FTLComm - Tisdale
June 13, 1999

Organised religion has
always and it is likely will
continue, to play an important
part in the community life of
rural Saskatchewan. This fine
Sunday morning, I thought it
would be a good idea to
photograph all of Tisdale's
churches, most of which are
holding services about the
time these pictures were taken
between 10:00 and 10:30
today.

Perhaps the most important
thing to remember and
understand that churches and
their congregations are social

and affinity group organisations, and though they have often been characterised as religious, and all would state that this is
their primary function, we can look at them as part of the fabric of a community and see how they are also the modern day
clans of society today. People who come together, to share in a community with one another, accepting and giving support
to one another in the celebration of their passage through life, from baptism to maturation, matrimony to departure, the
church clan provides its members with a place of peace and support, that though the religious and spiritual elements are
important, the churches could justify their existence on the social services they provide.

This explanation helps us to understand why a community would have so many churches and why the differences between
each is so extremely subtle. St. Paul's United Church (above left) is served by two ordained ministers as it is one of the
largest church communities in Tisdale. St. Andrew's Presbyterian (above right) is a viable church community even though in
the 1920s the United Church was formed from the combination of Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches.
Yet here we have churches serving people with similar religious beliefs and of course once we realise that there is a need for
the social and cultural support
in a society, this pluralism is
understandable.

On the right is a picture of St.
f St. Matthew's Anglican
which is now the church for
both Star City and Tisdale
Anglicans. The Anglican
Church is remarkably close to
the Roman Catholic Church in
dogma simply because it was
formed during the Tutor
period of England out of
economic and political
conditions rather then
religious ones. Serious
discussions have gone on to
reunite the Anglican Church
with the Catholic Church and
just as interestingly

discussions have gone on in Canada between the Anglican and United Churches toward some ultimate union. The work of
the marvellous Pope John in the 1960s provoked considerable eccuminicalism as Christians around the world began
looking for common ground among them and of course found remarkable desire to share in their faith but also the need to
preserve their unique differences.

The picture on the right is of
Tisdale's Christ Evangelical
Lutheran Church. It was
the German Catholic church
under the leadership of
Martin Luther that began the
religious Protestant revolt
against the Roman (Italian)
domination of the Church in
the sixteenth century.
Tisdale's Lutheran community
has a solid following and
continues to flourish.

Roman Catholic Church
in Tisdale is on its own, in
many communities there are
several versions of Catholic
Churches in each community
as the large numbers of Greek
Orthodox Catholics have their
own churches and follow their
own calendar as a substantial
number of Saskatchewan's

people are ethnically from Eastern Europe and so feel comfortable in their often Onion topped places of worship.
However, Tisdale's population though containing some people who would trace their ancestry to Eastern Europe all
Catholics in Tisdale attend this one very large church that successfully celebrated its hundredth year last summer. (Pictures
of the Catholic Church are seen below)

It is among the more passionate and fundamentalist churches that we in Tisdale and other communities see the greatest level
of diversity. Oddly enough there is no Baptist church in Tisdale. The Baptist movement sprung from eighteenth century
England and floated over to Southern United States when it was being colonised. The concept of the church was to stick to
the basics outlined in the New Testament and keep the church and the worship uncomplicated and often make effective use
of emotionality and the strong feelings individuals often hold about things. This has spawned a wide range of churches that
have remarkably similar
theology and attract people
who might not have
experience organised religion
in their childhood. These
churches provide excellent
support to people first
encountering spiritual life
and are a very enthusiastic
portion of the family of
churches.

The largest of these in
Tisdale is Christian
Fellowship Church shown
here on the right. This is
architecturally one of the
most appealling places of
worship in the community
with its round and theatrical
sanctuary and its large
meeting rooms and hall.

The Christian Fellowship is most notable for its active and really large young people's group who have meetings throughout
the year and activities that continue to define the good times to be had by being part of a church community.

The Pentecostal Tabernacle (below right) is located on Tisdale's main street offering its members a strong link with other
similar churches in neighbouring communities.

The newcomer to Tisdale's
evangelical churches is the
Worldwide Church of God
operation which uses the
Tisdale Civic Centre as
their place of Worship. The
sign out front announces
"Coffee at 10:30, worship
service at 10:45." There
was a good number of
people on hand at this
morning service as this
picture (below left) was
taken right about that time.

The Jehovah Witness
building is seen below right

and is one of the more independently minded communities in what might be described as the religious communities. This
organisation has taken a number of stands against some of the practices of modern Christian Churches and expects its
members to go out and campaign with pamphlets and their presence, witnessing their faith to others.

The Salvation army developed in England in some pretty hard times and has been often associated with the work of various
English Christians who took the hope of Christianity out of the familiar and perhaps stogy surroundings, to the streets and
where ever ordinary people where in need. In Canada the Salvation Army (Sally -Ann) is supported by people of all
religions because of the exceptional work this church, its members and its dedicated clergy do for people who are in need.
Tisdale's Salvation Army is
no exception and has an
outstanding store marketing
recycled clothing and other
things thus providing a place
for these products to go but
also making it possible for
people with low income to
find things are prices that are
affordable. This church
community does much more
and though small in number it
is solidly supported not only
by its own members but by
all of the community at large.

For a community of Tisdale's
size it does not have more
churches then it needs for as I
went about taking these
pictures almost all of these
churches were either holding
their morning service or about

to and all told there were a lot of people at almost all of them. Do check out the links on this page to the various web pages
and articles about many of these churches. In the months to come Ensign will continue to do articles on individual church
communities and their activities