Members Across Canada Give to Special Offering for CUC

Sabbath, March 30, was designated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada as the date for the Canada-wide offering for CUC.  A video clip and bulletin inserts were sent to every Adventist church in Canada.  

Dr. Mark Haynal, President of CUC, gave the following appeal at the College Heights SDA Church after the video was shown:

     Although this short video says the most important thing, "thank you," it does not fully explain why the Canada-wide offering for CUC so very important.

      This offering is not about balanced budgets, taking care of buildings, hiring employees or establishing new programs, even those things are important.

     No, to appreciate the most important reason why we should support the Canada wide offering for CUC you have to look no further than to the young men and women in the pews around you.  

     For many of those young men and women, CUC represents the final years of their exposure to this great and good evangelistic series we call Adventist Education.  And these years are our last best opportunity to fully convince them that loving and serving God with all their heart is the best way to live.

     The reason I support this offering, the reason why I’ve spent my entire career laboring for Adventist Education is because for me there is nothing more rewarding to do with my time and nothing more profitable on which to spend my money than this:

• Helping a young person understand that God in his great mercy, through Jesus Christ offers salvation and eternal life as a gift of love.
• And that living a good clean life and serving others and advancing the Kingdom of God is not something God asks us to do as payment for this, but something he invites us to do for ourselves because He knows living that way is what will truly make us happy.

     There you have it.  If you condense all of the complexity of CUC down to its essential reason for existence, you find those two goals.  These two goals are what keep me working and giving.  This morning I pray that it will inspire you to give generously, too.

Students Present Good Friday Drama

Students re-enacted the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ Friday evening for vespers.  In an original setting written by Meghann Diminyatz, Jesus was portrayed as the one who sings a love song to mankind.  

The presentation began in the church then dramatically moved to the chapel as Jesus, portrayed by Chet Stickle, carried his cross from the church across campus to the Administration Building.  To view the printed program for this deeply moving presentation please click here.

Soccer Team Captures Bronze Medals

Canadian University College's men's indoor soccer recently won bronze medals in the Central Alberta Men's Soccer League.  The team, coached by Dr. Noble Donkor, professor of biology, ended the season with a record of 9 wins, 6 losses and 3 ties.

Choral Union Inspires Congregation with Vespers Concert

Canadian University College's Choral Union, 97 voices strong, under the direction of Dr. Wendolin Pazitka-Munroe, presented a sacred concert Friday evening for vespers that offered the congregation a full spectrum of choral praise.  The program began with Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi, and concluded with contemporary composer Pepper Choplin's deeply moving anthem, We Are Not Alone.  The concert's printed program can be found here.

The anthem the congregation seemed to enjoy most was the classic spiritual, Ain't Got Time to Die, arranged by Hall Johnson.  Adams Babida, a 4th year Religious Studies major, was the tenor soloist.

Choral Union's annual tour this year will take the singers to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.  If you would like to help sponsor this tour please click here.  A full list of Choral Union's current supporters can be found here.

Men's Basketball Team Wins ACAL Championship for the 4th Consecutive Year

Canadian University College's men's basketball team won the Alberta Colleges Athletic League championship for the fourth consecutive year, soundly defeating the Olds College Broncos 85 to 66.  Before a large crowd of fans in Prairie Bible Institute's gym and with the inspiring rhythms of the Aurora Drum Line in the background, the men overcame a first half deficit to claim victory.  Additional stats will be posted once they are available.

 

 

 

Canadian Pacific Railroad History Still Visible near Casey's Cabin

Construction of a railroad between Edmonton and Calgary began in 1890 with stopping stations between the cities. The Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR) set up a boxcar as a station on the site of what is now Lacombe and catalogued it as Siding No. 12, making it the third building at that location, the other two being log cabins. 

