Christian Cyclopedia

Canada.

A. Country occupying all North America N of the US except Alaska and the Fr. islands St. Pierre and Miquelon in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Area: 3,851,809 sq. mi.; pop. (1977): ca. 23,000,000. Contacted by Norsemen perhaps ca. 1000 AD; came under Fr. influence, esp. in Quebec, in the 16th c. (see also La Salle, Rene Robert Cavelier de; Marquette, Jacques), Eng. influence in the 17th c. Dominion of Can. formed 1867; mem. Commonwealth of Nations 1931, UN 1845; received its own constitution 1982. Ethnic composition: first inhabitants were Indians and Eskimo; now ca. 45% of Brit. descent; ca. 29% of Fr. descent; the rest Ger. It., Ukrainian, Neth. etc. Language: Eng. and Fr. are official. Religion: RC ca. 46%; United Ch. of Can. ca. 18%; Angl. ca. 12%; the rest Presb., Luth. Bap. Jewish, etc.

B. Lutheranism in Canada.

1. The 1st to conduct a Luth. service in Can. was R. Jensen (see Danish Lutherans in America, 1). In 1749 a wave of immigrants, among them many Ger. Luths. landed at Halifax, N. S.; the first documentary evidence of the existence of a cong. there bears the date October 12, 1752. Here was erected 1755 St. George Luth. Ch. the first Luth. Ch., on Can. soil. But not till 1783 did these Luths. obtain their own pastor, B. M. Hausihl* (1727–99); meanwhile they were served by a pious layman and later occasonally by an Angl. rector.

2. Lunenburg, N. S., was founded June 7, 1753, with the arrival of an expedition including many Ger. Lutherans. According to Andreas Jung, historian of the period, Paul Bryzelius (1713–73), a Swede, ordained by the Ch. of Eng., began to serve these Luths. 1767. About 1770 they tried to obtain pastoral services through H. M. Mühlenberg* of Philadelphia, but without success. Frederick Schultz became pastor of the group 1772 and dedicated Zion Luth. Ch. there 1772. In 1775 the cong. bad 185 families. It has the longest continuous hist. of any Luth. cong. in Canada.

3. The Nova Scotia Conf. of the Pittsburgh Syn. was organized 1876 and the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Nova Scotia 1903 (mem. Gen. Council 1903; ULC 1918; Atlantic Dist., E Can. Syn., LCA 1962). Represented in New Brunswick, Newf. and Nova Scotia.

4. Forty Ger. Luth. families joined other Loyalists in leaving the Mohawk Valley and emigrating to the neighborhood of Kingston, Ont.; there 2 congs. were organized 1783, one at Bath, the other at Ernestown. Barren soil caused the community to resettle near the present town of Morrisburg; there Zion Luth. Ch. was completed at Riverside 1789, the first Luth. ch. in Ont., dedicated by Samuel Schwerdtfeger,* newly called pastor of Albany, New York, and former mem. of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, who had moved to Williamsburg, Dundas Co., Ont. Later many of these St. Lawrence Luths. were lost to Angl. Meth., and pseudo-Luth. congs. New life was brought into this rapidly disintegrating community when Herman Hayunga (d. 1872) resigned his chair at Hartwick Sem. and accepted a call to the Saint Lawrence Luths. 1826, during a ministry of 46 yrs. he gathered a sizable cong. at St. John's, Riverside, and est. St. Peter's, N Williamsburg. These congs. and those in York Co. had joined the Can. Syn. but later severed their connections to join the syns. of New York and New Eng., from which the Eng.-speaking congs. again withdrew to form the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Cen. Can. 1908, mem. of the Gen. Council 1909 and of the ULC 1918; merged 1925 into the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Can. (see United Lutheran Church in America, The, Synods of, 1).

5. Another group of ca. 60 Ger. Luth. families moved from the Genesee Valley, New York, and settled in Markham Twp., ca. 20 mi. N. of Toronto 1793. According to the record in the Nat. Archives and Library, Ottawa, No. 3987, congs. were organized at Unionville and Buttonville 1794; their first pastor was G. S. Liebich. After a vacancy of nearly 16 yrs., an aged Christian, Adam Keffer, traveled several hundred mi. mostly on foot, to Klecknerville, Pennsylvania, to plead with the Pittsburgh Syn. for a pastor. His first visit brought no results other than a visit 1849 by G. Bassler,* pres. of the syn. But when Keffer appeared again 1850 with more insistent pleas, C. F. Diehl was sent in September to the congs. in the Markham and Vaughan area.

