An explanation regarding Remembrance Day ceremony is warranted (Gazette, Nov 22).
The Royal Canadian Legion-St. Albert Branch 271, with help from the City of St. Albert, organizes the Remembrance Day parade and cenotaph ceremony every year. We are normally blessed with the same volunteers who make the day special as we pay tribute to the fallen. We were saddened when our Legion Padre passed away in 2017, for many reasons, including his brief and heartfelt meditation and benediction at the annual Remembrance Day service.
The Legion was very pleased when a well-respected and highly recommended minister from St. Albert accepted our invitation to participate in the service and we were pleased to hear he had attended the services in the past and was aware of the expectations of the Legion. He opened his presentation with his beautiful commanding voice leaving his attentive audience in spellbound silence.
Unfortunately the minister who is very passionate about his God and able to eloquently preach passages from the bible in his normal house of worship, became carried away in this new setting and lost track of time and focus on the reason for being there. Complaints were numerous and he has personally expressed his regret for failing to meet the expectation of the Legion and most of the visitors in attendance.
In conclusion, promoting Christianity or certain religions is not a mandate of the Legion and religious participants assisting with our program do not have their presentations vetted. We hope you will join us Nov.11, 2018 as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1.
Gerry Vercammen, president, St. Albert Legion
