VISION, TRIUMPH, STRUGGLE: A HISTORY OF EDMONTON CHRISTIANITY, 1930 TO 1979.

[This article continues an outline of the history of Christianity in Edmonton. The first article, "Bricks, Faith, Community: A History of Edmonton Christianity to 1929," appeared in Alberta History 66:2 (Spring, 2018), 17-24.]

The middle decades of the twentieth century saw a remarkable series of changes in fortune for Christianity in Edmonton. The Great Depression introduced a whole host of new challenges. Regardless of denomination, the Depression was among the most profound hardships to strike Edmontonian Christianity in the twentieth century. While notable successes spanned denominations after World War Two, trends of struggle for many churches - primarily in Edmonton's inner city - would characterize subsequent decades. Following the 1960s, a dramatic trend of decline in church life would begin that inaugurated a new era of uncertainty for these institutions.

The story of Edmonton Christianity cannot simply be confined to the churches themselves, and certainly the story of Christianity's built heritage does not solely involve the congregations. The Depression proved to be an important flashpoint for Christianity's influence on the province's political landscape. William Aberhart brought dispensationalist Christian thought to the fore of his political agenda, and had gained a significant following through his revolutionary use of radio to communicate directly with Albertans. Once elected premier he immediately proved to be controversial (1) and was met with resistance by several Edmontonian ministers. Those at McDougall, Robertson, and Erskine United Churches preached impassioned sermons decrying Aberhart that were published in local newspapers, making a public effort to resist his political agenda. (2)

Aberhart was, himself, a dispensationalist Baptist, meaning that humanity's relationship with God changed throughout each 'dispensation' of human history. As such, the Bible had to be interpreted relative to particular dispensations, where certain parts of Scripture could be read only in the context of that particular historical period. (3) Such a perspective was in part what made Aberhart's political aspirations quite different from the social gospel influenced United Farmers of Alberta: as Clark Banack has thoroughly demonstrated, while the UFA sought to create a strong ethic of social co-operation, Aberhart's particular understanding of Christian scripture set the Social Credit party on a path that emphasized individualism and detested "any form of economic collectivism that might jeopardize the freedom of the individual." (4)

Through the Depression, Edmonton Christians were torn as to whether or not to support Aberhart, though his influential radio broadcasts were undoubtedly heard by many Edmontonians. During the Depression, Aberhart's radical politics were not the only marriage of Christianity and politics provoking debate in Edmonton. Another controversy was that involving the Alberta School of Religion, initially hosted in St. Stephen's College and having "no formal church connections." After having speakers such as J. S. Woodsworth and Harry F. Ward at the School, the Board of St. Stephen's demanded it be able to view in advance, and formally approve, the leadership and program of the school. It also declared that Woodsworth, Ward, and other radical thinkers of their kind, were personae non gratae at the college. (5) Woodsworth was leader of the CCF and a prominent participant in the Winnipeg General Strike, as well as a radical Christian thinker; and Ward was a Methodist minister as well as being a communist As historian N. K. Clifford notes of the Depression era in Canada, radicals were especially unpopular amongst church administrations, "and very few ever found themselves in positions of responsibility or in prominent city churches." (6)

The hardship of the 1930s, while tremendous across all denominations, did not cause many congregations in Edmonton to close. Across Canada, churches became "important social centres... and agencies of philanthropy." (7) While Edmonton churches certainly served this function, it also did not pay the bills - though many churches found innovative ways to maintain their financial positions, and to uplift and support their congregants. St. Faith's Anglican, for example, created a "dime a week" club to pay down their tax arrears. (8) The Ukrainian National Home organized a relief committee during this period, whose connection to St. Josaphat Church is noted as being "one of mutual reinforcement, for members of the first were usually simultaneously members of the second." (9)

Other churches developed their congregations in different ways. Trinity Lutheran, for example, introduced regular English language services in the early 1930s, and subsequently increased its membership during the Depression. This led towards their debts being fully paid by the 1940s. (10) The First Scandinavian Lutheran Church also began holding English language services as the norm during the 1930s, and changed its name to Central Lutheran Church in 1936. (11) Such methods of appealing to a wider base of potential congregants proved effective in sustaining churches through the turbulent Depression years.

