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Alberton Presbyterian Church, Ontario, was established ca. 1855. The congregation was also known as the United Presbyterian Church of Ancaster West, and with the formation of the Canada Presbyterian Church in 1861, as the Canada Presbyterian Church of Ancaster West. The congregation was joined with the congregations in Ancaster Village and Ancaster East (Carluke) as a three-point charge until 1870. With the union of the various branches of Presbyterianism in the country in 1875, the church in Alberton became part of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. In 1925, the congegation voted against joining the United Church of Canada.

Alberton Presbyterian Church on Prince Edward Island was formed in 1925 by those members of the original Alberton Presbyterian Church (est. 1831) that voted against Church Union and desired to remain part of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. The majority of the members voted to become a United Church.

Albion Gardens Presbyterian Church in Toronto, Ontario was established in late 1957. The first church service was held on Oct. 6th in Albion Gardens Public School and the congregation was formally established on Dec. 15. The Rev. Frank Slavik was appointed as minister to the new congregation. He also served the congregation at Pine Ridge until 1959. In that year, the congregation also began construction of a church building, which was opened Dec. 14, 1961. Rev. Slavik served until 1963 and was followed by Rev. John Carr (1963-1970), Rev. James Crabb (1970-1974), Rev. Victor Raisin (1974-1982), Rev. Lorna Raper (1982-1987), Rev. John Taylor (1987-1993), Rev. Sarah Kim (1995-2001), and since 2001, Rev. Marion Schaffer.

Albion Primitive Methodist Mission included Bolton, Albion, Columbia, Tecumseth, Shiloh in Albion Township, Caledon East, King Township and Palgrave; it was active from at least 1851 until 1884, when the Methodist Church, Canada was formed.

Gisela Albrecht was born in Germany on 18 Feb. 1928. She graduated from high school in 1945 shortly before the end of World War II. Several months later she fled her home province, which had become part of the Russian occupied zone of Germany, and relocated to the northwestern part of the country. Ms. Albrecht was accepted into the nursing program at the University Hospital, Hamburg-Eppendorf (U.K.E.) in Germany and graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1949. During her eight years of employment at U.K.E., she worked first as a staff nurse in the Internal Medicine Department and later as Head Nurse of a neurology ward. In 1957, Ms. Albrecht emigrated from Germany to Canada, where she settled in Toronto. Here she worked for several months as a staff nurse at Sick Children’s Hospital before she joined the Nursing Department at the Ontario Hospital, Toronto, later re-named in 1966 as Queen Street Mental Health Centre (QSMHC). She has described her initial shock at the physical environment inside the old, dark buildings – large overcrowded wards, open bedroom dormitories, long halls with locked doors, and some of the “treatments” used such as cold wet packs, continuous water baths and insulin shock therapy. That reaction soon gave way to a real satisfaction and commitment to working with the mentally ill. During her lengthy career at QSMHC, Ms. Albrecht had the opportunity to witness firsthand and participate in the tremendous changes that occurred over the years, not only at the Centre but in the mental health field generally. Ms. Albrecht began her career there in 1958 as a staff nurse. From 1963 to 1970 she held the position of Head Nurse for Acute and Admission Services. In 1970 she was promoted to the position of Nursing Coordinator for Acute and General Psychiatry, which included several clinics, a position she held until 1979. Between 1979 and 1991 Ms. Albrecht was the Assistant Director of Nursing, and during several intervals of two or three years, she served as the Acting Director of Nursing. This was the final position she held, leading up to her retirement in 1994. While working at the Queen Street Mental Health Centre, Ms. Albrecht chaired a number of intra- and inter-departmental committees, the senior hospital management committee, and various task forces. She was also a member of the Archives Committee for several years. Ms. Albrecht was a member of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO), including its Psychiatric Nurses Interest Group and its Provincial Nursing Administrators Interest Group. In addition, she completed a two-year extension course in Communication and Organizational Psychology at the University of Toronto, and obtained the Certificate in Hospital Departmental Management from the Canadian Hospital Association.

