WE'RE CELEBRATING 60 YEARS!

Submitted by Terry Lachance, 2020 Organizing Committee

Join Calgary Central for our 60th Anniversary Celebration and Rededication Weekend

Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Eccl. 11:1 NKJV

It will be a time for many to renew old acquaintances, make new friends, discover the many ministries and programs that the church provides, and reflect on our history. Although we have been located at our present address for 60 years, the seeds for our church were planted many years earlier, while Alberta was still a district of the Northwest Territories.

George W. Sowler and Thomas Astleford, two young colporteurs who found inspiration in the above verse, were the first to spread the Adventist message in Alberta, arriving from Winnipeg in May 1895. Sowler was the field agent for Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. Astleford traveled to Edmonton, while Sowler stopped in Calgary, visiting various homes and selling about two hundred copies of Bible Readings. (1) From Calgary, he travelled south, canvassing ranchers along the way to Fort Macleod. (2)

I have covered many thousand miles by rail, boat, horseback, buckboard and on foot leaving books and other literature…I thank God that here and there people took hold of the blessed truth...

Brother Sowler

The first evangelistic meetings in Calgary were held in private homes in 1902 and later in rented halls. In 1903, the first converts to the message were four members of the Gerlitz family. The church was organized as a company by 1910 and then as a church in 1914, with 27 charter members who met in the Odd Fellows Hall on the corner of 6th Avenue and Centre St SW.

Robert Kitto was an elder of that early church. In 1918, he wrote an article for Western Canadian Tidings in which he tells of receiving a letter from George Sowler. He goes on to say that he “had often heard my father talk of a Brother Sowler who had left Bible Readings and other books in our home, these books being the means of convincing my parents of the truth.” 3 Robert and his parents had been convicted of the truth sown by George Sowler 23 years earlier!

In 1920, construction of the church building that would be home for the next forty years began at the corner of 14th Avenue and 4th Street SW.

On June 22, 1959, the Mayor of Calgary, along with representatives from the Canadian Union, Alberta Conference, and our church, participated in a sod-turning ceremony at the present site. Construction got underway and progressed quickly, allowing the grand opening service for the new Calgary Central Church building to take place on February 20, 1960. Official membership was 198. Sixty years later, the membership at Calgary Central has surpassed 1,000.

For a more detailed history of our church, please visit calgarycentraladventist.ca/aboutus and scroll down to “Our Local Church History.”

In his letter written in 1918, Brother Sowler said, “I have covered many thousand miles by rail, boat, horseback, buckboard and on foot leaving books and other literature … I thank God that here and there people took hold of the blessed truth, and told it to others, and in the great gathering day I hope to meet a little company who have called a halt to examine the books I sold, and have laid hold of the truth they bore.” (4)

What an honor it will be on that great gathering day when the members of Calgary Central can sit down and thank George Sowler and our early pioneers for their sacrifice and commitment to spreading God’s Word!

To help celebrate our history and service to the community, Calgary Central invites all members and families, former members, pastors, and friends to join us for our 60th Anniversary Celebration and Rededication Weekend, May 29–30, 2020. Our theme will be Moving Forward in Hope. An open house and reception on Friday afternoon, featuring our ministries, history, tours of the church, and plans for the future, will allow members and community neighbours to socialize and interact.

(1) https://sdapillars.org/1888_bible_readings_for_the_ home_circle.php (2) Robert Kitto, “Pioneer Colporteurs in Western Canada,” Western Canadian Tidings, vol. 8, no. 23, Dec. 4, 1918, p. 5 http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/WCT/ WCT19181204-V08-23.pdf#view=fit, accessed Month Date, Year? (3) Ibid. (4) Ibid.