A MEMOIR OF THE RIGHT REVEREND WALTER BURD, D.C.M., D.D.
SIXTH BISHOP OF SASKATCHEWAN, 1933-1939
BY HIS SON, PROF. FREDERICK BURD, privately published 2005.
Canada was his adopted land, and Saskatchewan his spiritual home. Walter Burd was born in Ireland in 1888, the son of a British Army military schoolmaster, and spent most of his early boyhood there, butt when he was thirteen his father died, and he had to leave school and start work in Sheffield, England, as an office boy. Twelve years later, at the age of twenty-five, by dint of hard work and a constant succession of night classes, he had qualified as an analytical chemist and was rapidly climbing the promotion ladder in a large Sheffield chemical firm. Then the course of his life changed unexpectedly. Unlike his next eldest brother, the Reverend Henry James Burd, who always had had an inclination toward holy orders in the Church of England, nothing was further from Walter Burd's mind than entering the Christian ministry. But in 1911 a remarkable priest, the Reverend Walter A. Dark, came to St Bartholomew's Church, Sheffield, and organized a study group of young adults. One of the leading missionary societies in England was the Colonial and Continental Church Society, and from 1901 to 1911 Mr. Dark had been its full-time Organizing Secretary for the North East. District of England, and his missionary enthusiasm carried over into his work in his parish. He had his young peoples' group read books on missionary work, and years later, Walter Burd wrote, in answer to a query as to what book, next to the Bible and the Prayer Book, had been the greatest factor in developing his characteristic outlook and opinion:
It is very difficult to point to any one book which has been a deciding factor in one's life, but in my life I would place first The Decisive Hour of Christian Missions by John R. Mott. The great theme throughout this book was the need of the world, and it seems to me that it has been this realization of the need coupled with a love of the Master which has drawn most men into His work.
Seven of us in a parish in Sheffield studied the book together, and the ultimate result was that six volunteered for full time Christian work, four of these being for overseas.
To follow up the general readings, Mr. Dark commissioned the group members to present individual research papers on specific aspects of missionary work. Walter Burd drew the task of preparing a report on the China Inland Mission, and plunged into it with his characteristic energy and thoroughness, so much so, that when he had finished his paper he became convinced that he had to change his life plans, and volunteer for the C.I.M. Accordingly, he applied to the China Inland Mission, only to receive the discouraging reply that they had no vacancies at that time.
It was precisely then that a vigorous and charismatic figure in the history of Canada and the Canadian Church, the Reverend George Extort Lloyd, later the fourth Bishop of Saskatchewan, but at that time the Principal of Emmanuel College, Saskatoon, came to England to seek for young men who would come to Canada for theological training in order to minister to the thousands of British immigrants who were flooding the Canadian West and who had no clergy to look after them. Walter Burd immediately threw over his successful career and came to Emmanuel College for the fall term of 1913.
A year later, with the outbreak of the First World War, when he and most of his fellow students joined the armed forces, Walter Burd enlisted as a private in the 28th (Northwest) Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and proceeded overseas to England and then to France with the Canadian Second Division. By this time a Lance- Sergeant in charge of a special bombing party, he led his group on the Division's first trench raid on the enemy hues on the night of January 30/31,1916.
From the London Gazette, March 15th, 1916:
SERGEANT WALTER BURD . Awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for conspicuous gallantry in the field. He led the leading bombing party over the parapet and attacked a machine-gun emplacement. He continued bombing out a party of the enemy until he was seriously wounded, and then insisted on coming back alone. [The D.C.M. ranks next to the V.C.]
Because of the severity of his wounds Walter Burd was evacuated to Canada to undergo treatment in Toronto, and was discharged as medically unfit. In Toronto he took up his theological studies again at Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto. In the fall of 1917, severely upset by the death in the Battle of Passehendaele of his younger brother Frederick (who earlier had followed him as a student at Emmanuel College and who had been commissioned in a British regiment), he managed to r e-enlist in the Canadian Army, and then transferred to the British Army to undergo officer training. In June 1918 he married Elizabeth Millington of Sheffield, a member of St Barthol omew's parish, and an English teacher and Art instructor in a large girl's school. He was commissioned in the summer of 1918, and joined the 4th Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment in France, Belgium, and Germany. After the Armistice, Walter Burd resumed his studies at Wycliffe College, graduating in 1920. During this period Elizabeth Burd taught at Havergal College, Toronto.
On graduation he was appointed General Secretary of the Brother hood of Saint Andrew, which had been a strong nation-wide Anglican laymen's organization before the First World War, but which had languished during the war with most of its members away in the armed services. Now was the time for its revival, and Walter Burd spent the next two years travelling back and forth across the country reviving old branches and establishing new ones. In the process he gained useful contacts and an overview of the work of the Church. In order to work more effectively with the laymen's groups he delayed being ordained. Then in 1922, George Exton Lloyd was consecrated Bishop of Saskatch ewan, and attracted the thirty-four-year-old Walter Burd to his Diocese as Rector of Tisdale in the northeast of the settled area.