Frederick Stanley Albright was born on March 23, 1883 in Haldimand County, Ontario, the son of Reverend Josiah and Sarah (née Moyer) Albright. Raised in Beamsville, Ontario, Albright attended Victoria College at the University of Toronto, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1908. While at Victoria College, Albright was the editor of the student newspaper, Acta Victoriana. Albright moved to Calgary in 1912 and was admitted to practice law through the Law Society of Alberta. Albright joined the firm of Clark, McCarthy, Carson and MacLeod and lectured in the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta. Elnora Evelyn Kelly was born on November 14, 1889 in Cayuga, Ontario, the daughter of Reverend S. Judson and Elizabeth (née Slaght) Kelly. In 1912, Evelyn received her BA in English and History from Victoria College at the University of Toronto. Evelyn Kelly and Frederick Albright were married on June 12, 1914 in Thorold, Ontario; they returned to Calgary shortly afterwards. Frederick Albright enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in June, 1916 and initially worked as a recruiter in Calgary. He was sent for training to Bramshott Camp in England in March, 1917 before being sent to action in France. Frederick Albright was killed in action on October 26, 1917 at Passchendaele, Belgium. He isburied at Larch Wood Cemetery in Zillebeke, Belgium.During Frederick's military service and after his death, Evelyn earned a law degree, becoming the second female lawyer in Alberta. Evelyn Albright returned to Ontario in 1920 and joined the University of Western Ontario's Faculty of Arts. She became the first female instructor in the English department and was promoted to assistant professor in 1930. Leaving London in 1931 for the University of Chicago, she was awarded her Master of Arts degree. Evelyn returned to Londonand became an associate professor at the University of Western Ontario in 1935. Evelyn was appointed convener of the Committee on Laws for Women and Children for the Local Council of Women in London. She was also president of the University Women's Club. Albright retired in 1951 but remained active in the University of Western Ontario's Alumni Association. Evelyn Albright died on April 24, 1979. She is buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Norfolk County, Ontario.

The Albrights were a Methodist/United Church family in Beamsville, Ontario. Charles Raymond Albright was born 1888 March 26 in South Cayuga. His parents were Josiah D. Albright and Sarah Moyer. He grew up in Beamsville, Ontario. In June 1917, he was ordained into the ministry of the Methodist Church. He retired in June 1952 and returned to Beamsville. His wife was Jean Little Wright. Other family members were his brother F.S. Albright (Fred), killed at Passchaendale in 1917, his brother W.D. Albright (Don) and his sister Mrs. Roy Hobden (Margaret). Before his death in 1960, Rev. Albright gave to The United Church of Canada a piece of property in Beamsville. This property later became the location for Albright Gardens, a community for retired United Church personnel.

Albright Manor was opened ca. 1968, when it became necessary for nursing services to be provided for the United Church pensioners in Albright Gardens

The Ontario Prohibition Union was founded as a successor organization to the Ontario Branch of the Dominion Alliance at the Alliance’s Annual Convention held in Toronto, March 18, 1924. Following several turbulent and controversial years of Alliance activity, leading temperance workers were urged by the Prohibition Federation of Canada to constitute a more representative organization to unify temperance forces in Ontario. This new group was initially called the Ontario Temperance Alliance but was changed to the Ontario Prohibition Union (OPU) at a subsequent meeting. The need for greater unity in the prohibition effort was cited in the new organization’s constitution:

The temperance workers of Ontario will expect that, in its leadership of the Prohibition forces, the Ontario Prohibition Union will, very earnestly seek the co-operation of all organizations and individuals that are all in sympathy with its one great object “The total and immediate suppression of the traffic in all intoxicating Liquors and beverages.”

Policy of the Organization was set at Conventions and carried out by an Executive Committee. The Union’s activities spanned an increased emphasis on temperance tracts, non-partisan political activity urging the abolition of the liquor traffic, the organization of county units, and assistance to ‘dry’ forces in local option contests, and the forwarding of information received at OPU offices regarding bootlegging and Liquor Control Act violations to the Provincial Attorney-General’s office.

After the passing of the Liquor Control Act in 1926 approving government control of liquor sales, prohibition sentiment experienced a gradual decline, especially in urban area. In 1934 the OPU was again reorganized, this time to reflect a stronger emphasis on education rather than legislation, and emerged the Ontario Temperance Federation.

The Ontario Temperance Foundation defined itself as “An interdenominational, non-partisan organization maintained largely by support of church congregations and individuals to co-ordinate the efforts of religious and other groups concerned with the promotion of sobriety in personal conduct and social behavior.” The Ontario Temperance Foundation emerged as the most influential temperance group in the nation.

Throughout its history the Federation found its main source of support in the United and Baptist churches, and to a lesser extent among Presbyterian, Congregationalists, and a number of smaller Protestant denominations. Little or no support was provided by the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches and in many cases was never actively strong.

Combining scientific temperance with the moral appeals of earlier prohibitionists, the Federation became active in many fields, including education, youth work, legislation, community organization, and an administrative role as coordinator of provincial temperance forces. The Federation dissolved in 1968 to become the Alcohol and Drug Concerns Inc. The aim of the new organization was to promote lifestyles non dependent on drugs and alcohol, foster public awareness on the harms of those substances, advocate reduction of their use, counteract advertising promoting the use of substances, reinforcing the spiritual dimension of the work, and creating support and funding resources for the previous initiatives. In 1987 the organization surrendered its Ontario Charter and filed a National Charter to operate on a national level.

