4 minute read
100 Years of Faith and Fun
100 Years of Faith and Fun
Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent
Attendees were excited to see old friends and acquaintances at the Vegreville United Church 100th Anniversary Celebration on June 7.
Former Vegreville resident, Betty Henderson, attended Vegreville United Church from 1952 to 1956 and 1960’s. “Memories I have of this church are that I had lots of friends here, and I was involved as a Leader with the Canadian Girls In Training group. I had 11 girls who were members throughout the five years. We were involved in a lot of different projects; they had a mother and daughter banquet and a father and daughter banquet. We also visited some of the nursing homes. I took them out to the Easter Egg at the Elks/Kinsmen Park in town on Good Friday and gave a sermon for just the group.
Another time, we had a truck camper and took the girls to Edmonton for the Jesus Christ Superstar production, which was a lot of fun. I am still in touch with some of those girls.
I also was a member of the United Church Women's group.”
Shirley Rattray shared that she has belonged to this church for 53 years and was married here. She didn’t attend church service every Sunday, but kept a strong religious background where her children were in Sunday school, and had received blessings done here. Her children and grandchildren will continue to follow this faith and realize the church is always there to welcome them. It will help them feel loved by our precious Lord and our church community.
“It was a very wonderful and beautiful experience to have all the friendships from this church and all the bonds we formed,” Shirley added.
Diane Fausak and crew caterers provided a hearty and delicious meal according to the attendees.
After this, Vegreville Handbell Choir performed tranquil religious songs, and Lisa Topilko, Ellen Johnstone, Jim Bragg, and Walter Saunders led an Old Time Gospel Sing-a-Long.
Coordinator Georgina Baron explained they have about 100 members at their church now. However, the regular attendance at the church is probably about 20 people.
Georgina expressed, “From my perspective, the highlights from the celebration were that it was encouraging to see so many people attending the event. There was one lady from Calgary, another from Drumheller. It was especially nice for me to see so many people who were very involved in our church while they lived here, which in some cases was many years ago. The food served at the banquet was delicious. Overall, I feel it was a success. The words from Rev. Sparks on Saturday evening were very informative about the history and the progress of the United Church of Canada.
Reverend Sparks was not a former minister of the Vegreville United Church. Unfortunately, all of our previous ministers have passed away, except for Reverend Carolyn Woodall, who is very busy as she is the only active United Church minister in our area.”
Information compiled by Irene Shaw from Vegreville in Review read that the earliest records of the Vermilion River Methodist Mission, in which the present Vegreville United Church had its origin, have been carefully preserved since 1902 and cover the period to 1914. The Mission was the out-growth of work begun by Rev. R. E. Finlay, who drove from Edmonton by horse and buggy to hold services in the homes of pioneers who settled in the Old Vegreville area.
As early as 1914, there was a mutual feeling that the common interests and beliefs of the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches were greater than the differences that divided them. After much discussion, the decision was made to form a Union Church of Vegreville. This was before the eventual Church Union across Canada in 1925 by 11 years. Reverend Schrag was the Minister in 1925.
The Vegreville United Church was located for many years where the Telus building now stands and was moved to a new home in 1969, where it is now situated.
