Canda
Danish Archive North East

A LIST OF DANISH-HERITAGE SETTLEMENTS,
CONGREGATIONS AND SOCIETIES IN
CANADA




Various Pieces of Information
  1. The Canadian-Scandinavian Foundation: The Canadian-Scandinavian Foundation was established on 20 June 1950 as a national, non-profit organization with the express purpose of providing assistance and support to qualified and talented young Canadians of university age planning a study sejour or a research visit to one or more of the Nordic countries. The founders felt that Canadians, as well as Canada as a whole, would be in a position to benefit greatly from the Nordic experience in many fields such as public policy and planning, technology and engineering, resource management, the arts, as well as the scientific world at large where the Nordic countries over the decades have demonstrated excellence and outstanding skills. To date, CSF has enabled more than 200 Canadian students to study in one of these countries. To receive information about the next application deadline contact:csf-fcs @ hotmail.com
  2. There were failed Danish settlements at Cape Scott on Vancouver Island (1897) and in Wallace, Nova Scotia (1926). By the 1950s most had left the area of Wallace By The Sea. 
  3. Danes in Canada - 1991 census - Toronto: 10,475, Winnipeg: 4,000, Regina: 1,550, Saskatoon: 1,660, Edmonton: almost 10,000 and Vancouver: 17,955 (the most in Canada in any specific city). More single men than women or families immigrated, especially before World War II. Exogamy has diluted Danish consciousness. From 1919 to 1931 18,645 Danes (nearly 4,000 in 1927 to 1928) immigrated to Canada but quite a few returned to Denmark in the 1930s. Since 1945 there have been 42,000 Danish immigrants to Canada with 7,700 coming in 1957 alone. In 1991 the figures were: B.C. 39,975 single and multiple response (of mixed Danish and other heritage) and for Alberta the figure was 38,320 and for Ontario 32,365. In 1991 there were 40,640 single response Danes in Canada and 98,880 multiple response Danes, 22,560 spoke Danish as their mother tongue and 2,400 used it at home. One figure noted 50,465 people of Danish origin in AB and 170,780 for all of Canada.
  4. Census Canada 2006 states the following re: Individuals of Danish heritage in Canada (entirely or partially): Total: 200,035; NB 3,875 (of a total of 719,650 people in NB) ON 51,650; MB 8,210; SK: 10,445; AB 58,825; BC 56,125- There were 33,770 single-response individuals of Danish heritage in Canada and 166,265 of Danish and another heritage. In 1941 Census Canada reported that there were 37,439 people of Danish heritage in Canada.
  5. In 1941 there were 22 United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church congregations in Canada with 2,406 baptized and 1,541 confirmed members and the American Evangelical Lutheran Church (of Danish heritage) had 5 congregations, 345 baptized and 234 confirmed members in Canada.
  6. Rasmus Jensen was the first clergyman from any Evangelical Lutheran Church to come to North America. Led by Jens Munk (Munck), an experienced Danish navigator from Norway, two ships, the Unicorn, frigate with 48 crewmen and the Lamprey, a sloop with 16 crewmen left Copenhagen on May 9, 1619 to seek the Northwest Passage.  After encountering ice, snow and fog throughout much of the voyage across the Atlantic, the expedition finally entered Hudson Bay. On September 7, 1619 it arrived at the rock-bound mouth of a large river at a location near what is today Churchill, (Munk Haven) Manitoba. There the expedition experienced a sudden onset of cold weather which signalled the beginning of winter. In preparation for the months ahead, the crewmen immediately started hunting, trapping, cribbing the ships against the ice and cutting firewood. Rasmus Jensen had been brought along to provide spiritual care for the members of the expedition. The crewmen were affected by scurvy. On November 21, one of them died. A special Christmas Eve worship service was held on December 24. Captain Munk’s journal records the details: a reading of the Christmas Gospel from Luke, the singing of “Lo, how a Rose is Growing,” a sermon, and a special offering of white fox skins for the chaplain. Pastor Jensen died on February 20, 1620. After his death Pastor Munk held reading services by reading a sermon from a book of printed sermons as a service and a service is noted for Good Friday, 1620 when “there were but four besides myself who could sit upright and listen to the Good Friday sermon.” Altogether 61 others (of a crew of 64) died in the winter of 1619-1620. Captained by Jens Munk, the ships were searching for the Northwest Passage. By July of 1620 only Munk and two sailors survived to return to Norway and Denmark, and thereafter the Danes concentrated their colonial and missionary efforts in India and the Virgin Islands. It took until September 25, 1620 before the hapless expedition found itself back home in Bergen, Norway. (Most of this data is from the book: “A Religious-Cultural Mosaic - A History of Lutherans in Canada” by Dr. Norman J. Threinen, 208 pages 2006 published by Today’s Reformation Press, ISBN 0-9781785-0-5 www.todaysreformationpress.com - Sperling Books: 1 888 838 6626
