| HISTORY/BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | The first service of the Presbyterian Church in Fort Saskatchewan was conducted by Rev. A.B. Baird in the N.W.M.P. barracks on January 8, 1882. The original log church was built in 1886 in the vicinity of the old courthouse. The first resident minister, Rev. Alexander Forbes, arrived in Dec. 1884 and a new church building was dedicated on October 13, 1895, north of the present train station.
The first Methodist service was held in Fort Saskatchewan in Marriaggi's Hall in the Mansion Hotel on Dec. 23, 1900 and in the same year the Beaver Hills Methodist Church was completed on the present Josephburg Recreation Grounds. A new church was built in 1902 on the site of what is now the First United Church parking lot.
The first United Church parsonage was built in the Fort proper in 1901, the same year as the arrival of the first ordained minister, Rev. A.R. Aldridge. In 1925, with the union of the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregational denominations into the United Church of Canada, the First United Church congregation in Fort Saskatchewan was established, holding services in the Presbyterian Church building for the first three years. That property was then sold and the congregation moved into the Methodist Church.
In 1943, First United Church became part of the Fort Saskatchewan Pastoral Charge, a multi-point charge. In 1956, the Charge became a two-point charge including First United and Partridge Hill United Church. The original church building was destroyed by fire on March 5, 1947. A new sanctuary was completed on the same site in 1949. In 1953, Beaver Hills United Church amalgamated with First United and in 1961 a Christian Education wing was added. The current Sanctuary was dedicated on November 21, 1993 and the original sanctuary was demolished in 1998. The wing added to the old building remains and is currently used to house the church offices. First United Church is located in Yellowhead Presbytery and, as of 2009, the only charge of the Fort Saskatchewan Pastoral Charge.
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| SCOPE AND CONTENT: | The fonds consists of Annual Reports (1956-1977); Methodist/United Quarterly Official Board minutes (1907-1959); Presbyterian Session minutes (1902-1925); Session minutes, reports, and correspondence (1925-1962); Committee of Stewards minutes (1939-1969); Methodist Board of Trustees minutes (1915-1916); Congregational Meeting minutes (1939-1969); Methodist Circuit Register (1899-1957); Presbyterian Communion Roll and Register (1907-1917); Presbyterian/United Communion Roll (1923-1944); United Communion Roll and Register (1944-1962); Methodist/United Register of Baptisms (1906-1919), Marriages (1908-1919) and Burials (1906-1929); Presbyterian/United Registers of Baptisms (1910-1956), Marriages (1910-1955) and Burials (1917-1955); United Register of Baptisms (1956-1976), Marriages (1955-1976) and Burials (1955-1976); Presbyterian/United Membership certificates and correspondence (1907-1956); Presbyterian/United Financial Statements (1907-1948, with gaps); Presbyterian Parsonage Accounts (1902-1905); Presbyterian Church Land Grant and Property File (1901-1916); Building Committee minutes (1947-1949); Women's Association minutes and membership roll (1955-1961); Women's Association Evening Group minutes (1949-1962); Ladies' Aid Afternoon Group minutes (1929-1938, 1953-1961 includes membership roll) and Cash Book (1925-1947); Hi-C minutes (1963-1965); Sunday School minutes, financial reports, and attendance records (1932-1951); Orders of Service (1955, 1961-1962, 1982); 1 photograph of First United Church (1955, UC176); Historical Data (1936-1971); 75th Anniversary booklet (1962); History of First United Church, Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta: 125 Years of Faith 1882-2007 (2007). |