Initiated in 1914, a church was built the same year on land donated by Nick Taschuk and Dmetro Sherstanko. The sanctuary was constructed of logs supplied by members, with Peter Hnatiuk serving as the main carpenter. The building was made of logs on a stone foundation, and covered with a cedar shingled, dome-less roof. One of the logs (which was already squared) was scavenged from the nearby North Saskatchewan River, and dragged to construction site with oxen. The exterior was subsequently covered by wood siding and painted; the interior walls and ceiling were made of v-joint planks and also painted.
Named Holy Trinity Russo Greek Orthodox Church, the Mamesti congregation was served on an occasional and irregular basis by various priests with the Russian Orthodox mission. In the meantime, the parish purchased a bronze bell and hung it outside on a wooden trestle. A few years later, Ignaty Logozar built a bell tower out of logs southwest of the church, and the bell was placed in it.
At a meeting held on 14 January 1942, chaired by John Pundick, parishioners elected to join the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada. Rev. Ambrose Chrustawka then celebrated the first liturgy sung in the Ukrainian language, the congregation subsequently becoming integrated into the lay structures of the Ukrainian Orthodox community.
According to a report by Rev. I. Shwetz, the Brosseau congregation in 1951 consisted of eight members, and was celebrating four liturgies a year. In 1953 church was remodeled, with Walter Gulka of St. Paul serving as the head carpenter and members once again donating material and labour. At this time a new foundation was built, and the church was moved onto it. A porch, altar, and domes were then added to the original structure, while inside, the old ceiling was removed to make way for a dome ceiling. The following year, an iconostasis was installed, featuring altar doors that were hand-carved and donated by Metro Draginda of Hairy Hill. In 1954 the congregation also purchased the old Mamestie school, which had been constructed circa 1910. Closed due to centralization, the school was moved to a site one half mile east of the church at NW 33-11-4 W4, where it was renovated and adapted for use as a parish hall.
Over the years, members of Brosseau church continued to make improvements on both their sanctuary and their parish hall. In 1959, Nickola Karpiuk of Two Hills donated an altar table to the church that he had personally carved by hand. In 1983 the bell tower was replaced by a new one (although the original bell was re-used), and the church roof was covered with fresh shingles. Three years later, the heating system was changed to natural gas. In 1987 new windows were put in, and in 1992 the yard was enclosed with an iron fence. That same year, new icons painted by Brother Simion were obtained for the iconostasis from the Holy Protection Orthodox Monastery in Kansas City.
Meanwhile, in 1971-72 the old porch was removed from the parish hall and a kitchen was added. Electric power was hooked up in 1975, the roof re-shingled in 1980, and a decade later the facility was hooked up with natural gas.
There is a cenotaph at the west entrance to the churchyard. The cemetery is located east of the sanctuary on church property. The first burial was that of Wasyl Oneschuk (d. 16 March 1916).
Play Memory Eternal Chant
Visit this Cemetery
GPS Co-ordinates: 53.802134, -111.602545
Cemetery GPS: 53.80195, -111.60131
Affiliation: Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada
