Anglican Church of Canada. Parish of Athabasca
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The Anglican Church mission in Athabasca began in 1893 when Magnus Brown was hired to erect buildings for Bishop Richard Young. The log church of St. Matthew's was completed in 1896. Bishop Young brought with him a hand operated printing press and with it printed a hymn book (1901) and the Gospel of St. John (1897) in Cree syllabics. In 1908 Rev. Moxhay used this same press to print Athabasca's first newspaper, The Northern Light. In 1907 the construction of a new church, All Saints', was begun. In 1913 Rev. J.W.McDonald reported that 6 churches in outlying areas had been built. At one time there were 16 Anglican churches in the Parish of Athabasca. In 2005 the Anglican Parish consists of All Saints' and St. Alban's in South Athabasca. The rest of the Parish churches have been deconsecrated or moved into the sphere of other parishes. To enable teenage boys and girls, particularly those who lived in the rural areas, to continue their education the Anglican Church built Bishop Young Hostel for boys in 1938 and St. Mary's Hostel for girls in 1941. These hostels remained open into the 1960s.