Archbishop John Clarke: First in the Museum's Speaker Series on Thursday March 6, 7 pm

After 45 years in church ministry, Anglican Archbishop John Clarke was, in his words, “put out to pasture” the end of April 2009, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Although retired, Archbishop Clarke continues to be active in the workings of the Anglican Church, especially in the Diocese of Athabasca of which St. James Cathedral is part and in which he ministered for 25 years.

As the first speaker in the Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Centre’s March Speakers Series, Archbishop Clarke will share his early years in Moose Factory, Ontario (on James Bay) and his pride in being involved in the community of Moosonee across the Moose River. There, he took part in the construction of the James Bay Education Centre and the first high school on James Bay. “Because I really believe education is the key in the North,” he told a reporter for the Anglican Journal prior to his retirement.

The construction of the centre and high school “gave local inhabitants the opportunity to take their rightful place in the development of their communities. Young graduates became social workers, plumbers, electricians, nurses etc. Previously, all skilled trades and professions were imported from the south.”

He added, “having been sent away from Moose factory when I was 10 years old for a year at a residential school, I made a promise to my wife (Nadia) that we would not send our children away from home to go to school.”

Come to the Museum, Thursday March 6, 2014, 7 p.m. to hear the rest of the story told by Archbishop John Clarke, as engaging a speaker as one could ever find. His approach has been described as “folksy”. Come, hear for yourself. This event is free for all to attend.