Church records combine with family stories to create a local historical treasure
St. George Wakefield Church recently released a history book that encompasses the stories of the people who have been part of the parish throughout its history. The book titled A History of Faith, Family and Friendship is not only a book of church records but tells the stories of many local families, in their own words, from the church’s 120-year history.
St. George Wakefield Church has been a longtime church in our community. Residents will likely know of some of the good work that they do for our region, even if they aren’t members.
“We do our best to do outreach throughout our community and sometimes worldwide. We do a lot of fundraising, but these activities and events that we hold have become staples in our community, and people look forward to them. The main activities are: we have a roast pork dinner, we have our indoor yard sale, we have a fall tea and bazaar, we do a Halloween dance for the children, we do a drive-through perogy dinner, and we have more people drive through than come in and sit down. The people from the community really enjoy that we do it on a work day so they can just come by for supper and take it home,” said Joan Wilkinson, who is part of the history committee at the church.
The idea to put together a book of the history of all the people who were part of the church over the years came from its members.
“We just happened to have a new parishioner come to our parish, and she just happened to be a writer. We were coming up with ideas for (our) 120th anniversary, a few years ago. We do a photo directory, where we take pictures of everyone, and we try and write up stories, but that’s more just for the parishioners. So, we got talking about it, and we thought, well, maybe we should add to this and add 10 pages or so. We started talking about stories and parishioners from the past, and it just blossomed into a book,” explained Wilkinson.
The book was released at a book launch that the church hosted to celebrate its completion on Aug. 24. This coincided with an outdoor memorial service that they put together every year in honour of those who have come before, which was a symbolic time for a book like this to come out.
The whole historical committee, which included Wilkinson, Brenda McRae, Gail Charlo, Maureen Petersen, Jason Mutbean, Kirsten Pinto Gfroerer, and the Venerable Godfrey Mawejje authored the book, but it wasn’t a venture that they did alone, as they asked parishioners who attended currently and in the past to contribute as well.
“We asked families who are either friends or relatives of St George’s to write to each family and have a representative write a story, and provide a picture, or pictures of their family. So, we gathered those stories, and those stories have helped us to be the backbone of the book,” said Wilkinson.
Mawejje felt that the book’s foreword, which he wrote, really described what the book was all about.
“The stories of the founding of the church, the establishment of the parish, and the building of the church speak of people’s need for God and care for their spirituality at home and in the community they lived in. Their urge, intention, and hope to pass on to emerging generations the same faith is evident in their care for the church building, the church yard and cemetery, regular church attendance, activities, and stewardship (donations of money, talent, time and skill).
“As you closely explore individual family stories, you learn more of what forms descendants of past members and the values they held and exhibited. We appreciate the resilience of our ancestors and vow to walk in their footsteps. The family stories in this book provide memories about real people, who we love and cherish. We treasure their work in the parish and read this piece of work with gratitude and thanksgiving to God,” he said.
They explained that the history in this book is quite vast. It starts with the pioneering people who built the church and goes from there.
Members of the current history committee have parents and grandparents in the book, and there are bits that include their children and grandchildren, so it spans generations.
The reason that the church wanted to create this history was so that it would be available to the next generations.
“A short pencil is better than a long memory,” said Mawejje.
Wilkinson also explained that with families moving away from their home churches, not just their church, but many churches, it does mean that there isn’t a continuance of family legacy being made in one place like there used to be, so this is one way of making sure that isn’t lost.
The group says that they have sold about 125 books so far, between the soft and hardcover books that they have had printed and have 40 or so softcover books left to sell.
They explained that it’s not just people who will have family in the book that might be interested, but that local history buffs might also like to give this book a read.
Mawejje said that there was a lot of excitement when the books were released.
“It was like when we march in the haggis on Robbie Burns Day, if you’ve been to that, they matched in the book, and we were all excited,” he said.
To get your copy of the book, contact the church at StGeorgeWakefield@outlook.com. It’s $35 for the softcover and $50 for a hardcover version, with proceeds from the sale going towards the fundraisers and projects that St. George Wakefield Church does in our community.