The Beulah Alliance Church was already famous by the Depression for its innovative evangelizing efforts, including a so-called 'Gospel Car' that drove around Edmonton, as well as a dogsled. (12) Its work in radio truly secured the church's fame in the city, and the prairie region generally. Starting in 1927, Beulah had been broadcasting with the CHMA station in Edmonton, but by 1931 CHMA was broadcasting programs from twenty-eight different churches. Only three years later, Beulah's Radio Committee moved to CFRN, which had the capability of reaching many more listeners than their own station, and thus. Beulah dramatically extended the reach of its work despite the Depression. (13) As such, while Aberhart's use of radio to circulate his dispensationalist teachings became quite famous, other Christian denominations made use of this new technology to spread their message, as well.

The end of the Depression was marked by the beginning of World War Two. Once again, church life is marked by Edmonton was upset as congregants were called upon to participate in the conflict, whether by going overseas or by contributing to various efforts at home. Some innovative ministers managed to keep spirits high during the waning years of the Depression and the beginning of the World War Two. Harold Stibbards, of McDonald Memorial Baptist Church, is said to have discovered that one of Edmonton's movie theatres had dismantled the organ once employed to provide the soundtrack to silent films. With a young congregant aiding him, Rev. Stibbards moved the organ to his church, cleaned the parts, and assembled it in the church sanctuary, thereafter providing his congregation with music from one of Christian music's most recognizable instruments. (14)

Other problems related to the war plagued Edmontonian congregations. During the conflict, Ansgar Danish Lutheran Church was in the middle of constructing its new church building when the Nazi invasion of Denmark caused all connection to their home country to be severed and thus, their funding from the Dansk Kirke i Udlandet (literally, the Danish Church Abroad). Nonetheless, the church was eventually constructed and had its inaugural service in 1942. (15) Strathcona Presbyterian Church was also delayed in finishing its building by World War Two, despite the sod being turned and the basement having been completed in 1938. (16) However, the war's most devastating effects were the young people lost to the conflict, tragedies that are enshrined in many churches through memorials, often placed alongside or incorporated with memorials to World War One. The memorial hall and chapel at Robertson United Church, completed in 1950, serves as one example of such a hall dedicated to the fallen of both world wars. (17)

Once World War Two was over, church life became an important aspect of the return to normality for which people had yearned. The 1950s proved to be the second major boom (after 1909-1914) in Edmontonian church building. Not only did many congregations build entirely new buildings and found new congregations, but many existing buildings began expanding their facilities. More than ten Anglican parishes opened new buildings in the 1950s, and many more undertook building projects of some kind. St. Alphonus Roman Catholic Church, which was designed to seat 500 on its main floor, blessed its new church building in 1953, (18) First Baptist Church opened a new church building in 1957 with a capacity of 650 in its main auditorium. (19) McDougall United Church dedicated its new church hall and installed a new organ in 1955. (20) All Saints' Anglican, the downtown cathedral, dedicated its new building in May of 1956 which was designed to accommodate 1,000 souls. (21) A plethora of other such structures also began to sprout up across the city.

The function churches served as community centers became quite pronounced during this decade thanks in large part to the expanding population, which allowed for further additions to existing churches. The fact that churches were effectively also community centres was not new: for almost all communities, and especially ethnic minorities, this had long been the case. (22) And indeed, while such events were certainly a component of church life before the 1950s, the frequency, quality, and sheer number of people attending events at churches and their parish halls was truly remarkable - reports abound of concerts, bazaars, dinners, and events at churches outside of rites of passage such as baptisms and weddings.

These expanded facilities that allowed for such events often manifested the form of parish halls, as well as renovations to church basements. Norwood United Church, for example, constructed a parish hall in 1952 that was able to seat 350 upstairs, and 240 downstairs in the banquet hall. (23) St. Luke's Anglican, known for its high level of community involvement during this period, saw its parish hall enlarged the same year it opened its second building in 1958. (24) In 1953, the Strathcona Baptist Church added a new hall for primarily youth activities, which included three Sunday School rooms, a large auditorium, and a kitchen. (25) When All Saints' Anglican built its cathedral, it began to use its old church building as a parish hall starting in 1955. It housed community services, youth groups, labour meetings, and a rehearsal hall for musicians, as well as a drop-in centre and women's emergency shelter and referral center. (26) In short, examples abound of parish halls and other such facilities being expanded during the 1950s, evidence of the degree to which community life often centered on the church.