6. Luths. from Hesse, Alsace, and Württemberg began to settle in Waterloo Co., Ont., in the early part of the 19th c. and were served for ca. 30 yrs. by the aggressive miss. Frederick Wilhelm Bindemann (1790–1865), Ref. in name and liberal in doctrine. Bindemann organized many congs., but many conservative Luths. refused his ministrations; after a visit by J. H. Bernheim in Kitchener 1836, missionaries were sent from the Pittsburgh Syn. and the Pennsylvania Ministerium.

7. The Canada Conf. of the Pittsburgh Syn. was organized 1853; it in turn became the Ev. Luth. Syn. of Can. (Gen. Syn.) 1861. It was one of the syns. forming the Gen. Council 1867; joined ULC 1918.

8. St. Peter Ch., Kitchener (E Can. Syn.), founded 1863, is the largest Luth. cong. in Can.

9. On Waterloo Luth. Sem. and Waterloo Coll. see United Lutheran Church, in America, The, Synods of, 1.

10. The E Dist. of the Mo. Syn. began work in Ont. through J. A. Ernst,* who made miss. journeys into the Rhineland and Fisherville area from his home in Eden, New York, and organized congregations 1854 at Rhineland in February and at Fisherville in May. The Rhineland cong. thus became the mother ch. of the Mo. Syn. in Can.; it obtained official membership in this syn. 1854. Forced by illness to resign his charge in New York 1860, he went to Euclid, Ohio, then (1863) to Lecon and Elmira, Waterloo Co., Ont. (then called Canada West), where he served ca.; 18 yrs. and, with pastors Johann E. Roeder (d. February 21, 1902) and C. Henry Sprengeler (June 25, 1819–October 10, 1903), organizing many congs., in the Waterloo area. When the Can. Dist. of the Mo. Syn. was formed 1879, he became its first president. The name of this Dist. was changed 1923 to Ontario Dist.

11. Under the direction of the Minnesota Dist. the Mo. Syn. began work in W Can. 1879, when Ernst Heinrich Rolf (d. August 20, 1900) of St. Paul, Minnesota, came to serve Luths. at Berlin (Ossowo), Manitoba. Candidate H. Bügel was called to Winnipeg 1891 and was the first resident missionary. Candidate Emil Eberhardt began the work of pioneering in Alta. at Stony Plain 1894, after F. Eggers of Great Falls, Montana, had explored the territory. The congs. of the 2 W provinces were organized into the Alta. and Brit. Columbia Dist. 1921; the Man. and Sask. Dist. was formed 1922. Since 1921 the Mo. Syn. maintains Conc. Coll. at Edmonton, a residential high school and jr. college. Luth. radio (esp. “The Lutheran Hour”) and TV programs have been widely used.

12. The activity of the Wisconsin* Synod in Can. was for a number of yrs. confined to the work of Ewald Herrmann. He left the state ch. of Hannover, Ger., 1894 and came to Saskatchewan (Assiniboia) as a mem. of the General* Council, serving congs. at Josephsburg, Neudorf, and Wellesley. He was colloquized by F. Pfotenhauer* 1903 and became a mem. of the Mo. Syn. In 1905 he accepted a call to Lake Mills, Wisconsin, and joined the Wisconsin Synod. Then he accepted a call extended by a small group of families in Regina, Sask. While in Regina he joined the Nebraska Dist. of the Wisconsin Syn. Supported by that Syn. he remained pastor of Grace Luth. Ch., Regina, till 1924, when he resigned because of advancing age. His cong. had requested relations with the Mo. Syn. Another cong. of the Wisconsin Syn., Our Savior, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., was organized 1956.—In Edmonton, Alta., a group of people left St. Paul Ch. (Mo. Syn.) under protest and on January 18, 1963, founded St. Matthew Luth. Ch. as an indep. cong. under the leadership of student Dieter Mueller. The cong. was accepted into membership by the Wisconsin Syn. in its 1963 conv. at Milwaukee. A ch. bldg. was completed December 1963.

