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The first Ukrainians settled in the Athabasca area beginning in 1912. However, organizational activity only started after World War One, when the major influx of Ukrainian settlers took place. Fr. W. Seneshen started visiting the community in at the end of the 1940s, giving impetus to the founding of a congregation. His liturgies were celebrated in a log chapel that had served as the first place of worship for Athabasca’s Anglican faithful. Finally, on 24 June 1951 an inaugural meeting was held after a church service. Members present contributed six dollars each toward an honorarium for the priest and the rental of the chapel.
An executive was then elected to provide leadership to the fledgling congregation (meeting at the homes of various supporters). A $1.50 fee was established for membership. On 1 November 1951 the new parish resolved at a special meeting to look for land on which to construct a church. The following month a building fund was initiated. A volunteer donation of $5.00 was requested from each family member. It was at a meeting in February 1952 that the members of the congregation unanimously agreed to adopt the name “Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of St. Peter and Paul.”
At a similar gathering in July 1952 a motion was passed that the congregation purchase three adjoining lots from the Town of Athabasca. These were subsequently leveled in preparation for construction. At this time, the parish was comprised of 23 families and 17 individual members. In February 1953 the executive started acquiring construction materials for the project. Henry Koffler was contracted to build a basement for a labor cost of $609.50. That same year, the congregation formally requested affiliation with the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada, whose statutes were accepted and passed unanimously by the membership.
Work on finishing the basement progressed in 1954, and by 1 August it was used for the first wedding, that of Olia Kowalchuk and Peter Marchuk. Congregational activity developed slowly over these years. The basement was utilized as a place of worship for more than a decade. In January 1957 it was requested of the Consistory that St. Peter and Paul church be served by the priest at Lac La Biche, since such an arrangement would be far more convenient. However, as this was denied, Athabasca continued to receive its pastoral care from clergy assigned from Westlock. Consequently, the congregation pledged $1200 towards the construction of a manse in Westlock in 1957, raising this sum through installment payments over the next two years. At this time, membership consisted of fifteen families, with 35 paid members.
Twelve liturgies were celebrated by the Athabasca faithful in 1958. That same year they donated $125 toward the building fund of Holy Trinity Church in nearby Richmond Park. Two years later, it was reported that 16 families (or 53 people in total, counting adults and children) were formal members of the church, with another seven families being described as sympathizers.
At the urging of Fr. H. Udod, the congregation started to move toward completing the upper part of the church. In February 1961 Walter Gasiorek won the tender to frame a proper Orthodox sanctuary for $900. Work began in the spring, and upon completing the exterior, Gasiorek was awarded an additional contract worth $400 for labour toward the construction of the church domes and preliminary work on the interior. In all, three domes were placed over the sanctuary, two small ones over towers flanking the main façade, and a larger one above the entryway. To save money, volunteers assisted with the process of finishing the church. Gradually over the next five years the sanctuary was completed in stages.
Meanwhile, at the 20 December 1961 annual general meeting the members once again petitioned the Consistory to include Athabasca in the Lac La Biche parish district. This time their request was eventually granted after extensive discussions concerning the fulfillment of the congregation’s outstanding financial obligations to the Westlock district. Subsequently, in June 1962, Walter Gasiorek completed construction of the front stairs, after which the first coat of stucco was applied to the outside walls. The final coat was applied two years later.
In 1969 the Athabasca congregation was incorporated under the Societies Act. In October 1971 they received their documentation under the Religious Societies Lands Act. At the 12 July 1975 Khram, St. Peter and Paul Church was formally consecrated during a visitation by Archbishop Andrew and Fr. A. Shcherban. The well-attended occasion also marked Fr. Kubin’s last Athabasca service before being reassigned to the Smoky Lake Parish District.
Together with Athabasca’s Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church, the St. Peter and Paul congregation also marked the Ukrainian Canadian Centennial by helping to finance a memorial cairn at the site of the Immigration Hall. The marker was unveiled and blessed on 14 June 1992 by Fr. S. Soroka and Fr. D. Bodnar from the Ukrainian Catholic Church, after which an ecumenical prayer service was held at the community centre. Over 500 people attended these celebrations, the highlights of the day’s program including a dinner and concert. Continuing with their flurry of activity, in September 1992 the members of the church commissioned Marvin Dzenkiw for the sum of $800 to write icons of the twelve apostles for the ikonostas, a job that he successfully completed in March 1993. New front doors were installed in the church the same year, and Nina Rys donated a beautiful new chalice. Other improvements were also made at this time, as part of the on-going process of maintaining the sanctuary and hall. The total number of paid members in 1994 was 38, consisting of 13 families and 12 individuals.
In 1995 the congregation joined forces with Ukrainian Catholic Church and other local denominations to erect a cairn and cross at the Town of Athabasca Cemetery—an undertaking that was spearheaded by St. Peter and Paul member, Alex Krawec. The monument was formally dedicated at a ceremony on 11 June 1995. At the same time, the tetrapod was painted and trimmed with gold, and a mortared brick sign was put up to identify the church.
By 1996 the paid membership had declined to 27, a figure that subsequently shrank further to 22 by 1999. As was happening in most other rural communities, families were getting smaller and long-time supporters were either dying or moving to other communities in retirement. However, this did not prevent the congregation from continuing with their efforts to fully furnish and finish their church. Thus as the nineties drew to a close more money was raised in donations and grants toward various smaller projects. These included the acquisition of processional icon stands, the construction of an Oblation table, and the addition of four extra pews in the sanctuary.
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GPS Co-ordinates: 54.721180, -113.273174
Affiliation: Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada
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