One congregation whose church building was lavishly improved during this decade was St. Josaphat's Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral. This building, officially completed in 1947, is a hundred feet high, with seven domes representing the seven sacraments as well as the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Built in large part with volunteer labour (the basement was dug by the parishioners with the dirt carted by wagons, for example), it was designed by architect Philip Ruh, a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. (27) A few years after the completion of the building, starting in 1951, Julian Bucmaniuk and several assistants began painting the interior of the cathedral, using colourful egg tempera. Many different Biblical and extra-Biblical scenes adorn the building, including important moments from the life of Christ and images of saints, as well as images seldom seen on the prairies - an old symbol for Christ, a pelican pecking its flesh to feed its young, was also included in the cathedral's frescoes. When initially painted, the scene of the Last Judgment portrayed Hitler and Stalin among the souls of the damned, with the blessed souls ascending blissfully towards heaven. (28) These frescoes are a rare addition to Edmonton's artistic heritage.

Many denominations reported explosive growth in their congregations during the 1950s. The Christian Reformed Church reported a nine-fold increase in membership from 1947 to 1956. (29) Membership at Trinity Lutheran Church increased by more than one hundred souls, from 515 members in 1945 to 630 in 1952, (30) and Avonmore United Church saw its membership increase more than threefold from 1952 to 1953 alone. Moreover, Avonmore's Sunday School enrollment was nearly 500 that year. (31) Several new Lutheran congregations were founded in the 1950s, including Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church and Mount Zion Lutheran Church, formed in 1951 and 1955 respectively. (32) Even relatively small congregations such as Rundle United could report increases in membership and money-raising by the end of the 1950s. (33)

One of Edmonton's most significant church buildings, a Roman Catholic church, would see construction in the early 1960s. After delays dating back to the 1920s, St. Joseph's cathedral finally began to be constructed, starting with extensive reinforcement of the foundation of the basement that had been dug in 1924. The original design of this cathedral was in the English Gothic style, but this spectacular would-be building project was brought to a halt by the Depression, and then World War Two. By the time the funds became available again to build the church beyond the temporary structure erected over the basement that had been dug in 1924, a redesign was in order. The second building, finished in 1963, was a remarkable modern Gothic style structure built to host over 1000 individuals, including hundreds more in the basement. The building, which was quite different from the pre-Depression plans, was dedicated May 1 - the feast day of St Joseph the Worker. The completion of this building was a tremendous moment of celebration for a congregation that had long waited for its completion. (34)

The 1960s were the end of a more painful period of history for Aboriginal people as Edmonton Industrial School was closed in1968. When the school was opened in 1924, this was a period where many other cultural communities were consolidating themselves through their churches, but in stark contrast the residential school system directly involved several of Canada's largest churches in an act of cultural genocide. As the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission make clear, the efforts of residential schools centred on the eradication of Aboriginal cultures. The Edmonton School, run primarily by the United Church, was a place of many difficult memories for its students. (35) The conditions of the school were known to be substandard, and abuse of students by the staff was covered up and not reported to the police or Indian affairs. (36) Although closed in 1968, the memories of what occurred at the school would leave life-long trauma on its students. The other residential school in the immediate Edmonton area, the Roman-Catholic run St. Albert school, had been closed two decades earlier in 1948. (37) While the extent of what occurred at these schools would only be more widely known in later decades, during the period this article covers, the activities of residential schools were well-known to the church's administrators, Indian affairs, and certainly to Aboriginal peoples themselves.

Major building projects and impressive congregational growth speak to the gains Christian churches experienced across denominations in the two decades following World War Two. Nonetheless, throughout the late 1960s especially, decline in Church membership and attendance became a noticeable issue, and would signal a profound change in Edmonton Christian history that mirrored the more general condition of Christianity in Canada. For some parishes, such as St John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, the once substantial inner-city population that made up the bulk of parishes began to disappear to the suburbs. As Pastor Lenz put it:

[A] number of people who on their first arrival lived in the vicinity
have moved to the suburbs and found church homes there... In view of
these facts I do not expect a rapid growth of this congregation despite
the fact that I had 87 baptisms in 1959. (38)

In the following decade, one sees the first discernible trend of church amalgamations/closures that can be specifically attributed to the phenomenon of suburbanization. McDonald Memorial Baptist church cites suburbanization specifically as a key reason for its amalgamation with Highlands Baptist Church, with less than seventy regularly attending services at the downtown church. (39) Central Baptist Church, in the same area as St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, undoubtedly suffered the same pressures, with a history of a predominantly German congregation now undergoing decreasing immigration and a suburbanizing existing congregation. (40) Erskine United Church, in 1966, would amalgamate with Norwood. (41) Knox and Metropolitan United Churches amalgamated in 1972, with a similar amalgamation had occurred between Robertson and Wesley United Churches the year before.

