The Rev. Robert J. Renison and his family moved west to Vancouver, British Columbia when he received a call to serve as Rector of Christ Church in Vancouver in 1927. He served in Vancouver until 1932 when he was elected and consecrated as Bishop of the Diocese of Athabasca, a diocese covering 317,000 square kilometers in Northern Alberta. He only served in the role briefly, receiving notice that same year to serve as rector of St. Paul’s Church on Bloor Street in Toronto. Before he left the diocese, he and his family left on a planned tour of the Diocese of Athabasca. He writes, “This was 1932 – the year of the great depression. Settlers were pouring into the Peace River district. To them it was the Promised Land, and like the Children of Israel they were led by a pillar of smoke by day – composed of dust and smoke from bush fires – and by night the blaze of glory left in the sky by the setting sun.” He was reluctant to leave his post as Bishop of Athabasca as he felt his work there was not yet done. However, the Church wanted a rector of St. Paul's Parish who had worked in the missions, and Renison came to the realization that the Church needed him to take the post at St. Paul’s.
Handwritten sermon notes "The Shepherd of Souls: an Ordination Sermon," from a sermon preached at Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver BC. , Dec. 20th, 1931.
This is a mission church with residential school in in the Athabasca Diocese. It is most likely St. Peter’s Church in Lesser Slave Lake Alberta. The lesser Slave Lake region of Alberta (formerly part of Rupert’s Land), was important in the fur trade starting in the early 1800’s. Missions in the area date back to Methodist missions in the 1840’s. The first Anglican mission activity dates back to 1877.
Newspaper Article “She Has Travelled Rough Roads” (About Mrs. Elizabeth Renison): This is an introduction of Mrs. Elizabeth Renison to the Athabasca Diocese. She was a talented artist who hoped to have a career as an illustrator, but gave it up for marriage. The Renison family often enjoyed canoeing, especially in Northern Ontario and Northern Alberta.
This is a newspaper article titled “Will Be Rector of Greatest Church in Canada; St. Paul’s.” Bishop Renison accepted his appointment as Rector of St. Paul’s in the summer of 1932. He had only started his tenure as Bishop of Athabasca on January 7th, 1932, and he writes that the decision to accept the rectorship at St. Paul’s was “the hardest decision” he ever had to make.
