The history of this church is intertwined with that of St. Michael’s Russo-Greek Orthodox Church, located across the road on the east side of Secondary Highway 855. It is at that church that several “firsts” for the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church (“UGOC”) were celebrated. After the inauguration of the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada in 1918, some of the members of the St. Michael’s congregation took it upon themselves to invite the new formation to supply a priest to the Orthodox faithful of the Suchava community. The proponents of Ukrainian Orthodox affiliation were inspired by patriotic sentiment and emboldened by the fact that the Russian Orthodox Mission was unable to provide regular pastoral care to St. Michael’s.
In anticipation of the imminent arrival of the first missionary cleric from the UGOC in the spring of 1920, the initiative group formally organized themselves as the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of St. John of Suchava. This became first organized Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Alberta. One week later, on March 29, 1920, Rev. Dmytro Stratychuk arrived from Saskatoon and officiated at the first Divine Liturgy celebrated by the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Alberta in St. Michael’s Church. Following the emotionally-charged service attended by a large number of area inhabitants, Rev. Stratychuk visited two other nearby districts and settled into the manse attached to St. Michael’s, which henceforth became the early missionary base of the UGOC in the province.
However, staunch supporters of the Russian Mission were not won over to the new church. In 1924 they successfully pressured the Ukrainian Orthodox followers to vacate St. Michael’s and to instead undertake the construction of a separate church. Four acres of land were subsequently donated for this purpose across the road from St. Michael’s. But financial constraints prevented the UGOC congregation from starting work on their sanctuary until 1934. The present St. John’s Church, an impressive cruciform structure, with a large central dome, two cupolas and two smaller domes over the towers flanking the façade, was completed the following year.
See HERE for more information and a detailed history of this parish.
The Cemetery
The church cemetery is located in the churchyard, south of the sanctuary, on two acres of land donated in 1925 by the local Free Ukraine Association, affiliated with the Sachava Ukrainian National Home. The first burial was that of Vasyl Bochanesky, 31 January 1928.
Play Memory Eternal Chant
Visit this Cemetery
GPS Co-ordinates: 53.830292, -112.332104
Affiliation: Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada
