Parish: St. John the Baptist

Location: Thorsby

THORSBY – St. JOHN the BAPTIST Parish – Парафія Різдва св. Івана Хрестителя

Location: NW 11-49-1-5.: 1 km. south of Thorsby. In 1907 the first church of St. Nicholas was built on 10 acres of land donated by the Government: 5 km. south-west from Thorsby. The first parish priest who blessed the church and the cemetery was Fr. Matthew Hura, OSBM. After three years as a Ukrainian Catholic Church the church land was taken over by the Orthodox. Ukrainian Catholics purchased 2 acres of land 5 km. east of Thorsby (SW 13-49-28-4) and built a church dedicating it to “Nativity of St. John Baptist”. In 1931 the parishioners purchased a parcel in the town (#5 Blk.1, Pl. 6338 E.T.) and transported the whole church structure to the new place. In 1959 the decision was made to build a new church: construction started in 1961 and was completed in 1969. On July 7 (the feast day) the church was consecrated by Bishop Neil Savaryn and Fr. Raphael Melnyk. The Parish has two cemeteries. On October 26, 1980 a monument was placed in front of the church commemorating 75 th anniversary of the Province of Alberta