Name/Title
Appreciation speech for George R. LangEntry/Object ID
1987.07.03Scope and Content
3 page typed speech written on the death of Rev. George R. Lang. Has a description of his life. Has edited marks in black pen. Printed on three pieces of rectangular, machine woven paper with a watermark that reads "WILSON STATIONARY CO". The media on the paper is blue ink in the form of typewritten text which covers approximatley 70% of the surface of each piece of paper. Each page is 21.5cm x 35.5cm.
Transcription of artifact is as follows:
[the following is written on page a]
The Late Rev. George R. Lang.
An Appreciation.
The Presbyterian Church has once again been called upon to mourn the loss of one of her faithful and efficient pioneer ministers of the west. On Monday the 27th day of October the Rev. george R. Lang died suddenly at his home in Edmonton, of hemorrhage of the brain, and was laid to rest during the recent of the Synod of Alberta. The Moderator of Synod presiding.
Mr Lang was born sixty six years ago in Huntley Ontario where he spent the early years of his life. He received his training in arts and theology at Queens University, and graduated with the class of 1887. During his theological course he spent two years on student missionfields in the pioneer days of Manitoba missions, and was much impressed with the work and the opportunities of these early days. After graduation he was called to Wolf Island, and remained in that pastorate for over thirteen years. The lure of the west was however strong within him, and in the autumn of 1901 he resigned his charge and accepted appointment to Olds, Alberta then one of the frontier towns between Calgary and Edmonton.
Although never rugged in body he had an heroic spirit. Filled with missionary zeal and enthusiasm for the progress of the Kingdom he frequently overtaxed his physical strength in his endeavors to serve a widely scattered missionfield. In his work he always met with a cheerful and ready response, for he was a true friend and leader of his people. Loyal to the person of Jesus Christ, and faithful to His gospel message, he ever sought to magnify his office, and to bring others, and especially the young, into the Kingdon of Christ. With his co-Presbyters and intimate associates he was a choice spirit, unselfish and sympathetic, gentle and kind, his sensitive nature instinctively recoiled from the thought of injury through injustice or wrong.
In the autumn of 1908 he was called to the charge at Vegreville where he remained for the fourteen years as minister and superintendent of school homes, and it ws during these years that his best and most lasting work was accomplished.
[the following is written on page b]
…...2……
It so happened just about the time that Mr Lang was inducted into the Vegreville charge, the Presbytery of Vermilion gave Dr Arthur, then medical superintendent of the hospital, permissions to experiment in a school home idea. His plan was to take a few foreign boys and train them under the influence of a christian home for three years while they were attending the public school. Then encourage them to take the influences of the home life and the religious instruction which they had received, back to their friends and neighbors in the foreign colony. Through the co operation of the Woman’s Missionary Society a small cottage capable of accomodating ten boys and a matron was secured. Subscriptions of $50.00 per boy for the school year were received from friends, and Dr Arthur’s mother besides supporting one boy in the home, gave her services as matron free for the first year. This was the beginning of the School Home policy of the Presbyterian Church.
For five years Dr Arthur and Mr Lang planned and labored and sacrificed in the development of this new form of christian mission work in the activities of our church. During that time the one school home had increased to four homes for boys and girls, with an annual registration of about fifty. With this 500% increase the experimental stage was past, and more careful management and closer supervision of the homes became a necessity. In the year 1914 Mr Lang was called from his pastorate in Vegreville to give his whole time to supervising the homes and to instructing the boys and girls in their spiritual and domestic and civic duties. During the past ten years hundreds of boys and girls have received their training in these homes and have gone out to take their places as leaders of the thought and the activities of their people, and as advocates of the Christian Home and the true foundation of national greatness.
It has brought the unbidden tear to the eye of many visitors to the homes who have had the privilege of listening to these former waifs of ignorance and superstition conducting the evening worship with great acceptance, in the home or in the school, after they had been a few weeks under the care of Mr Lang and his staff. On one occasion seven of these children were received into full communion in the Vegreville church. At that time Mr Lang told
[the following is written on page c]
…..3……
Me that in all his ministry he had never examined a class of [“that in all his ministry he had never examined” is crossed out] adolescents who had a more clear knowledge of the meaning of confession of faith in Christ.
In this venture of faith we had the opportunity and the men of prophetic vision and of heroic spirit, to lead the missionary enterprises of the church along new lines and untrodden paths. They through faith and sacrifice have blazed the trail for us into what promises to be the most successful method of solving the non angle saxon problem of this country,
From this small beginning the school home has become a part of the established policy of the Presbyterian Church, and of other churches. We now have 16 or 18 of these homes extending accross the continent, some of them magnificent buildings capable of accomodating from 50 to 70 pupils. In these homes hundreds of young people, mostly of foreign parentage, are receiving their training in the fundamentals of the Christian Faith, and its application to christian home life, and to the principles of business and social relations.
For nearly ten years Mr Lang successfully guided the work of the school homes at Vegreville during which time he saw many of the former pupils of the homes, begin life and establish homes for themselves with every prospect of making good. Others are going out year by year [“from the homes” is crossed out] in various parts of the country to give practical demonstration of the training they have received in the school homes of the church.
Not two decades have yet passed since the inception of this school home movement, and one by one the promotors of it are passing to their reward. “But their works do follow them”. And will continue to grow like the parables of the growth of the Kingdom of Heaven. Only the future will reveal what this work is doing for the New Canadians, and what it will mean to the citizenship of the nation.Cataloged By
Martyn, SarahLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
SpeechNomenclature Sub-Class
Literary WorksNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsLOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials
Religion, Missionaries, Missions, Mission churches, SchoolsSearch Terms
Presbyterian Church, Huntley, Queen's University, Mission, Missionary, Woman's missionary societyArchive Items Details
Title
Speech on the death of Rev. George LangContainer
1987.07Notes
Location: Archive Box 1
Container: Archive Box 1Location
Location
Container
Archive Box 1Shelf
1Cabinet
Archive CupboardRoom
Collections RoomBuilding
M.V.T.M.Category
PermanentDate
November 7, 2023Location
Container
Box 1Shelf
Shelf 1, Shelf 1Room
Collections RoomBuilding
M.V.T.M.Category
PermanentMoved By
Plewes, ColeDate
July 5, 2019Category
PermanentLocation
Container
Archive Box 1Room
Collections RoomBuilding
M.V.T.M.Category
PermanentRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Lang, George R.Person or Organization
ArthurGeneral Notes
Note
Status: OK
Status By: MacMillan, Lindsay
Status Date: 2020-11-26Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
September 20, 1987Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
November 11, 2023
