The people of Kaleland have the unique honour of being the first community to organize a specifically Ukrainian Orthodox congregation in Canada. Indeed, the establishment of Saints Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox church in the Two Hills district actually predates the founding of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada by seventeen months. That is because area residents, at a meeting held on February 19, 1917, unanimously adopted as the name of their new parish "Ukrainian Congregation of the Greek Eastern Orthodox Church." Prior to this time all of the Orthodox churches built in Canada by Ukrainian immigrants had identified themselves as being either "Ruthenian," "Russo," or "Russian" Orthodox. The use of the term "Ukrainian" by the people of the Kaleland district attests to the high degree of national consciousness that had evolved in this rural settlement over the course of the previous years – in some ways paralleling the emergence of the Ukrainian national movement in the political life of Austro-Hungarian and Tsarist Ukraine.
The impetus behind the initiation of the Kaleland congregation was the destruction of the nearby Szypenitz Russo Greek-Orthodox Church by fire in 1916. It was the second time in seven years that the Szypenitz church had gone up in flames under mysterious circumstances, though it is known that growing tensions had emerged between loyal Russian Orthodox and increasingly pro-Ukrainian members of the troubled parish. In the wake of the 1916 fire some parishioners in the latter camp, joined by several patriotically minded Greek Catholics who were disillusioned with their own formation, met to discuss the possibility of organizing a specifically Ukrainian Orthodox Church, with the Ukrainian language being used during worship rather than Church Slavonic.
As a result of these preliminary talks, held in July 1916 at the suggestion of V. Melnychuk, two acres of land for the future church and an adjacent cemetery were generously donated by Nickolai Olynyk and Michael Grekul. Because of the availability of local rocks suitable for construction material, and to ensure that the sanctuary would be less vulnerable to fire, it was decided to build the new church out of fieldstone. That same winter, stones were gathered from the nearby farm of John Orleski. Stonemasons John Shandro and Herbert Lefe started work on the two-foot-thick sanctuary walls in April 1917, after which Nick Hrehirchuk constructed the roof. Harry Osietski, a well-known church builder, put the crowning touches on the edifice by making four domes. On June 20, 1917 the church was registered under the Alberta Societies Act as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Saints Peter and Paul, legally enshrining the name. The first service was appropriately held on the patron saints' day the following month (12 July 1917), with Reverend Gregory Soroka of New York officiating at the dedication. The first wedding took place on July 25, 1917, the first funeral and internment in the church cemetery occurring in the spring of 1918 with the death of Ivan Lakusta.
In 1920 Kaleland became the third church in Alberta to hold a service officiated by Rev. D. Stratychuk of the newly established Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada. It was thus one of the founding congregations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Alberta. During the mid-1920s, Kaleland was blessed with the full-time services of Father Ivan Kusey, who for several years used the district as the base for his successful missionary endeavours in the region.
On August 19, 1940, Kaleland hosted a visit by Metropolitan Ioan Theodorovich of New York. At this time, the congregation was comprised of twelve members, and was reported to be wavering in its loyalty to the UGOC, probably due to popularity of Fr. Ambrose Chrustawka, the priest at nearby Szypenitz. During his tenure, Fr. Stratychuk had informed the Consistory that the local Narodnyi Dim was dominated by adherents of the ROC, loyal to Fr. Chrustawka. Nevertheless, the issue was resolved a short while later when Fr. Chrustawka joined the UGOC in the fall of 1941.
In 1956 a lightning strike knocked the dome off the church.
In 1960, Kaleland came under the jurisdiction of the Two Hills Parish. In 1965 a new iconostasis was built by Mike J. Chrapko, and painted by Wadym Dobrolige, then blessed on the congregation's feast day by Archbishop Andrew. In 1982 the church was renovated by Zupet Construction of Edmonton. In 1988, to mark the millennium of Ukraine's acceptance of Christianity, parishioner Olga Oreleski painted full-sized portraits of Sts. Volodymyr and Olha, which were hung behind the altar.
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GPS Co-ordinates: 53.751410, -111.885429
Affiliation: Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada
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