Siding No. 12 was eventually christened Lacombe in 1902 in honour of a Roman Catholic priest whose mission field was in the area. Father Albert Lacombe maintained peace between the Cree and Blackfoot Indians and negotiated construction of the CPR through Blackfoot territory.

Anne Tetz evaluates a section of the pipeline
that was dug up when a road crew extended
Woodland Drive in 2001.

A shortage of water for their steam engines was a concern to the railroad. In late 1905, the CPR buried a pipeline in a hand-dug ditch that ran in a southeasterly direction from Lake Barnett to Siding No. 12. The 7-inch diameter flume was made of 6-foot oak staves bound with 30-40 wraps of steel wire. A 7-inch collar held the lengths of pipe together.  An operator lived in the pump house built on the shore of the lake. He knew when to start the pump engine according to an indicator ball in the mast of the water tower at the station. At this time, there were no tall trees to obstruct his view. The pipeline was used for 30 years or more.

In the spring of 2001 when the town of Lacombe extended Woodland Drive along Cranna Lake, a portion of this old pipeline was dug up on Dr. Wilford Tetz’ property. He retrieved two sections of the pipe. In the spring these pipes will be moved to float in Lake Barnett to mark the location of the original pipeline.

If you follow Casey’s Cabin trail due west and continue on to the lake, you will find the cement slab on which the pump engine was anchored. On the shore of the lake you will see some vertical posts. Some of the pipeline is still buried in the water between these posts.

Dr. Wilford Tetz retrieves a section of the pipeline, hoping a museum might
like to preserve and display it.

Dr. Wilford Tetz drags a section of the pipeline home.

CUC Historian Edith Fitch, right, examines the hooks that anchored the pump engine to the cement slab
as Dr. Wilford Tetz looks on.

Pastor Adam Deibert is CUC's New Chaplain

Adam Deibert, pastor of the Sherwood Park SDA Church, has accepted a call to serve as Canadian University College's second chaplain.  He will move with his family to Lacombe this summer.

   

Pastor Deibert is a native of Alberta.  Born in Calgary, he became an Adventist at a young age, and attended Pineridge (now Garden Road) SDA Church where he was baptised at age 14.  

He felt the call to ministry just before graduating high school, after being actively involved in leading local church’s youth ministries programs along with Angela Sell.  He and Angela went on to study at Canadian University College, during which time they were married and had their first son, Austin.  While at their first pastorate at Edmonton South SDA Church, a second son, Anthony, joined the family.  

From Edmonton, Pastor Deibert and his family moved to Andrews University where he received his Masters of Divinity degree.  Since 2007, they have been ministering in Sherwood Park, Alberta, where Adam serves at the church and Angela at Sherwood Care, a long-term care facility.  

Pastor Deibert says his purpose in ministry is, "To help others find freedom to live the abundant life God wants for them."  He and his family are excited to be returning to CUC's hilltop community.

Orchestra Presents a Foretaste of Spring

Canadian University College's Chamber Orchestra offered listeners a foretaste of spring at is  Music for Spring concert this past Friday vespers, March 1, in the College Heights Seventh-day Adventist Church.  The program included two familiar yet extraordinary pieces, Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring Suite and the first and fourth movements of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. 

The concert began with an inviting description of the Appalachia, presented by adjunct professor Elizabeth George.  "Professor George was able to excite our minds with the imagery the music would paint," said Cassandra Kern, who thoroughly enjoyed the concert.  "In imagination we saw a couple in a valley enjoying the beautiful sunshine at sunrise, as the wind blows through the valley, and finally a thunderstorm with rain and lightning." 

The orchestra concluded the program with two movements from Beethoven's most familiar symphony with the audience responding with enthusiasm to the very popular four-note sequence that is heard throughout the entire first movement. "The orchestra played with great energy and dramatic effect," said one listener.  "We are so grateful we have such a fine ensemble to listen to!" 

The Chamber Orchestra's next concert will be Saturday night, April 13th and will feature selected movements from concertos performed by student soloists.