First Presbyterian Church, Edmonton

About the Book

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.

About the Author

Kenneth Munro has been a member of First Presbyterian Church, Edmonton since January 1974 and is a member of the Session of the Church. He has served on the board of Managers, as a Clerk of Session and still sings in the Church Choir. He is a professor of History at the University of Alberta. He received a B.A. from the University of Toronto in 1968, an M.A. from McMaster University at Hamilton Ontario in 1969 and a Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa in 1973. Since 1972, he has taught at the University of Alberta. Although Dr. Munro specializes in political biography in late ninteenth century French Canada, he has studied and written on the Canadian Crown. His articles include: "The Crown and French Canada: The role of the Govenors-General in Making the Crown relevant, 1867-1917", in Imperial Canada, ed. Colin Coates, The University of Edinburgh, 1977, 109-121 and "Canada as Reflected in her Participation in the Coronation of her Monarchs in the Twentieth Century", Journal of Historical Sociology , 14.1 (March 2001), 21-46. Professor Munro has published two books: The Political Career of Sir Adolphe Chapleau, Premier of Quebec 1879-1882. Lewiston, NY: the Edwin Mellen Press, 1992 and A Biography of Franois-Xavier-Anselme Trudel, Quebec's Foremost political Maverick in the Nineteenth Century. Lewiston, NY: the Edwin Mellen Press, 2001.