On the 5th of June, 1922, the members of the Executive Committee of the Brotherhood of Saint Andrew, resident in Toronto and Hamilton, who had been closely associated with him during his term as Secretary of the Brotherhood, wrote a joint letter on the occasion of his resignation from office, saying in part:
... in your retirement from office something more is due you than a mere "Thank you" and "Good bye". The fact that both you and the Executive Committee realised that on your success or failure in the work of developing and strengthening the then feeble life of the Brotherhood depended its future, was reason sufficient for solicitude as to the issue, but now at the close of one of the most inspiring Conventions ever held in Canada by the Brotherhood, we are able to say that your work has been a great success and in parting from you we can both wish you Godspeed and success in your new home and work. As practical evidence of our appreciation and good will we ask you to accept this purse to which we add best wishes for your future success.
Walter Burd was ordained Deacon in June 1922, and Priest later in the year. At the Diocesan Synod in 1922, Bishop Lloyd is quoted in Archdeacon Payton's history as follows:
... by virtue of his years and experience [the Reverend Walter Burd] could be considered senior to many man who had been ordained for a number of years. Bishop Lloyd referred to him as a fine soldier of the King, a real Christian and an all-round good fellow.
From then on, Walter Burd's rise was unusually swift.. After four years as Rector of Tisdale where, it is said, `he endeared himself to his congregations', he was appointed Canon Residentiary of St Alban's Cathedral in Prince Albert. Only three years later, at the age of 41, when the division of the Diocese into two Archdeaconeries was made, he was appointed Archdeacon of Prince Albert, in charge of the Northern half of the Diocese.
It should be remembered that up until 1933, the Diocese of Saskatch ewan was enormous in extent, comprising the present Dioceses of Sask atoon and Saskatchewan, covering all but the southernmost fifth of the Province of Saskatchewan, and it was hoped that somehow it could be reduced to a more practicable size. In the middle of the Great Depres sion this seemed a vain hope. However, God works in mysterious ways: one of the other young men that George Exton Lloyd had fired with enthusiasm on his prewar visit to England was an Oxford student.. But before he could come to Canada the war intervened, he joined up, and was killed in action. He was the only son of a wealthy widow, who there after did what she could to help the work of the Church in the Saskatch ewan to which her son had committed himself.
Among her many benefactions was one that was truly magnificent. The Anonymous Donor, as she was always known, provided a sum of $80,000 (close to one million dollars in present day money) for the Bishop Lloyd Memorial Bishopric Fund, and amount that was sufficient to endow the Bishop's Chair for a newly set-up part of the old Diocese. Thus it became possible far the Diocese of Saskatoon to be formed as the continuing Diocese, with the Right Reverend W. T. T. Hallam as its first Bishop, and an episcopal election was held for the new northern Diocese of Saskatchewan. At the special Synod in December 1932, Archdeacon Burd was elected on the first ballot. Archdeacon Payton comments in his history:
As indicated by his election as Bishop on the first ballot, Bishop Burd assumed the position of Bishop of the Diocese with the full support of all its members together with their affection ... His sincerity and devotion, coupled with his experience and administrative capacity, made him an ideal Bishop when the division was completed.
The esteem in which Walter Burd was held by people in all walks of life is perhaps suggested by the magnificent Illuminated Address presented to him by the City of Prince Albert- on the occasion of his consecration, and which now hangs in the office of the present Bishop of Saskatchewan:
To the Right. Reverend Walter Burd, holder of Distinguished Conduct Medal, Doctor of Divinity Lord Bishop of Saskatchewan
Right. Reverend Sir:
The Mayor, the Aldermen, Officials of the City Hall and Citizens generally extend to you and Mrs. Burd our cordial good wishes as you assume the important duties of the high office to which you were elevated yesterday.
The Diocese of Saskatchewan of which you are the newly appointed Bishop, is a Diocese in which the City of Prince Albert has always retained a definite interest seeing that it has been for the most part of the five previous Episcopates the See City. Under the new arrangement, we find ourselves still in the happy position of being the See City and headquarters of your very important Church work.
We congratulate you, Sir, on the high honour which your fellow Churchmen so wholeheartedly accorded you when you were elected to assume the leadership of this Northern Diocese. Your duties in this position will be many, arduous, and very important, and we pray that strength of mind and body equal to the task may be given you.
