This is the story of the Munro family of Longlac. George, Jane and I spent our salad days in this picturesque little Northwestern Ontario community based on the pulp industry nestled between two First Nations’ reserves. It is the story of a largely agricultural family whose members had deep roots in the soil of Saskatchewan and Ontario and whose offspring struggled throughout the twentieth century to become well-educated middle class urban family members. Although my grandparents and parents brought family characteristics to bear on the development of me and my siblings, this little community provided an environment in our early years which left an indelible influence on all three of our lives. Longlac was a mirror of the larger Canadian environment which sometimes exhibited prejudice and stifled creativity, but it also exhibited tolerance and allowed freedom for personal growth. Education was the passport to employment in urban Canada and to a full participation in Canadian life. Our parents saw that my siblings and I knew of our origins in both western and eastern Canada and gave us every opportunity to become familiar with both the English and French languages and cultures. Our eye on the world was the CBC whose low power relay transmitter broadcast English-language programs during the day. This environment was our springboard to success in our various professions and provided the following generations with an ability to contribute to Canada as hard-working, caring members of a middle-class family.
When Archbishop Henry O’Leary became the second archbishop of Edmonton in 1920, he had a dream to build a western Canada Catholic college that would educate students in the Christian intellectual tradition.This is the story of how a small Roman Catholic institution confronted daunting challenges to become a Christian beacon of enlightenment at the very heart of the secular University of Alberta. Scholarship and community life in residence was always supplemented with teaching from the Christian Ministry Team, to form Christian citizens who would go out into the world to serve the larger community following graduation. In 1963, the Congregation of St. Basil took over the administration of the College from the Christian Brothers de la Salle who had administered the College from its founding in 1926. Since its establishment almost ninety years ago, the College has continued to provide young men and women with post-secondary courses grounded in Roman Catholic thought while pursuing their undergraduate degrees at the University of Alberta. Initially, a residence was built for men, but O’Leary’s dream of also constructing a women’s residence never died and was finally realized in 2015. Faced with slender means, misunderstandings, student mischief and personality clashes, the mission of St. Joseph’s College has guided faculty, administrators, staff and Board members throughout its history and melded them into a close-knit community whose example is the envy of other units at the University of Alberta.
This book is the story of the congregation of the First Presbyterian Church, Edmonton and the people who made it such a fascinating religious community. The colourful characters, the saints and sinners, the good and the worthy, the weak and the domineering, and portrayed in a very caring fashion. The dignity and worth of the human spirit along with the foibles of human nature are laid bare in this portrayal of a congregation's struggle to assert a dominant role within the Presbyterian, and Edmonton, communities. With the arrival of the Presbyterian Church in Canada in what latter became the province of Alberta and the formation of the congregation in 1881, the influence and prestige of members of the congregation ensured Presbyterians played a vibrant role over the religious and public affairs of the national Church and throughout northern Alberta until the disruption of 1925. The haemorrhage of members of First Presbyterian Church, Edmonton, to the new United Church of Canada left a weakened congregation with a diminished presence in the Presbyterian Church and provincial society. This book examines how this struggling congregation has attempted to rise to prominence again and move out of the shadow of humanism and play a credible Christian role within our twenty-first century secular environment.
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