St. Joseph’s Church was first established in 1898 to serve the community of Spruce Grove. From 1898 to 1922 priests serving the Stony Plain Reserve provided service in Spruce Groves. In 1925 the parish was established to continue serving the pre-dominantly French-Canadian parishioners. In 1962 the church burnt down and as a consequence St. Joseph’s became a mission served by Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Stony Plain. For 20 years the parish was without its own building and mass was celebrated in various locations including a school gymnasium and St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church. From the insurance money a new church site was purchased. In Aug. 1980 Msgr E. Donahoe conducted a sod-turning ceremony for the new church and a year later on Aug.30 1981 Archbishop J.N. MacNeil blessed the new church which served over 700 families.
In 1927 under the care of Rev. Charles Keena the first church serving the community of Stony Plain was established. Archbishop H.J. O’Leary blessed the church on July 28th, 1929 and dedicated it to St. Philip. In 1945 the church received a donation of $2000.00 from Arthur J. Labo to build a new chapel and upon completion the church was renamed Our Lady of Perpetual Help in his honour. By 1963 the church was again in need of renovations where were completed a year later in 1964.
From 1962 until the merging of the two parishes St. Joseph and OLPH shared a priest. In 1990 the two parishes established a committee with a mandate to undertake a feasibility study regarding one common facility for the two parishes due to the following reasons, a chronic shortage of priests, the overworking of the priests serving rural parishes, overcrowding at masses, and the need for a new church building for the parishioners of OLPH.
In June 1999 Archbishop McNeil announced that the parishes of St. Joseph’s and OLPH whould amalgamate. To better facilitate the amalgamation it was mandated that the two existing church be sold and a new church be constructed. In 2000 the parishes celebrated a turning-the-sod ceremony and after two years of construction the new building was complete. On February 1, 2001 the parishes of OLPH and St. Joseph were suppressed and Holy Trinity Parish was established in their place.
Sources: Information taken from the parish files for St. Josephs and Our Lady of Perpetual Help kept at the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton Archives.
The beginnings of St. Joachim Parish can be traced back to Fort Edmonton, the Hudson’s Bay Company’s main trading post in western Canada.
It was on September 6, 1838 that Catholic priests first set foot at the fort. Rev. Norbert Blanchet and Rev. Modeste Demers made a stop there on their way to Oregon. On September 10th, the day of their departure, they blessed a large cross and planted it on the current site of the Alberta Legislature to symbolize possession of Edmonton for Christ and His Church.
The first missionary to be sent to Western Canada was Rev. Jean-Baptiste Thibault who arrived at Fort Edmonton from Red River on June 19, 1842 and stayed until July 25th. He then went to visit the Indigenous people to the south and west of the fort where he returned on August 29th. He went back to Red River on September 18th. In 1844, he returned to settle permanently at Lac Ste. Anne. His companion, Rev. Joseph Bourassa, stopped at Fort Edmonton on August 5th where days later Rev. Thibault will arrive from Lac Ste. Anne en route to Fort Pitt. For the next eight years they would regularly serve Fort Edmonton and Lac Ste. Anne.
In September 17, 1852, Father Albert Lacombe arrived at Fort Edmonton. In May of the following year, Rev. Bourassa went back to Red River leaving Rev. Lacombe alone until the arrival of Rev. René Remas, OMI on September 1853. The two priests continued to service the fort along with Rev. Célestin-Marie Frain, OMI who joined in 1858 and Rev. Jean-Marie Caër in 1860, OMI. From 1865 until October 1883, service was provided by the Oblates from the mission of St. Albert.
In 1854, Fort Edmonton received its first episcopal visit from Bishop Alexandre Taché, OMI of St. Boniface and it was during this time that the name St. Joachim mission was given. Several days later, Bishop Taché proceeded to Lac Ste. Anne. He would visit the mission of St. Joachim again in 1860 and 1864.
Despite being an active mission, St. Joachim did not have a chapel nor a church. A small hut served as a chapel-residence. Sunday and holiday services took place in the great hall of the residence of the chief factor so that in 1859, Chief J.W. Christie of Fort Edmonton authorized the construction of a small church building with residence within the fort. It was completed on December 24, 1859 and the first Mass was said that evening. This first church would remain in use until 1876 when the governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company requested Bishop Vital Grandin to remove the chapel and the residence from the fort. In October, the buildings were taken down and rebuilt on a 9-acre property given to Bishop Grandin by Malcolm Groat. This was the second church.
The arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway at Calgary on August 11, 1883, heralded an era of prosperity for Edmonton. Also, the Hudson's Bay Company surveyed its huge estate to put the lots on the market and Bishop Grandin acquired a whole block of land. The population was growing daily so much so that it became necessary for the Oblates at St. Albert to make more and more frequent and prolonged stays there.
Bishop Grandin named his nephew, Reverend Henri Grandin, OMI, the first resident priest of Saint-Joachim. On October 1, 1883, he settled permanently in the house-chapel on the Groat property, along with the scholastic brother Zéphyrin Lizée, OMI, who was to finish his studies and learn the Cree.
A larger church was begun on June 1, 1886 under the direction of Rev. Henri Grandin. On August 22, 1886, the feast of St. Joachim, the third church was solemnly blessed by Rev. Jean-Marie Lestanc, OMI. It was located on the site of the present church of St. Joachim.
The fourth church and the current one was built in 1899 and blessed on December 8th, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.
In 1901, Fr. H. Leduc, OMI, oversaw the completion of the belfry. In 1903, the stained glass windows were installed.
St. James parish was created on January 1, 1951. Prior to the establishment of the parish mass was celebrated by the Oblate Fathers of St. John College in St. James School on the corner of 91 street and 79 avenue. Construction began on St. James church in 1951 with Father Drouin, OMI, supervising the excavation work. The basement was completed in the summer of 1952, and the first mass was celebrated in the basement of the church in the summer 1952. The church was blessed on December 14, 1952 after construction was completed. Rev. Joseph Burke was the Pastor of St. James that year. A rectory was completed in the fall of 1957 and was officially opened in February 1958.
St. James parish merged with Assumption parish in June 2000.
In the early 1900’s settlers came from Eastern Canada, the United States and Europe to live in the settlement called Sparling, on the banks of Stoney Creek.
They went to Mass at St.Thomas Church in Duhamel where Father H. Beillevaire had his mission. The first mass in Sparling was celebrated by him, in a home, in 1906.
Thereafter, Fr. Van Wetten came from Wetaskiwin whenever he could. Mass was celebrated in a home or office or sometimes in the Town Hall. In Dec. 2. 1909, the first church was blessed by Bishop Emile Legal, OMI and dedicated to St. Francis Xavier. Father Van Wetten came every 2nd and 4th Sunday, until 1915.
On October 27, 1913, a bell was installed and blessed by Bishop E. Legal, OMI.
To serve an ever-growing parish, it was decided in 1927 to build a new church. It was completed in 1928 and blessed on June 17th by Archbishop O’Leary.
The old church was sold to the Grace Lutheran congregation.
In 1962, the church was demolished to make way for an even larger church. Construction of the third church began on the same site in November 1962, and completed in July 1963. In the meantime, Sunday liturgies were conducted at St. Patrick’s School. The new church was dedicated and officially blessed on July 17, 1963 by Coadjutor-Archbishop Anthony Jordan, OMI.
Formally incorporated under the Societies Act in 1966, the St. Francis of Assisi Parish Men's Club was formed to be the sponsoring body of the 50th pack of the Cubs and Scouts in Edmonton, to encourage, foster and develop among its members a recognition of the importance of the Catholic Church in the national life, carry on a literary and debating club for the discussion of topics of general interest and to encourage the practise of public speaking among its members.
The group held annual meetings where members for the executive were elected. Membership dues consisted of $1.00 a year which ensured that any Catholic man living with in the boundaries of St. Francis Parish or any Catholic man who was a supporter of St. Francis parish could join.
Prior to incorporation the group existed in a more ad hoc manner, meeting to discuss issues relavant to the men of St. Francis of Assisi parish.
The Men's Club conducted fundraising activities including an annual dance to raise money for parish projects. Starting in 2002 the club sponsored a child in Haiti through Christian Child Care International.
When St. Francis of Assisi parish closed in 2005 the club was also closed.
With the oil boom in the Drayton Valley area in the 1950s plans to develop a Catholic Parish in Evansburg began. In 1962 Entwistle parish was transferred to Evansburg. A new church was built on land donated by Leonard M. Corkey and the church was blessed and dedicated to St. Elizabeth of Hungary by Coadjutor Archbishop Anthony on March 18, 1964. Today the parish is served from Drayton Valley.
Prior to 1927 masses were held in private homes in the area. A permanent pastor was assigned in 1927 and the building of the first church began in 1927. Clandonald has been served by many parishes and today is served by Vermillion.