Church, which describes itself as a non-denominational and multi-site church. It has campuses in Vancouver (Downtown and Commercial Drive), Burnaby, North Vancouver, Pitt Meadows, Richmond, Squamish and Yaletown.
