Our Minister, Larry Wright
Once upon a time, over fifty years ago, a baby boy was born in Edmonton. He was named Larry, after a book that his mother liked. Larry’s father worked for Canadian National Telecommunications and got moved around a bit, so Larry lived for a while in Wainwright, Alberta. He was baptised at Grace United Church in Wainwright. The family moved back to Edmonton (actually Jasper Place) and Larry did the usual sorts of kid things. He went to Sunday School at Robertson United Church and went to Cubs there as well. In 1964, Larry’s whole family; mom, dad, Larry, and little sister Brenda moved to Toronto. Toronto was the second biggest city in Canada and was way bigger than Edmonton. The family moved into a suburb of Toronto called Willowdale. Larry went to school there. His family attended Newtonbrook United Church, and Larry went to Sunday School and then Youth Group. He was a Cub and a Scout at St. Patrick’s Anglican Church. By the time he got to High School, Larry was pretty sure he would either be a French Teacher or a Minister. When he finished High School, it looked like the choice would be Minister. Larry had been working the summers at Sparrow Lake United Church Camp. At Victoria College at the University of Toronto, Larry completed a four year Bachelor of Arts Degree with a major in English. Then going straight into Theology, Larry completed his Master of Divinity at Emmanuel College, doing two summer field placements at Shamrock, Saskatchewan and Harcourt, New Brunswick.
Larry was ordained a Minister of the United Church of Canada in Owen Sound Ontario on May 26th, 1981. Larry was “settled” in the Prairie Neighbours Pastoral Charge, Alsask, Saskatchewan. He stayed there six years. During that time, he became a Beaver Leader and also kept up his interest in Church camping, joining the Board of the Saskatchewan Camping Association. The Secretary of the Board was Margery Purdy. One thing led to another and Margery and Larry were married in 1986.
Larry was ordained a Minister of the United Church of Canada in Owen Sound Ontario on May 26th, 1981. Larry was “settled” in the Prairie Neighbours Pastoral Charge, Alsask, Saskatchewan. He stayed there six years. During that time, he became a Beaver Leader and also kept up his interest in Church camping, joining the Board of the Saskatchewan Camping Association. The Secretary of the Board was Margery Purdy. One thing led to another and Margery and Larry were married in 1986.
In 1987, Larry left the pastoral charge, now known as the Marengo Pastoral Charge, and joined the Canadian Forces as a chaplain. Larry served as a Chaplain for twenty-three years and one hundred and ninety-two days. During that time, Larry and Margery went to Gagetown, New Brunswick; Wainwright, Alberta; Borden, Ontario; and finally Edmonton in 2001. In Wainwright, daughters Sarah and Rebecca were born. While at Borden, Paul was born in Barrie, Ontario. For most of his military career, Larry worked as a chaplain on the Base, although in November 1997, he spent two weeks, including his birthday, at Alert, NWT (now Nunavut) the most northerly continuously inhabited settlement on the planet. When he came to Edmonton and became the unit chaplain for the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry this changed quite a bit. The travelling began. In June of 2002, Larry was part of the security presence at the G8 Summit in Kananaskis. From September 2002 to March 2003, Larry lived and worked in Zgon, Bosnia-Herzegovina. In August of 2003, Larry was in Kelowna and Creston, British Columbia with the troops fighting the forest fires. On his birthday in November 2003, Larry arrived in Israel for three weeks with the UN troops in the Golan. There was a bit of a break with just military exercises in Wainwright or Suffield, Alberta; Shilo, Manitoba; and once Fort Ripley, Minnesota. In February of 2006, Larry deployed for six months to Kandahar, Afghanistan. After returning to Canada, Larry became the Senior Chaplain for 1 Canadian Mechanised Brigade Group, supervising four chaplains in Edmonton and two in Shilo, Manitoba. As a final deployment, Larry spent April and May of 2010 at the Azia Resort and Spa in Pafos, Cyprus providing chaplain support to the Third Location Decompression Centre for soldiers on their way home from Afghanistan.
During his time in ministry, Larry has been involved in a number of outside activities to keep him sane. These have included Beaver and Cub Leader; Scottish Country Dancer; Clown (clown type: Hobo, clown name: Dusty); Theatrical Make-up artist; Freemason as well as reader of Historical Fiction. Larry (Major the Reverend Larry K. Wright, CD) retired from the military in November 2010. For a while he provided random presbytery supply until he began his association with Spirit West United Church. The rest will be history.
During his time in ministry, Larry has been involved in a number of outside activities to keep him sane. These have included Beaver and Cub Leader; Scottish Country Dancer; Clown (clown type: Hobo, clown name: Dusty); Theatrical Make-up artist; Freemason as well as reader of Historical Fiction. Larry (Major the Reverend Larry K. Wright, CD) retired from the military in November 2010. For a while he provided random presbytery supply until he began his association with Spirit West United Church. The rest will be history.