Many congregations noted significant declines in church attendance starting in the 1960s. First Presbyterian's membership "had been falling since 1960 and nothing the congregation tried was able to stop the haemorrhage [sic] of individuals leaving the roll of the church." (42) Rupert Street Presbyterian, in 1969, voted to dissolve itself due to financial issues. (43) All Saint's Anglican Cathedral also noticed a similar decline in attendance, and made some efforts to create a "homelier" atmosphere at the cathedral, including putting greeters at the door of the church to encourage people to consider membership. (44) Where, in 1966, Wesley United Church's membership numbered 559, by the early 1970s membership was below 200. (45) For First Baptist Church, the decline was from a 627 member congregation in 1957 to 350 by 1968. (46)

Downtown congregations frequently cited high rise apartments as a major problem for retention of Church membership. (47) Several major Edmontonian downtown churches--Augustana Lutheran, First Baptist, All Saints Anglican, and McDougall United--formed the City Centre Churches Corporation (formally created in July, 1972) determined to find ways to minister in a relevant manner to the inner city. While noting the example of other churches who chose to completely flee the downtown for the suburbs, these downtown churches sought solutions such that the church could remain relevant to the population that surrounded them, who often proved "rootless, and very mobile." Rev. David Crawley summarized this change of attitude as follows: "The Church must be expected to speak to people where they are, and not expect them to come to church." (48) This is an important effort to negotiate the difficulties inner city churches began to face as Edmonton suburbanized.

However, the causes of the decline in church attendance in the 1960s and 1970s were part of a much larger shift in Canadian culture, and the attribution of this decline to suburbanization and the quality of downtown life was only part of the problem. (49) As scholars have been able to argue with greater hindsight, the 1960s were a moment of deep transformation in Canadian culture. As relates to Christianity, "people started to disengage from organized religion during the 1960s, most obviously in the case of Canada's largest Protestant denominations: the Anglican, Presbyterians, and United Churches... After the 1960s, things would never be the same." (50) The reasons for this disengagement vary from denomination to denomination, but a commonality across all of them was a change in traditional behavior of Christians towards their institutions. Christianity in Canada meant less going to church and participating in life around it and while scholars of religion still debate precisely the transformation occurring, it is clear that Christianity has come to be centred more on the individual rather than the community of Christians. Church life, as a result, became less important to many Canadians.

While the falling numbers from the 1960s to the 1970s were drastic for many congregations, by the end of the 1970s, at least some of the city's major downtown churches stabilized their membership - due, in part, to the realization of many still attending that a concerted effort was required to maintain church life. (51) Moreover, efforts were made at this same time to begin preserving historically significant churches in the city. The St. Joachim and First Presbyterian buildings were both designated a Provincial Historical Resource in 1978, (52) while the Knox Presbyterian Church building would receive the same designation two years earlier. (53) The built heritage of Christianity in Edmonton would, through such designations, be secured a future--even if congregational life was unsure.

From the 1960s to the end of the 1970s, several other important trends began to characterize Edmonton Christian history. This period was witness to several ecumenical efforts and greater interdenominational dialogue. This ecumenicism had many causes - the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, a more amicable spirit of the times, as well as a more shared sense among many denominations that there were common struggles for churches to face.

Interestingly, the archival record shows that many congregations began to hold services at either different churches of the same denomination, or in some cases, different denominations. (54) While the struggles that began to cement themselves in the 1970s were severe, this should not discount the fact that churches began to craft a vision of surviving these tribulations. Churches are not passive institutions; they, like any other element of society, must wrestle with changes in the culture they are situated within. The City Centre Churches Corporation is one such innovative effort to combat what was becoming dire circumstances, but there were many other efforts to secure the future of Edmontonian congregations, particularly through continued attempts at augmenting their function as community centres. For example, Strathcona Baptist began offering a day care in the late 1970s; (55) Sacred Heart Catholic Church created an Emergency Food Hamper Program during this decade. (56) Adjusting to the circumstances of their area is one of the methods these churches embraced in order to remain viable institutions for their communities.

