Christian Reformed Church of St. Albert
Our Story
What Drives the Church
The people of the Christian Reformed Church of St. Albert form a vibrant and faithful community of worshipers that meet regularly for Sunday morning services and other events. The church’s belief is that since Jesus Christ gave His life freely for those who needed his love and forgiveness, the natural response is to love Him and others in turn. This belief drives and defines the Church.
St. Albert Christian Reformed Church's History
In the 1970's a group of St. Albert residents began meeting for Bible study on Sunday nights. They came from several Edmonton churches and began exploring the possibility of establishing a local church. In 1980 that loosely-knit group of believers was formally recognized by Classis Alberta North, the regional governing body of the Christian Reformed Church, the denomination to which the congregation belongs.
Our first Church "home" was a school gymnasium, and our first pastor, Fred Koning, arrived in 1981. Our second pastor, Dick Heinen, arrived in 1987. Under his guidance and construction expertise, the congregation built the present day church building. It took thousands of volunteer hours and generous financial support, but in 1991 the congregation had a new home.
Pastor Bruce Adema led the congregation from 1992 to 1997. Programs such as Coffee Break, Men's Life, Friendship , Cadets and Calvinettes (now called GEMS) continued to flourish during this period. In 1997 Pastor Bruce and his family left for missionary work in the Philippines.
Pastor John Luth, his wife Audrey and their four children arrived in August, 1998 from Barrie, Ontario. During his time with us we developed a staff position for music and worship coordinator. We paved the parking lot and renovated the building to make our worship space more open and flexible. With pastor John’s encouragement many members went on mission and service trips around the world including frequent youth SERVE trips across Canada and into the United States. We continued to connect with our community, helping plan and lead the St. Albert Arden Carol Sing and serving at the Mustard Seed each Christmas. We began to participate in the Rainmaker Rodeo Parade and to host our annual Rodeo Barbecue. We developed the south lawn into Gate Avenue Community Gardens and led our community to develop a ‘Bridge Fund’ through the St. Albert Food Bank. A Community Opportunity Scan led us to help form the St. Albert Hospice Association which supports Foyer Lacombe Hospice. We became involved in refugee sponsorship and welcomed a family from Eritrea. We began a monthly pancake breakfast with the Edmonton Native Healing Centre community. Sunday School, Boys and Girls club, small groups, Wednesday night golf and church campouts continued. In June of 2016 pastor John began a transition from pastoral ministry into chaplaincy and concluded his time as our pastor.
At the start of 2017 we welcomed Pastor Tony Maan to lead our congregation. Pastor Tony has served Maranatha Christian Reformed Church in Lethbridge, AB from 2010 to 2017 as well as serving Bethel Christian Reformed Church in Edmonton, AB for many years prior to that.
Starting in June 2018 we embarked upon a journey of renewal, taking time to refocus our church priorities and mission through a process called the Renewal Lab. The Covid-19 pandemic has put some of these plans on hold throughout 2020-2022, to be revisited in 2023.
2020-2021 has seen us adapt our services in a variety of ways due to the Covid-19 pandemic. New technologies have allowed us to regularly livestream our services to keep the community connected in this way. We having been meeting again in person regularly since mid-2022.
Our church continues to provide fellowship and worship for residents of St. Albert, Edmonton and surrounding areas. Please join us for worship on Sunday mornings at 10:30am.