The Athabasca Missionary Church is a member of the Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada with historic roots in both Anabaptist (Mennonite) revival and Wesleyan revival traditions. In 1949, Reuben and Mildred Spies, a retired tin smith-plumber couple, moved from Vegreville to the Richmond Park area twenty miles north of the Athabasca River. The Spies moved into a teacherage (“a playground for mice” they called it), and started holding church services in the Richmond Park School next door. Acceptance of the gospel in this “foreign settlement” took some time and patience. Roads were often impassable because of mud and snow. The river had to be crossed by ferry in the summers, ice roads in the winters, and “cage” trolley in the springs and falls.
After the bridge across the river was completed in 1955, the Spies moved into town and started church services, a Sunday School, and a Children’s Club. Two school houses were purchased and moved onto two adjoining lots (at $300 per lot). The Spies often drove 90 miles on Sundays bringing people to church in their Volkswagen van. Many thought that a Missionary Church this far north would never survive, but God had other plans. In 1959 a church building was built downtown (now the C.A.V.E. – Athabasca Outreach School). Our present facilities on the east hill were built and dedicated to God’s glory in 1999. We are grateful to all have contributed to the work in Athabasca over the years. We pray that we as a body may build on this rich heritage of faith and dedication.
We invite you to come and be a part of this story.