Edmonton Christian churches entered the 1980s with few certainties. This decade represented the start of a powerful and sweeping trend, the decline of Christianity's status as being centred on the institution of the church. Recent academic research has shown that people held a Christian identity long after they forsake attendance at their church. (57) This being the case in Edmonton, one can see the beginnings of church life decreasing in importance even while, demographically. people identifying as Christian remained the overwhelming majority of the population. This tendency to forsake the institution of the church while still identifying persons as Christians only increased in subsequent decades. Moreover, different forms of religiosity - such as "Spiritual But Not Religious" people - see a more public importance after the New Age movement of the 1960s, and include many former Christians. As such, the struggles following the 1960s were far different from those experienced previously, which usually stemmed from more clear and obvious factors such as wars or economic devastation. The cultural transformations following the 1960s would, for Edmonton's Christian institutions, be a profound moment of change not easily grappled with.

Notes

(1) For a recent analysis of Aberhart's thought, see Clark Banack. God's Province: Evangelical Christianity. Political Thought, and Conservatism in Alberta (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2016). See also David R. Elliott. "Antithetical Elements in William Aberhart's Theology and Political Ideology" Canadian Historical Review, LIX: 1, (1978), 38-58.

(2) "Churches. 1905-1963" clippings file, City of Edmonton Archives [hereafter CEA], Edmonton.

(3) Banack, 47-48; for Aberhart's understanding of dispensationalism and pre-millenialism. see 106-115.

(4) Ibid, 150-151.

(5) N. K. Clifford. "Religion in the Thirties: Some Aspects of the Canadian Experience" in The Dirty Thirties in Prairie Canada ed. R. O. Francis and H. Ganzevoort (Vancouver: Tantalus Research Ltd., 1979). 127.

(6) Ibid

(7) Michiel Horn, The Great Depression of the 1930s in Canada (Ottawa: The Canadian Historical Association. 1984). 15.

(8) Acc. Nos. 80.83,80.241. Provincial Archives of Alberta [hereafter PAA], Edmonton.

(9) Serge Cipko, St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral. Edmonton: A History (1902-2002) (Edmonton: St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, 2009). 74-75.

(10) Trinity Lutheran Church" clippings file. CEA. Edmonton.

(11) "Central Lutheran Church" clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(12) Edmonton Journal. Oct. 12,1996.

(13) "The Story of Beulah Alliance Church as told by Harry Fanner," Catalogue No, 65/191, CEA, Edmonton.

(14) "McDonald Memorial Baptist Church" clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(15) Committee, 60 Years Old: A Story of the Danes and the Anshar Danish Lutheran Church, (Edmonton: Anshar Danish Lutheran Church, 1990), 11-16.

(16) "Strathcona Presbyterian Church," clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(17) Robertson-Wesley United Church, "History," accessed Feb. 9, 2019. http://www.rwuc.org/history/

(18) "St. Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church." clippings file. CEA, Edmonton.

(19) "First Baptist Church." clippings file. CEA. Edmonton.

(20) "McDougall United Church," clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(21) "Anglican Church (General) File No. 2,1950-59" clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(22) For a general discussion of this function, see Royden Loewen and Gerald Friesen, Immigrants in Prairie Cities: Ethnic Diversity in Twentieth-Century Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 2009), esp. chapter one. A more specific Edmontonian example is Shiloh Baptist Church, which "was one of the main centres of the Edmonton black community" from especially the 1910s to the 1950s. Howard and Tamara Palmer, "The Black Experience in Alberta." in Peoples of Alberta: Portraits of Cultural Diversity ed. Howard and Tamara Palmer (Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books, 1985), 386.

(23) "Norwood United Church," clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(24) "St. Luke's Anglican," clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(25) "Strathcona Baptist Church," clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(26) Edmonton Journal. June 13, 1973.

(27) Cipko, 86-87.

(28) Cipko, 108-111.

(29) Edmonton Journal, Mar. 24,1956.

(30) "Trinity Lutheran Church." clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(31) "Avonmore United Church," clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(32) "Lutheran Church, File No. 11900-1960," clippings file. CEA, Edmonton.