Prohibition sentiment in Ontario reaches a peak in the early 1920s following the majority vote against repeal of the Ontario Temperance Act in 1919 (The Hearst Referendum) and the 1921 vote against the legal importation of liquor into the Province. In the 1919 Provincial Election the strongly prohibitionist United Farmers of Ontario party came to power under the leadership of Premier Ernest C. Drury. Despite the energetic zeal and harsh penalties applies by his Attorney-General William E. Raney) a former member of the Dominion Alliance) in the enforcement of the Ontario Temperance Act, bootlegging and rum-running became so wide-spread as to discredit the prohibition experiment, particularly in urban areas.

In 1923 the Conservative Part of G. Howard Ferguson capitalized upon a general disenchantment among voters with the controversial Drury government. Despite the entrenchment of prohibition in law it once more became an election issue which Ferguson deftly handled, making vague statements of support in rural areas where prohibition remained popular, and equally vague promises of change in the urban areas where ‘wet’ sentiment was on the rise. The Conservatives easily ousted the United Farmers of Ontario and the voters now waited to see what action Ferguson would take.
On July 24, 1924 a plebiscite was announced for October 23, 1924 to secure a popular judgement on the Ontario Temperance Act. The questions to be voted upon where:

1. Are you in favour of the continuance of the Ontario Temperance Act?
2. Are you in favour of the sale as a beverage of beer and spirituous liquor in sealed packages under Government Control?

The Executive Committee of the Ontario Prohibition Union moved quickly to create a special Plebiscite Committee to handle the campaign. Prominent citizens and churchmen were recruited to carry out the campaign under the leadership of Campaign Director the Rev. Dr. Thomas Albert Moore, Secretary of the Board of Temperance and Moral Reform of the Methodist Church, and a later Moderator of the United Church of Canada. The Committee promised a campaign which would be “brief, intense, and courageous.”

Campaign activity was conducted by three working sub-committees; Organization, Publicity, and Finance. The Province was divided into 14 major districts with further division in county, riding, and municipal organizations. Women volunteers were united in the Ontario Women’s Prohibition Committee and young people of Sunday Schools and religious youth groups were encouraged in active participation.

When the votes were tallied the result was 585,676 for the retention of the Ontario Temperance Act, and 551, 645 for Government Control. The 1924 Plebiscite Campaign was to prove a pyrrhic victory for Ontario’s prohibitionists. Although the campaign demonstrated the organizational abilities of the prohibitionists in mounting a major and effective campaign, their narrow margin of victory demonstrated a significant dissatisfaction among the voters with the practise of prohibition as opposed to the theory that had provided such vast majorities in the 1919 and 1921 votes. The disparity in voting between the rural and urban areas, the latter of which had voted resoundingly against prohibition, prompted action by the Ferguson government. Within a year the distribution of 4.4% beer was approved and, following the re-election of the Ferguson government in 1926 on a platform of government control the Ontario Liquor Control Act was passes, ending Ontario’s prohibition experiment.

Toc Alpha was the youth wing of the Ontario Temperance Federation and antecedent organizations overseen by the Youth Work Committee. Toc Alpha stands for the letters “T” and “A” which representing “Teen Ager for Total Abstinence.” The organization served young people from fifteen to twenty-five primarily in Ontario with smaller affiliated groups across Canada.

During the 1930s the Ontario Temperance Federation organized a Total Abstinence Youth Movement and under the direction of Rev. R.A. Whattam established youth posts in local churches across Ontario. However this movement soon lapsed into inactivity. In 1944, Rev, Albert Johnston joined the Ontario Temperance Federation to expand youth work and showed films and gave talks at various high schools in Ontario. In the early 1950s, he was joined by Roy Bregg of Allied Youth from the United States and the educational work among young people was expanded. In 1953 Albert Johnston began organizing local youth conclaves where teenagers could openly discuss alcohol and related problems among themselves. This conclave movement culminated in the Christmas conference of 1957 where it was decided to organize a permanent volunteer movement to serve teenagers and young adults. Thus in 1958 TOC Alpha came into existence.

Through regional gatherings and Local organizations as well as annual conventions, the organization of Toc Alpha attempted to bring in as many young people as possible. The purpose of Toc Alpha was to encourage young people to become aware of themselves, their environment and their environment and their responsibilities, in order to relate successfully to others, particularly in the area of alcohol and other drugs. It examines the responsible use of alcohol and encourages a life style independent of its use.

Toc Alpha’s work closely related work by the United Church of Canada’s Division of Mission in Canada and the Board of Evangelism and Social Service.