13 Icelanders arrived at Gimli, Man., in October 1875; the first Icelandic service in Can. was conducted in their midst in August 1876 by Paul Thorlaksson (1849–82), grad. of Conc. Sem., St. Louis; October 1877 he accepted the call to 3 congs. comprising ca. 120 families. His conservative theol. did not find favor with 5 other congs, of 130 families; these 5 called Jon Bjarnason (1845–1914) in 1877. This latter group adopted the name The Icelandic Syn. of Am. the former were known as The Icelandic Cong. in New Iceland. In 1885 Icelandic congs. on both sides of the internat. boundary formally organized the Icelandic Ev. Luth. Syn. in (or of) (N) Am. In 1913 the Jon Bjarnason Academy was est. in Winnipeg and operated continuously up to 1940, when a change in the educ. policy of the province brought its closing. Most of the Icelandic pastors received their theol. training in ULC seminaries. This syn. joined the Can. Syn., LCA, 1962.

14. With the advent of the transcontinental railroad 1885, many Luths. arrived in W Can., esp. from Bucovina, Rumania, Galicia, the W provinces of Russia, and Ger. In 1888 forty Ger. Luths. of Winnipeg addressed a request for help to the Can. Syn. In response, Pres. F. Veit visited them and organized Trin. Ger. Ev. Luth. Cong. in Winnipeg December 16, 1888. Heinrich C. Schmieder, asst. pastor at St. Paul Ch., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, grad. of Kropp Sem., Ger., accepted the call as first pastor 1889. The long distance from the Can. Syn. in Ont. made the founding of a separate syn. in W Can. imperative; 4 pastors met July 22, 1897, in Winnipeg to org. a Ger. Ev. Luth. Syn. of Manitoba* and the NW Territories (entered ULC 1918); in 1947 it was changed to Ev. Luth. Syn. of W Can. The Gen. Council, to which the Man. Syn. belonged, was not able to supply enough missionaries for the rapidly growing field, and so an agreement was mad bet. the Gen. Council and Paulsen's Sem., Kropp, Ger., whereby the latter institution furnished many pastors for work in the Man. Syn.—In 1912 Spruce Grove Alta;, became the birthplace of the Luth. Coll. and Sem. That yr. several young men received some preliminary training in the home of Juergen Goos. In 1913 the institution was moved to S Edmonton, Alta., by the Ger. Ev. Luth. Syn. of Man. and other Provinces (see Manitoba and the Northwest Territories, Synod of); moved to Saskatoon, Sask., 1914; merged 1965 with Luther Theol. Sem. (see 20) to form Lutheran* Theol. Sem.. The Ev. Luth. Syn. of W. Can. became the W Can. Syn., LCA, 1962.

15. The work of the Nat. Ev. Luth. Ch. (Fin.). affiliated with the Syn. Conf., dates back to 1895. In that year Juho Heimonen began to preach at Fort William, Ont. As first miss. and first resident pastor he organized First Luth. Ch. in Fort William 1896 and the following yr. another cong. in Port Arthur, extending his activities also into Sask. Merged with LCMS January 1, 1964.

16. The Finnish Suomi Synod, with headquarters in Hancock, Michigan, has been interested in the spiritual welfare of the Finns in Can. ever since its founding 1890; but its work has always been handicapped by a shortage of ministers. Hence it sought assistance from the ULC A plan of cooperation was approved by both chs. (1921–30). Beginning 1930 the syn. authorized the ULC to send and support men to work among Finns in Can. In 1931 all Fin. work of this syn. was integrated with the Can. syns. of the ULC See also Finnish Lutherans in America, 2.

17. First Eng. Luth. Ch., Winnipeg, the only Can. cong. of the Eng. Ev. Luth. Syn. of the NW (ULC), joined the Cen. Can. Syn., LCA, 1962.

18. The 2 congs. of the Pacific Syn. (ULC) in Brit. Columbia merged with the W Can. Syn., LCA, 1962. The Slovak Zion Syn. (LCA) has 2 congs. with 329 souls.

