CHURCH OBSERVES CENTENNIAL
Alberta’s oldest Presbyterian Church a visual feast for eyes
One wintry Sunday three years ago, Isabel McRae grew impatient waiting for her ride to church.
So the diminutive 100-yearold ventured out alone from her Rosedale Manor home. The retired school teacher pushed her walker through six blocks of slushy snow along Jasper Avenue to First Presbyterian Church — at 10025 105th street — where she’s been attending since the early 1920s.
“By the time she got here, she was so cold she was shivering, and the women whipped her upstairs to the meeting room, got her in a blanket and gave her some hot soup or coffee,” said Donald Reynolds, McRae’s relative. “So we always make sure there’s someone there to drive her.”
For McRae and many others, Sunday mornings at Alberta’s oldest Presbyterian Church are part of an indispensable rhythm of life.
It’s little wonder, then, that the now 104-year-old took her place in front of First Presbyterian Church Sunday morning, where congregants gathered at 10 a.m. Sunday to pose for a picture to commemorate the centennial of the building’s dedication.
“It’s my church home where I’ve come for most of my life,” McRae said. “I enjoy the hymns, the choir, and the minister’s message. It’s inspiring to sing with others.”
Music is just one of many inspirations found inside the massive brick edifice with its stained glass, hand-crafted wooden panelling, extensive archives and a labyrinth of rooms. The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees was founded in the basement in 1919 in the same unassuming room Ernest Manning would later occupy for his Social Credit meetings. The church possesses original regimental flags from the First World War and communion glasses from the late 19th century, the latter discovered in a safe so large it’s believed the church was built around it. But it’s the 1,250-seat sanctuary which really sets the building apart. Above the 1,572 pipes of the recently restored 1909 Casavant Freres organ, the arched ceiling reads “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,” a biblical phrase from Psalm 29:2 rediscovered in 2002, a half century after it was painted over.
“Indeed, this building is a treasure, one that’s hard to put a price on. They just don’t build them like this anymore,” Rev. Harry Currie said during a sermon reflecting on lives changed by the church.
“But what we really celebrate is God. God has been worshipped in this place for a hundred years.”
The congregation first met in November 1881 in a room above a store owned by John A. McDougall, a fur trader and eventually mayor and MLA. McDougall helped finance the congregation’s first building the next year at 104th Street and 99th Avenue. In 1902, the congregation moved to 102nd Street and Jasper Avenue, where it quickly outgrew its facilities. Construction on the present site began in July 1911, completed and occupied by March 1912.
The present-day church building largely owes its existence to Rev. David George McQueen, who served as minister for 43 years between 1887 and 1930. Having some handson experience himself, McQueen personally oversaw the construction of the building.
Jan Martin, McQueen’s 74-year-old granddaughter, grew up in the church after McQueen’s death, where she was grilled in the 107 questions found in the Shorter Catechism, and where it proved impossible to remain anonymous.
“I look quite like the old McQueens, so people would say, ‘I know who you are,’” laughed Martin, who came from Ottawa for the celebration.
Although the congregation now sits at about 200 — a fraction of its peak attendance — Martin is glad to find First Presbyterian Church still a welcoming congregation home to wonderful music and a sense of history.