Fond memories
Historic church remembered on its 60th anniversary

Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 18/99) - The Holy Trinity Anglican Church celebrated its 60th anniversary last weekend, and for many of its congregation it was a time to reflect on the triumphs and changes the church has been through over the years.

For Mary Hamilton, a member of the Holy Trinity congregation since 1939, there have been many such moments that have marked the passage from the old to the new -- all of them special in her recollection.

"The church only had seven members in its congregation when it first opened in 1939," Hamilton said. "There was myself, Mabel Braathen, two policemen, my future husband Red Hamilton, and another couple that I can't remember their names.

"It was really quite small, just a tent."

The church first opened on June 12, 1939, and its first minister was Reverend Cecil Randell, who would remain to serve the congregation for the next four years. The canvas tent was soon replaced by a log cabin, which exists to this day as the mission behind the Wildcat Cafe.

Barb Bromley, who came to Yellowknife in 1948, remembers that the church underwent many more changes before finally making its home on 52nd Street.

"The church had moved on to the mainland in 1947, just down the hill from Pilot's Monument," Bromley said. "It then moved uptown temporarily to the old public school site (on the same lot where Mildred Hall school is now)."

"The basement of the new church was built in 1950, and in 1955 we built the top floors. The town was growing and so did the parish."

Reverend Randell had left Yellowknife long before the church moved uptown. In the interim before the new church was built, Reverend Batten served as minister between 1943 and 1947, followed by Reverend Tom Greenwood and then Reverend Robert Douglas, who came to serve as minister in the newly- built church in 1955.

Despite the many changes with the church, a few cherished reminders of the church's origins remain to this day.

"We still have the original church organ," said congregation member and former organist, Esther Braden. "It probably ended up here when early missionaries were giving services up and down the Mackenzie River."

Braden remembers when she first arrived to join the congregation in 1964.

"Music was always a big part of the church," Braden said. "I arrived to town on a Friday and on Sunday I played the evening psalm. We always had very good singers and musicians."

For Bromley, it was the children that made the Holy Trinity Church a welcoming place.

"We had the first charter scouts, cubs, brownies and guides. That started in 1946, and remains as one of my most fondest memories because it was associated with the church."

Hamilton remembers the food and the gathering of friends.

"All the pot-luck dinners and harvest suppers were really nice," Hamilton said. "It was always good food and lots of it. We always had very willing helpers when it came to doing something for the church."