Reflections

This article originally appeared in Clarion and is posted here with permission. The author, Ralph Winkel, was a founding member of the Canadian Reformed Church in Edmonton, and remained a member of one of the Canadian Reformed congregations in Edmonton, secure in the knowledge of his salvation, until his recent death this July. The photos show the congregation outside of the Winkels' front porch after the first service..

By Ralph Winkel

In the fall of 1949 we went to church for the first time since we came to Canada. We attended the church service at the First Christian Reformed Church located on 110 Avenue and 96 Street in Edmonton, Alberta.

It was quite an experience. Upstairs in the main sanctuary there was a minister preaching in English. Downstairs in the basement were all the newcomers with an elder reading a Dutch sermon. Later on I found out that most of these sermons were printed before the Second World War, that is, from the 1930s. Somehow the service was timed in such a way that the English singing upstairs did not coincide with the Dutch singing downstairs.

After the church service we stood outside and met other recent arrivals. After a few Sundays we met people who had also belonged to the Gereformeerde Kerken (Art. 31) in the Netherlands. It did not take too long before the like-minded decided that they were better off to have church meetings on their own. They could just as well listen to a sermon of their own Dutch churches. And those sermons were of a more recent dateÐ 1949 and on.

The first reading services were held in the Bible Presbyterian Church located on 92 Street and Jasper Avenue in Edmonton. I remember that the first service (meeting) was held at 11 a.m. and the second service began at 1 p.m. All of us brought a lunch. Rev. J. Van Popta preached in that small church building. Also Dr. R. H. Bremmer and Rev. D. Vreugdenhil, both from Zwolle, preached in that building. This little church building became a union hall and after a few years it was demolished. Whatever happened to the Bible Presbyterian Church, it disappeared.

When the membership grew, the I.O.O.F. hall was rented. We also had church services in the Alberta College Gym located on the present site of the A.G.T. (Telus) building, and in a Quonset building behind the Seventh-day Adventist church building at 149 Street and 102 Avenue. We also used the Seventh-day Adventist church building on 111 Avenue and 102 Street.

The church was instituted in our home at 11247-88 Street in Edmonton on July 9, 1950. When looking at the pictures you can see we had a Òfull houseÓ (and only one bathroom). Elders and deacons were chosen and installed. Some wanted to celebrate the Lord'Õs Supper, but time did not allow for this. Rev. J. Hettinga from the Netherlands had a very busy day. The Dutch ÒmotherÓ churches were not topleased with the institutions in Canada. They were of the opinion that a ÒrightÓ church could have been found. This was tried, but none could meet the criteria. Hindsight proved the newly instituted churches to be right.

Looking at the pictures once again, I am the only one that still lives in Edmonton and belongs to the Providence Canadian Reformed Church. All the others have moved to other parts of Canada or have passed away. I can recognize certain faces and names, but that is not of any interest to the church membership today.

Fifty years is a long stretch of living and I have seen tensions in our Edmonton church life Ð differences in opinions: from the only true church concept to normal Reformed, just to name a couple. Years later these differences have often been an obstacle in finding unity with other Reformed churches. Some say our church is very strict in its liturgy, but history has proven that orthodox churches keep their membership, while others, having put more emphasis on different types of music etc. than on the preaching, are losing members. Where is the right balance?

The future of our Edmonton churches is in our FatherÕs hand, and so is ours and that of our descendants. His love endures forever.

Mr. Ralph Winkel was a member of the Providence Canadian Reformed Church in Edmonton, Alberta.