19. The Joint Syn. of Ohio began its work in Can. when part of a former cong. of the Man. Syn. in Winnipeg appealed to H. Ernst, then pres. of the Minnesota Dist. of the Ohio Syn., to supply them with a pastor. G. Gehrke, later pres. and mission supt., accepted this call to Winnipeg 1905. In the fall of 1906 there were 14 pastors who ministered to many mission parishes throughout the prairie provinces; these parishes formed the Can. Conf., which in 1908 was organized into the Can. Dist. of the Ohio Syn., later a dist. of the ALC In 1913 an academy was erected at Melville, Sask., and relocated 1926 in Regina. Luther Coll. includes grade 9 to first yr. university and is affiliated with the U. of Saskatchewan.—In 1840 the Buffalo Syn. entered Ont. and organized St. John Ch., Gas Line. Later this body joined the ALC and its parishes in Ont. are now mems. of the E Dist. of the ALC

20. The Norw. Luth. Ch. began work in Can. at Parry Sound, Ont., 1876, when the Jarlsberg cong. was organized; in 1889 miss. work was begun in Vancouver and New Westminster, Brit. Columbia. With the exception of some work done by the Norw. Syn. in Man., aggressive work was started 1895. Work had been carried on indep. by the Norwegian Synod (see Evangelical Lutheran Church, The, 7–10), The United* Norwegian Lutheran Church (see also Evangelical Lutheran Church, The, 10–11), and the Hauge Norwegian Ev. Luth. Church (see Evangelical Lutheran Church, The, 4–6). In 1917 the parishes of these 3 bodies were organized into the Can. Dist. of the Norw. Luth. Ch. in Am.; in 1922 the Dist. was incorporated by an Act of Parliament under the name “The Norwegian Lutheran Church of Canada.” This body has 3 institutions of higher learning in Can.: Outlook Coll. in Sask., organized 1916, closed 1936 because of drought conditions and the depression, reopened 1939 under the name The Sask. Luth. Bible Inst., known today as Luth. Collegiate Bible Institute (151 students enrolled 1962–63), operating as a high school and a 2-yr. Bible school; Luther Theol. Sem., Saskatoon, Sask., conducted cooperatively with Luth. Coll. and Sem. of the Man. Synod (LCA) since 1939, merged 1965: Lutheran Theol. Sem.; Camrose Luth. Coll., Alta., with high school and commercial courses, opened 1911. In 1959 Camrose Luth. Coll. began first yr. university work.—This ch. with its institutions merged with the Ev. Luth. Ch. of Canada, ALC, 1960.

21. In 1885 the Minnesota Conf. of the August Syn. resolved to begin home miss. work in Can. At Stockholm, Sask., the first cong. was organized 1889. In 1913 the Can. Conf. of the Ev. Luth. August Syn. was formed. A school for training ministers was opened 1912 at Percival, Sask., but was closed several yrs. later because of financial difficulties. Joined W Can. Syn., LCA, 1962.

22. The work of the UELC (Dan.) was begun 1904 at Dickson, Alta., by J. G. Gundeson and later organized under the W. Can. Dist. of the United Dan. Luth. Ch. In the 1960's some congs. merged with the W Can. Syn., LCA, others with the Ev. Luth. Ch. of Can., ALC; some remained indep.

23. The Dan. Ev. Luth. Ch. has several congs. and is supported by the Dan. Ch. in For. Lands.

24. The Luth. Free Ch. has been active in Can. since 1895, when Christian Sangstad, with a group of ca. 80 Norwegians from Crookston, Minnesota, went to Bella Coola, Brit. Columbia, where he founded a cong. In 1903 work was begun in Alberta and in 1904 in Sask. This group merged with The Ev. Luth. Ch. of Can., ALC, 1963.

25. In 1928 John Horarik of the Slovak Ev. Luth. Ch. began to minister to Slovak people in Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, and Oshawa.

26. The Ev. Luth. Ch. of Canada. The Can. Dist. of the ALC was constituted July 7, 1960; a charter was granted by Parliament at Ottawa, incorporating and est. the Can. Dist. as The Ev. Luth. Ch. of Can.; it began to function as an autonomous body January 1967. The Ev. Luth. Ch. of Can. covers the territory from the Lakehead, Port Arthur, to the Pacific Coast. Congs. in E Can. are mems. of the E Dist. (US) of the ALC Merged 1985 with the LCA—Can. Section (see 27 below) to form the Evangelical* Luth. Ch. in Can.

27. The LCA—Can. Section was organized in Toronto in April 1963, a result of the merger in 1962, which in the US involved the Am. Ev. Luth. Ch., the August Ev. Luth. Ch., the Suomi (Fin.) Luth. Ch., and the ULC The LCA—Can. Section is divided into 3 syns.: the E Can. Syn. (Ont., Quebec, and the Maritimes); the Cen. Can. Syn. (Man. and Sask.); and the W Can. Syn. (Brit. Columbia, Alta., and the Yukon). Mem. of Lutheran* Council in Can. Merged 1985 with The Ev. Luth. Ch. of Can. (see 26 above) to form the Evangelical* Luth. Ch. in Can.

28. Lutheran Church—Canada (mem. of Lutheran* Council in Can.). A federation of syn. districts of the LCMS in Can., namely the Alta. and Brit. Columbia Dist., the Man. and Sask. Dist., the Ont. Dist., and the Can. Conf. of the Eng. Dist. Article III of the const. mentions as objects of the federation: 1. To promote the extension of the Kingdom of God and the work of the Lutheran Church—Canada; 2. To speak unitedly and with authority (a) in matters of public relations, (b) in conferring with the federal and/or provincial governments, and (c) in dealing with other church bodies; 3. To work toward doctrinal unity with other church bodies; 4. To study the matter of the formation of an indep. Lutheran Church—Canada to be affiliated with the LCMS Article V adds that membership in Lutheran Church—Canada shall in no wise alter the relationship of a Dist. or cong. to its parent body, nor shall it interfere with the prevailing constitutional, administrational, or any other regulations of said parent body. The const, requires for representation at the annual conv. one delegate for each 4,000 communicants or fraction thereof, with equal representation bet. pastors and lay members. The LCC was organized in Winnipeg September 11–12, 1958. Here the const., previously approved by the 3 Can. Dists., was adopted. The first officers, elected for 3 yrs., were A. H. Schwermann, pres.; Arne Kristo, Eng. Dist., vice-pres.; Maynard F. Pollex, Ont., secy.; Clarence Kuhnke, Man., treas.; David Appelt, Sask., mem.-at-large. A Dominion Charter was granted by Parliament, Ottawa, June 1959. At the time of the organization 1958 all the parishes of the LCC numbered 75,827 souls, 47,237 communicants, 184 pastors, and 321 congregations. The question “Shall the federation become an independent synod?” was placed before all congs. in Can. in spring 1964. The voting regulations agreed on by the Dists. called for a 66 2/3% majority in each District. Since the Ont. Dist. split with a 50–50 vote, the proposed action to become an autonomous syn. was defeated. In the early 1980s all 3 Districts, by nearly unanimous vote, called for est. of an autonomous LCC as partner ch. of the LCMS In 1985 the 3 Districts approved a const. and requested dissolution by the LCMS In 1986 the LCMS approved an autonomous syn. composed of the 3 Districts. In May 1988 more than 500 delegates adopted the const. On January 1, 1989, The Lutheran Church—Canada (LCC), with ca. 83,000 mems., became an autonomous partner ch. of the LCMS See also Ministry, Education of, X C and D.

29. Canadian Luth. World Relief is an agency for immigration and material aid sponsored by the ALC, LCA, and the LCMS Aid has been given to needy in Algeria, Austria, Jordan, Yugoslavia, the Crown Colony of Hong Kong, and elsewhere.

