Parish: Holy Eucharist

Location: Thorhild, Alberta

HOLY EUCHARIST Parish – Парафія Пресвятої Євхаристії

It appears that before the parish was organized and the cemetery was acquired, the area was visited at least on one occasion by Fr. Basil Ladyka for the purpose of baptizing the children. It was on June 3, 1913, that Fr. Ladyka baptized about 6 or 7 children of various ages in the home of Henry Buhay, which is located about 3 km. east of the present church in the area of Egremont sometimes referred to as “sand hills”. Then on August 29th of the same year Fr. Ladyka came to have the Divine Liturgy in open air on the newly acquired cemetery. The faithful came on foot. There were no roads and no horses but a few homesteaders already had oxen. Ukrainian people started to settle this area around 1909 and the area was generally settled by 1914. The cemetery had 10 acres and the land was donated by Michael Horbach which was a part of his homestead and legally described as part NW-2-59-22 West of 4 th meridian, title No. 244-X-54. Through the efforts of a few faithful and energetic homesteaders such as Michael Horbach, Andrew Kozak, John Chmara, Fred Wercholuk, Kindrat Radomski, and others, urged along by Fr. Ladyka, they started to organize and band together and formed a building committee. The first church building started on May 30, 1917, and was located 10 km. from the town of Thorhild. The cross was constructed by K. Olchowy from a few scraps donated by John Chmara. The church dimension was 18’ x 18’. To pay for the expenses the following was organized: Christmas caroling, voluntary donations, evening teas, picnics that yielded as much as $30.00. All work at the church was voluntary. The priest received a stipend for a visit between $3.50 and $7.00 which was collected at that time. The following Basilian Fathers from Edmonton were visiting by train: Fr. Basil Ladyka, Fr. Matthew Hura, Fr. Josaphat Tymochko, Fr. Sozont Dydyk, Fr. Naucratius Kryzanowsky, Fr. Porphyrius Bodnar, Fr. Geoge Zydan, Fr. Josaphat Jean, Fr. Ksenofont Rozdolsky, Fr. Sophron Diakowich, Fr. Damascene Popovych, Fr. Teodorovich and Fr. Lohoway. On these rare visits, the clergy had to provide services, baptisms, weddings, hear confessions, bless the graves, hold meetings and teach catechism. Finally in the 1930’s the visits were on a monthly basis with Fr. Paul Olinsky, Fr. Methodius Hannas, and Fr. Juvenalis Slota as spiritual leaders. The first bishop of our Church in Canada, His Excellency Nykyta Budka, visited the parish on January 20, 1926. The families were growing and it was important to organize them into a parish family. There was a need for a new church.

The area was almost fully settled by about 1920 and families increased by leaps and bounds. Ukrainian pioneer families enjoyed many children and as the population increased it was fast becoming obvious that the church building was inadequate to accommodate the faithful. More and more people became active in the parish and were eager to help. Roads were being improved and 3 or 4 of the faithful had already acquired motor cars. There was another settlement of Ukrainians 20 km. north of the church at an area called Tudor which also had a small church built in the early 1920s. It was in the 1930s that Fr. Nicholas Kohut was serving the Egremont and Tudor parishes. The Tudor church was also much too small to accommodate its faithful. Fr. Kohut could foresee that in 20 or more years ahead the population would outgrow the church buildings, and he envisioned that a new church could be built in the hamlet of Thorhild by getting Egremont and Tudor parishes to amalgamate. Thorhild at that time was a thriving business center located about midway between the Egremont and Tudor churches. A central church located in Thorhild at that time would have been ideal. Fr. Kohut’s proposal with the exception of one Egremont church member was vigorously opposed. There were other priests that followed and tried to promote the same idea. In the end, each parish decided to build a new church on its own in the same location.

After World War II the young people began to leave the farms for large centers where work and pay opportunities were much more attractive. Many farmers sold their land to retire or to work in Edmonton. With the booming of Alberta’s economy due to the discovery of oil and natural gas fields, Thorhild began to provide city facilities. People were moving to Thorhild to retire. There were many young and older Ukrainian Catholics but no church in town. People in Thorhild were now beginning to clamor for a new modern church in Thorhild. Representations were made to the authorities requisitioning the organization of a new parish in Thorhild. This permission was granted and Fr. John Chinchenko was assigned to Thorhild on April 27, 1952. Wheels were set in motion. Fundraising for land for the new church was begun by holding raffles, bingos, dinners, donations, memberships, and bazaars. In the fall of the same year Fr. George Maly was assigned to Thorhild parish and became very active in obtaining land on which a church could be built in December of 1952. Credit must be given also to outstanding members of the parish, William Wacko and Nike Andrew. To start fundraising for the church, Fr. Maly donated the first ten dollars on Sunday, July 31, 1953. This was at that time a great encouragement. Among many forms of fundraising the traditional Ukrainian “Pushchennia” (pre-lent) dance was organized on February 24, 1954, with a gross receipt of $184.40. It became an annual tradition and by 1975 it grossed $3,954.00. Fr. Maly was replaced by Fr. Peter Iwanec, who served the community until 1957. A small cookhouse was built close to the temporary chapel to provide lunches for the faithful. The credit must go to the ladies of UCWL, who worked hard under difficult conditions. The ladies joined the UCWL in 1955, supported from Edmonton by Mrs. Anna Pryma.

In addition, a cemetery plot was acquired in November 1956 but after a while it was proved to be very unpopular. After many years of insecurity Fr. Peter Moysiuk called a meeting of all parishioners and a new building committee was in place on March 4, 1962, headed by Wm. Koscielnuik as president, Mike Chmara as secretary, Steve Butkowski as treasurer, and two members at large Steve Kolach and Walter Bachynski. On September 28, 1968, a contract was signed with the builder, Husak Construction, for the price of $40,200.00 and blueprints prepared by Alf. Vetsch of Western Architects. On December 6, 1969, the contractor was paid for the work and modifications $41,577.00 and the local bank lent some money, with the pledge of the building committee to endorse the note for the money received. The work of building began. In the spring, arrangements were made with the Salesian Fathers in Edmonton to supply 24 pews and the main altar with payments extended over 18 months. On June 22, 1969, Bishop Neil Savaryn held his first Divine Liturgy in the new church with the blessing of the cornerstone. Many dignitaries attended the event such as the mayor of Edmonton, William Hawryluk, Judge Bartman of Vancouver, Dr. Michael Sereda, Michael Senych, MLA, and many others. The total cost of the church with all the furnishings was $58,000.00 On June 18, 1972, Bishop Neil Savaryn attended the ceremony of burning the mortgage and at that time there were already a thousand dollars in savings.

After Fr. Moysiuk the following Eparchial clergy served the community: Fr. Rendall Yackimec (1986-1990), Fr. Anton Tarasenko (1991-1995), Fr. Serhiy Harahuc (1995-1998), Fr. William Hupalo (1998-2000), Fr. Janko Herbut (2000-2008), Fr. Stanislav Bjeli (2008-2013), Fr. Slavko Dumeč (2013-).