The Founding Of New Sarepta
In 1765 the Moravian Brethren from Saxony Germany established a colony along the Volga River in Russia. They named the colony Sarepta after an ancient town from the Holy Land. How that name ended up in Alberta is a story of intrigue and courage.
The Brethren can trace their beginnings from the late 14th Century when John Huss from Moravia of the Czech Republic objected to some of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church and wanted to return to the practices of the Eastern Orthodox Church. For a while they had the support of the royal family and grew in number, but eventually became a thorn in the side of the Roman Catholic Church with Huss ending up being burned at the stake as a heretic.
During the 17th Century most of the Czech Republic came under the control of the Catholic Church with the Moravian Brethren being scattered to other parts of Europe. In time the Brethren became associated with Martin Luther and were considered to be a protestant sect. In 1722 they established a church in Saxony, Germany. In Saxony the Moravian Brethren wanted to spread their beliefs to others. This resulted in them becoming among the first Protestant groups to establish missions throughout the world.
Nearly a hundred years would pass before the German Lutheran Church in Russia along with the Russian Czar began efforts to control Sarepta. Many of the Brethren would leave moving on to an area called Volhynia, a part of present day Ukraine. However by the 1880’s and 90’s the Russian government began to restrict land ownership and the Brethren knew their time in Russia was coming to an end. They began to migrate to the United States, South America, and Canada.
In 1897 Rev. Clement Hoyler believed that a new Moravian Brethren colony could be established in the area south of Bardo and by the early 1900’s sixty of them found themselves on homesteads just south of Edmonton. Needing a name for the new post office that was established to accommodate the increase in population they decided on the name of the original Russian colony of Sarepta. When they found out that a community in Ontario had already used the name they added the word New to indicate their new beginnings in the new world.
The Moravian Brethren Church began in the homes of settlers. Then, for the price of a cow, the Church acquired a building, which they moved to land established for the Church, the building became the first chapel and was used to celebrate the Christmas of 1905.
By 1912 the congregation had a permanent pastor, a Rev. Riemer, and by 1918 a new church was dedicated. Before the church could begin to serve the parishioners it was ordered closed by the provincial government due to the spread of the Spanish Flu. But, by late December the worst of the flu was over and the Church began, just like it did in 1905, with its first service being a Christmas celebration.
The Moravian Brethren were among the first to see the value of an education for all and wherever they established a mission or a settlement among the first things they built were schools. The original school for New Sarepta was built at the cost of just under $2900.00 and the first teacher, a Mr. Michael Hunter, was paid the princely amount of $800 a year. A tax rate of 8 mills was established to cover the cost for the school. In 1939 the school had expanded to three rooms with Mr. Lyle Adams as principal and teacher along with a Mrs. Edith M. McLean and a Miss Lorena Cammack.
Today the St. John's Lutheran Church and the schools of New Sarepta still stand as testimonies to the dedication and courage of the original settlers who founded the community of New Sarepta by travelling thousands of miles so that they could live a life free from religious and political persecution.
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