One of the most northerly stakes is created
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One of the most northerly stakes in the Western Hemisphere was created April 12, when the Grande Prairie Alberta Stake was formed from a district of the same name.
Comprising the northwest corner of Alberta and the northeast corner of British Columbia, the stake covers a geographic area of relatively low density, where people make their living largely from lumber, mining, construction and some farming.Almost 50 percent of the Church membership within the boundaries came to Grande Prairie for the stake organization. Some visitors from out of the stake area traveled as far as 2,500 miles for the event, which has been anticipated for many years.
The presidency of the district - which had been under supervision of the Canada Calgary Mission - was sustained as the presidency of the new stake, with Lennard Raymond Shaw as president; Richard Allan Gilson, first counselor; and Ronald Joseph Peterson, second counselor. LaRon Palmer Woolley was sustained as patriarch. (Pictures and biographies will be published in the Church News at a later date.)
Pres. Shaw's father, Arthur Keith Shaw, was ordained the first high priest in the new stake, after which he ordained his son, Pres. Shaw, a high priest.
Five branches of the district were made into wards: Grande Prairie 1st and 2nd, Dawson Creek, and Fort St. John 1st and 2nd. Branches in the stake are Peace River, Valleyview, Chetwynd, High Prairie, Fairview, Tumbler Ridge, Grande Cache and Fort St. Johns. Remaining under the mission direction are the High Level and Fort Nelson branches.
Attending the meeting with their wives were two former Calgary mission presidents - Tom Young and Mel Green - and the current mission president, O. Don Ostler.
Despite a relatively small membership the new stake "is an area bursting with talent," said Elder Hugh W. Pinnock of the Seventy, who presided over the stake's creation, with Elder Blair Bennett, an Area Authority Seventy, assisting.
Elder Pinnock added: "Even though it was a busy Sunday as a new stake was created, the conference speakers spoke of the Savior's supreme sacrifice as He atoned for our sins. It was a beautiful Easter Sunday."