Your career in the active ministry of the Church of which you are an honoured member, commenced in this city when you were ordained Deacon, in Saint Alban's Cathedral, on June 18th, 1922. Since then your work has always been in this Northern Diocese, and for the greater portion of the time in this City, for we remember that you came here again in the fall of 1926, to assume the post of Canon Residentiary and later, Archdeacon of the same Cathedral. You are therefore no stranger amongst us, and we are proud to number you as one of our leading citizens.
We know from the records of your past service with His Majesty's forces in the Great War, when you earned the much prized decoration of the Distinguished Conduct Medal, and, from what you have accomplished for your Church in Canada, that you will not limit your sphere of activities to any narrow bounds but, that all our people will benefit from the broader outlook of life which your experience brings to this high office.
The Citizens of the See City greet Mrs. Burd and yourself in the name of the Master whom you both serve.
Signed on behalf of the City of Prince Albert, this thirteenth day of March, Nineteen Hundred and Thirty Three
H. Sibbald Mayor L. W. Andrews City Clerk
The Bishop started on his new task with characteristic energy and foresight. At the top of his priorities was the whole question of work with the Indians of the Diocese, and one of his very first episcopal acts was to appoint that remarkable Christian, the Reverend Edward Ahenakew, a full-blooded Cree Indian, to be a Canon of the Cathedral and General Missionary to the Diocese. He began planning for a two- to three-month canoe trip that summer to all the Indian northern missions, and set up a wide-ranging conference on Indian affairs, to be held immediately after the first Diocesan Synod in June.
He was concerned to give women as full a part as possible in the life of the Church and in its organizations, capitalizing on an earlier initiative by Bishop Lloyd, so that there was no distinction between the sexes in the choice of delegates or members of committees. Another major move on his part was to seek the closest cooperation with other denominations, so that their limited resources were not overstretched by competing with each other. He was determined that one way or another the homesteading pioneers in the northern bushland should receive the Word of God through regular church ministrations, and he developed a scheme to achieve this end. In cooperation with the United Church he arranged that instead of centres being served mainly by theological students from both denominations in the summer, with their people being left largely to their own devices the rest of the year, full-time clergy were placed in those centres where their denomination was in the majority, but they also looked after their combined flocks with members of the other denomination being accorded full privileges in the running of the local church. At intervals, priest or clergy from the minority denomination would visit their own people to maintain their denominational ties. Very often an Anglican confirmation service would be combined with the reception of United Church members into their own denomination by their own Minster.
Another important priority was work with the young people of the Diocese. The Bishop stressed the importance of Confirmation as an important step for older teenagers to take when they were at a stage when they could make a mature commitment to Christ and his Church; he very much encouraged the work of the Anglican Young People's Association; and last, but not least, he continued the work of Camp Okema, which he had helped found, with Diocesan Summer Conferences for young people. He also strongly encouraged the formation of evangelical laymen's groups in parishes and the training of lay readers.
Elizabeth Burd was elected Diocesan President of the Woman's Auxiliary, and criss-crossed the Diocese visiting branches and encouraging the formation of new ones. When one remembers that there were no paved roads in the entire Diocese at that time, and very few gravel ones, a letter written in late 1934 indicates the arduousness of her task:
This Fall I have driven about 2,400 miles in the car on Church work-visiting the various branches of our women, doing missionary work. We have had very enthusiastic meetings & though it keeps us very busy (for our work at home will not do itself!) yet we feel it is very worth while.
The task ahead of the Bishop and his people was a formidable one. The Diocese of Saskatchewan, in the depths of the Great Depression, was one of the most poverty-stricken dioceses in the country, for the Province of Saskatchewan had the general devastating effects of the Depression severely increased by years of crippling drought, a drought that eventually led tens of thousands of farmers from the south of the Province to migrate north to homestead in the Northern bushland. The Diocese was hard-pressed to minister to all these additional souls, yet throughout, faith in God sustained the clergy and the laity in their efforts. It is salutary to be reminded of the burning faith of the Christians of the time, and the inspiration which they gave to others.
One example illustrates this with compelling clarity. Each Wednes day morning at the Synod Office in Prince Albert, the Bishop, his Archdeacons, the Secretary-Treasurer, all the office staff, and any others who were present., joined in a prayer meeting to thank God for his blessings, and to lay before Him the heartbreaking needs which had come to their attention. The Bishop often said, looking back on these meetings, that they provided the clearest evidence of God's loving care for those who trust in Him. The Bishop had a discretionary fund, the Bishop's Box, into which were put any unassigned donations which came into the Diocese. Time and again, with the agreement of the group, the Bishop would send a cheque to meet some desperate need, a cheque which more than drained the account, but in the faith that God would not leave them unprovided. And indeed the money would come in, in time to cover the overdraft. Now this in itself may not seem particularly remarkable, for some donations would come into the Diocese throughout the year, but what was astonishing was not only did the money come in without fail, so that the Bishop's Box never ran dry, but over and over again, far beyond the likelihood of mere coincidence, a donation would arrive, perhaps in the very next mail, which was exactly the amount of the need which had been prayed for, a gentle reminder perhaps that God knows our needs before we ask.