30. The Canadian Luth. Council, organized in 1952, was superseded by the Lutheran* Council in Can. 1967.

31. Lutheran institutions of mercy in Can. include Good Samaritan Hosp. (inter-Luth.), Edmonton, Alta.; Bethany Chronic Hosp. (ALC), Calgary, Alta.; Bethany Old Folks Home (ALC), Calgary, Alta.; Bethany Home and Hosp. (ALC), Camrose, Alta.; Luth. Home for the Aged (LCA), Wetaskiwin, Alta.; Luth. Sunset Home (ALC), Saskatoon, Sask.; St. Paul Luth. Home (ALC), Melville, Sask.; Bethany Pioneer Village (LCMS), Middle Lake, Saskatchewan. AHS

V. J. Eylands, Lutherans in Canada (Winnipeg, 1945); J. E. Herzer, Homesteading for God: A Story of the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) in Alberta and British Columbia 1894–1946 (Edmonton, Alta., 1946); Grace and Blessing: A History of the Ontario District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, compiled by a committee under direction of F. Malinsky (n. p., [1954]); K. F. Olafson, The Icelandic Lutheran Synod: Survey and Interpretation, 1885–1935 (Winnipeg, Man., n. d.); A. M. Rehwinkel, “Laying the Foundation of a New Church in Western Canada,” CHIQ, XXXVIII (1965–66), 3–15; D. L. Roth, Acadie and the Acadians, 3d ed. (Philadelphia, 1891); E. R. W Schultz, “Tragedy and Triumph in Canadian Lutheranism,” CHIQ, XXXVIII (1965–66), 55–72; A. H. Schwermann, “The Life and Times of Emil E. Eberhardt, Pioneer Missionary of Alberta and British Columbia, 20 April 1870 to 28 March 1957,” CHIQ, XXXIV (1961–62), 97–128; P. E. Wiegner, The Origin and Development of the Manitoba-Saskatchewan District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (n. p., 1957); Jubiläums-Büuchlein: Festschrift zur Feier des 50-Jährigen Jubiläums der evang.-luther. Synode von Canada (n. p., 1911); C. R. Cronmiller, A History of the Lutheran Church in Canada, I (n. p., 1961).

C. Protestantism in Canada.

Protestantism, represented chiefly by the Angl., Presb., Meth., and Cong. churches, is predominant in the West and Midwest.

As far back as the close of the 19th c. repeated attempts were made to unite the various Prot. denominations into one strong Canadian church. In sparsely settled areas many considered denominations unnecessary and wasteful. In 1904 a Joint Committee on Ch. Union was appointed by the Cong., Meth., and Presb. chs. to work toward amalgamation of these denominations. Doctrinal controversies and theol. issues were avoided as irrelevant and secondary in the face of the practical problems pressing on the church. After much deliberation a Basis of Union was drawn up and adopted by the 3 bodies; thus the United Ch. of Can. came into being June 10, 1925.

The Basis of Union guaranteed that there should be no disturbance of the local ch. in its freedom of action and form of govt.; yet there were upheavals in almost every community. Methodists were not prepared to accept Presb. ministers; Presbs. were not ready to sing out of Cong. hymnals.

Eventually all Meth. and Cong. chs., with isolated exceptions, joined the United Ch. of Can. and ceased to exist as denominations in Canada. Many Presb. chs. were divided and declined to join the merger. Comparatively few Presb. chs., except in the West, escaped disruption. HM

See also Canadian Council of Churches; Union Movements, 7.

D. Roman Catholic Church in Canada.

Since the territory now included in the Dom. Can. was largely settled by pioneers of the RC persuasion, the entire E section of the country is predominantly RC Jacques Cartier took possession of the Labrador region in the name of Fr. 1534 and ascended the St. Lawrence as far as Montreal 1535 to 1536. When the first permanent settlement was made at Quebec 1608 under the leadership of Samuel de Champlain, the settlement with its outposts was strongly RC from the beginning; the RC religious hist. of the Dom. may properly be said to begin 1625, when the Jesuits (see Society of Jesus) arrived, immediately beginning their educ. and miss. endeavors. For a while, after the country had come under Eng. control 1763, the number of Prots. increased rapidly in the E part of the Dom.; during the 18th c. immigration from Ireland was steady; the Fr. Cath. population was increased after the Franco-Prussian War by a number of Alsatians. There is no state ch. in the Dom. Can., but the RCs of Quebec are guaranteed the privileges which they enjoyed before the Eng. became masters of the country; RC schools have always received recognition before the law, but private schools conducted by Prot. bodies have often been conducted under a handicap which wrought much harm. 1871–1941 ca. 40% of the pop. of Can. was RC The 1961 percentage was 45.7% (8,347,826), the highest percentage being in Quebec. Can. has an apostolic delegate, who resides at Ottawa. AHS