(33) Acc. No. 91.287, PAA, Edmonton.

(34) "St. Joseph's Cathedral," clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(35) According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's history of residential schools, it was also briefly run by an Anglican just before its closure. Committee, Canada's Residential Schools: The History, Part 2,1939 to 2000 - The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Vol. 1 (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2015), 67.

(36) Ibid., 413; 418-420.

(37) Committee, Honouring the Truth. Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 2015), 354.

(38) "Pastor's Report 1960," Ace. No. 2009.0204, PAA, Edmonton.

(39) Scott Shade, Chairman of the Board of Deacons and Trustees, summarized the reason for closure as follows: "Most of the members were older people and their children were no longer living in the centre of the city.... None of the members lived near the church but came to it out of loyalty." Edmonton Journal, Dec. 3,1966.

(40) "Central Baptist Church." clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(41) "Erskine United Church," clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(42) Kenneth Munro, First Presbyterian Church, Edmonton: A History (Victoria: Trafford Publishing, 2004), 365.

(43) "Presbyterian Church," clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(44) Information on All Saints' Anglican attendance and related efforts at maintaining it is available throughout the church's records, see Acc Nos. 95.31, 76.48,69.260.2002.933, PAA, Edmonton.

(45) "Edmonton Presbytery of the United Church." clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(46) "First Baptist Church," clippings file, CEA, Edmonton.

(47) Edmonton Journal, Dec. 2,1967; Dec. 27, 1969.

(48) Edmonton Journal, Jan. 13, 1968.

(49) The reasons for declining church attendance are debated - some salient books on the subject include Brian Clarke and Stuart Macdonald, Leaving Christianity: Changing Allegiances in Canada since 1945 (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2017); the work of Reginald Bibby in especially Fragmented Gods and, more recently, Resilient Gods; several excellent articles on the Canadian context can be found in Nancy Christie and Michael Gauvreau, eds. The Sixties and Beyond: Dechristianuation in North America and Western Europe, 1945-2000 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013).

(50) Clarke and Macdonald, 199.

(51) Edmonton Journal, July 8, 1978.

(52) "Alberta Register of Historic Places - St. Joachim's Roman Catholic Church, Edmonton," accessed Feb. 18, 2019, http://hefmi5.alberta.ca/ARHP/Details.aspx?DeptlD=l&Obiect|D=466S-0515; "Alberta Register of Historic Places - First Presbyterian Church, Edmonton," accessed Feb. 18, 2019, http://hemiis.atberta.ca/ARHP/Details.aspx?DeptlD=l&ObjectlD=4665-0514

(53) "Alberta Register of Historic Places - Knox Presbyterian Church, Edmonton," accessed Feb. 18, 2019, http://hermis.alberta.ca/ARHP/Details.aspx?DeptlD=18iObjectlD=4665-0680.

(54) Knox United Church would hold joint services with Holy Trinity Anglican in 1965 ("Knox United Church," clippings file, CEA, Edmonton); Augustana Lutheran, First Presbyterian, All Saints' Anglican and McDougall United would hold a service of all four congregations in McDougall United on Dec. 31, 1966 ("Churches, 1964-200?" clippings file, CEA, Edmonton); on Jan. 13, 1968. at St. Timothy's Anglican, seven local denominations gathered for a "Prayer for Christian Unity" service ("Churches. 1964-200?" clippings file, CEA. Edmonton).

(55) "Strathcona Baptist Church." clippings file, CEA. Edmonton.

(56) ARCAE 1.7.3 Sacred Heart Parish Records, Box F4-4-1 and F4-4-2, Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton Archives. Edmonton.

(57) See Clarke and Macdonald. Leaving Christianity, esp. chpt. 5.

by Connor J. Thompson

Connor J. Thompson is a Master's student in Religious Studies at the University of Regina. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in History at the University of Alberta, where he was the 2017 recipient of the Prairie History Medal and the S. W. Field Prize.

Article Details

Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback
Title Annotation:	Edmonton, Alberta
Author:	Thompson, Connor J.
Publication:	Alberta History
Geographic Code:	1CANA
Date:	Jun 22, 2019
Words:	4750
Previous Article:	NATURAL GAS, 1906.
Next Article:	MANY SETTLERS FOR ALBERTA.
Topics:	Christian denominations Christianity History Social aspects