  7. St. Ansgar - Archbishop of Hamburg - Missionary to Denmark and Sweden, 865 Ansgar was the missionary who brought the Christian message to Scandinavia. He began his labours in the year 826, when the emperor of the Franks asked him to open a mission in southern Denmark. Even with the backing of the local king, his successes were modest. Nevertheless, after a couple of years in Denmark, he decided to cross the Baltic and launch a mission among the Swedes. When he returned he found that the Pope had appointed him archbishop of Hamburg, with jurisdiction over all the missions in Scandinavia. From the moment of his appointment until his death over thirty years later, Ansgar experienced very little except disappointment and frustration. Unable to find enough staff, his mission to Sweden soon withered. A rebellion in Denmark overthrew the king who had supported him, and the rebels quickly smothered the young Danish church. In the year 845 Hamburg itself was burned to the ground by Viking raiders, and he moved his missionary base to Bremen, which nearly suffered the same fate several times over. He laboured to end the Balticslave-trade, and though he redeemed countless thousands from bondage, Viking slavers continued to operate with impunity. Despite all these setbacks Ansgar persevered in his mission, and whenever one opportunity was cut off, he sought another avenue for spreading the gospel. His persistence had one small return in 854, when a new king in southern Denmark allowed him to re-open his mission and begin rebuilding the Danish church. He died on February 3, eleven years later. The Church honours Ansgar as the Apostle of Scandinavia because his tenacious efforts in the face of disaster and discouragement were like the seed mentioned in the gospel itself. They were a small beginning which eventually bore a rich harvest two centuries later, when Christianity at last found a home among the children of the Vikings. St. Ansgar’s feast day falls in Epiphany. A traditional emphasis during the weeks of Epiphany has been the mission of the church. Ansgar was a monk who led a mission to Denmark and then later to Sweden, where he built the first church. His work ran into difficulties with the rulers of the day, and he was forced to withdraw into Germany, where he served as a bishop in Hamburg. Despite his difficulties in Sweden, he persisted in his mission work and later helped consecrate Gothbert as the first bishop of Sweden. Ansgar also had a deep love for the poor. He would wash their feet and serve them food provided by the parish. Ansgar is particularly honoured by Scandinavian Lutherans. The Church of Sweden honours him as an apostle. His persistence in mission and his care for the poor invite congregations to reflect on their own ministry of bearing the light of Christ during the days of Epiphany. We mark the feast of St. Ansgar on February 3rd
  8. From: Lutherans in Canada by Valdimar Eylands, B.A., B.D. Pastor, First Lutheran Church, Winnipeg published in Winnipeg, Canada The Icelandic Evangelical Lutheran Synod in North America 1945; Chapter X United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; pages 299-303
The West Canada District is the largest district of the United Danish Lutheran Church, covering approximately 1,425 miles/2,300 kms from east to west. The principal congregations are located at Pass Lake,Ontario; Winnipeg, Ostenfeld, and Swan River in Manitoba; Redvers in Saskatchewan; Edmonton, Camrose, Ponoka, Dickson, Kevisville, Olds, Standard, Tilley and Calgary in Alberta and Edgewater in British Columbia (about three hours by car from Calgary). The total number of congregations in the District is 22; membership, 2,536 baptized. The work was begun at Dickson, Alberta, in 1904, by Rev. J.G. Gundeson. For some years the work was confined to this province. Not until eleven years later was the work carried over into Saskatchewan. In 1915, work was begun near Redvers, the largest Danish colony in that Province. Several congregations were  organized in this vicinity, but since several pastors have left the field and none have come to replace them, there is at present but one man laboring in the entire province of Saskatchewan and eh served Lloydminster from Edmonton, Alberta. Several years later, in 1919, the work was also carried into Manitoba, beginning in Winnipeg. While the great majority of the Danish Lutherans in Canada are farmers, some of them have found employment in the larger cities, and hence work in the cities has become a necessity.

In the past few years the Danish Church in Canada has had to face many problems, one of the main ones being financial difficulty. Before the war many of the Danes returned to their native land. The United Danish Church has one educational institution in Canada, Dane High School at Calgary, Alberta. During the 10 years of the existence of this school, over 400 young boys and girls have attended. In recent years the enrollment has dropped considerably due to the economic conditions prevalent in the country. The school property is valued at $15,000. The United Danish Lutheran Church, in conjunction with the Swedish and Norwegian people, also is active in the Camrose Bible Institute (Canadian Lutheran Bible Institute).

In addition to the educational institution, the United Danish Lutheran Church also maintains the Dana Young People’s Home in Calgary. This is primarily for the purpose of helping new settlers become acquainted and established. Since its establishment, thousands have received enjoyment, consolation, help and advice during their stay at the Home. During the year 1933-1934, approximately 60 young people’s meetings were conducted. These consisted of lectures, open discussions, Bible Study and varied religious and educational programs. The Western District has one publication which is the official District Paper, Church and Home.

(There are two photos on pages 300 and 301; one of the The Danish Lutheran Church, Vancouver, B.C. and Rev. Clemens Sorensen, Danish Lutheran Church, Vancouver, B.C)

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