Saskatchewan was a `missionary diocese', that is to say, it required considerable outside financial support from the Canadian Church as a whole to be able to carry on its work. At the same time, however, all missionary dioceses, like the more established dioceses in the Church, were expected in turn to contribute to missionary work in Canada and overseas. Walter Burd exhorted his clergy and his people that their missionary giving should have first call on their finances, and it was a tribute to his leadership that., with incredible sacrifice, especially on the part of his underpaid clergy, the Diocese of Saskatchewan characteris tically paid 100% of its missionary apportionment, while many well-to- do dioceses paid only part, and sometimes a small part, of the targets they had been given, resulting in reduced grants to the missionary dioceses.
The Bishop's plans for the Church's work went forward, but, tragically, severe illness prevented him from doing all that he wished. Shortly after he was consecrated in 1933, he suffered from a massive reoccurrence of a staphylococcus infection that had originated with his severe wounds in the First World War. While the disease ran a fluctuating course, from then on he was never without pain, he developed various bone infections which required major operations, and a good part of his episcopate was spent either in hospital or convalescing. In November 1937, at a time when he seemed to have made a welcome recovery, his beloved wife was killed in a car accident, the same accident which broke his reconstructed hip and caused another flare-up of the infection, which necessitated the amputation of his entire right leg in the spring of 1938. Yet, throughout, his Christian faith was unwavering, and he looked forward to the future with cheerful courage. His example was often cited as an inspiration for his devoted team of administrators and clergy, and the people of his Diocese.
In the first issue of the camp newspaper of the third annual Diocesan Conference at Camp Okema in 1938, the Church camp that Walter Burd had played a major part in founding, the Editor, the Reverend Thomas Mitchell, wrote: `It is with no small measure of regret that we mention the unfortunate absence of our Bishop. Many of us had looked forward to his being with us this year, but as he must have more medical attention we must not expect too much. Nevertheless, the fact remains-our Bishop makes all the difference.' Bishop Burd sent one of his character istic messages to the young people of the camp, and here it is in its entirety:
Prince Albert,
June 30, 1938
My dear Young People:
Although I am not able to be with you for your summer conference, yet I wish to give you a word of welcome as your Bishop. I would very much like to be with you and to take part in all your activities, but must be content to follow the doctor's orders so that I can be with you next year. Some are here for the first time, and I give a special welcome to them and tell them, what the rest of you know, that they will get out of the Summer Conference just what they put into it. I hope you 'old hands' will help the newcomers feel at home, and that all of your will act as if the success of the Conference depended on you.
As I write this in the Prince Albert Hospital, I can hear the cries of two new babies who arrived last night. They are born into the world that you will make for them, and just as the generation ahead of you is largely to blame for the conditions of today, so you have the opportunity to make things better for those who come after you.
So, while I hope you will have lots of fun and fellowship together, I hope also that each one of you will leave the Summer Conference with a greater determination to serve your Master and your fellow men and women. You will find as you get older, that it doesn't matter so much what happens to you in life as how you meet it, and your gathering together, your Bible study, your lectures and devo tional periods, will help you face life fearlessly, knowing that there is nothing in this world that can overcome a Christian.
May you all have a good time and may God bless you all.
Your friend and Bishop,
Walter Saskatchewan.
Thereafter, Walter Burd's health continued to run a fluctuating course, but the intractable infection in the long run made it impossible to look for a satisfactory recovery, and in March 1939 he resigned his office. One of his last official acts was to ordain two young deacons to the priesthood, the Reverend J. C. Daisley and the Reverend E. S. Light. Fifty-one years later, Charles Daisley still had vivid memories of his Bishop:
I recall him as one who was truly a Father in God and a faithful shepherd of the flock of Christ within this Diocese. Bishop Burd's greatness was expressed in his concern and his common inheritance with suffering... The Bishop in his humility stood level with the greatest men in the ministry of Jesus Christ, yet he was every man's friend and was always available to whosoever wanted him or needed him, and we thank God for his life and his contribution to the extension of God's kingdom in our Diocese...
Ted Light, later Archdeacon, and General Secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada, wrote:
During my summers of 1935-37 ... prior to leaving for my Summer Mission I would spend a day or two in Prince Albert, lodging at the Synod Office, and it gave me an opportunity to meet with your Father, to discuss my year at College, my thoughts about Ministry, and to listen to his counsel and encouragement. It seemed to me that to him Ministry was never a job to be done but a vocation to enjoy, his faith was always so evident and a source of joy that found expression in the way he was able to meet the many onslaughts of life such as his deteriorating health and the death of your mother ...
In my early years meeting a Bishop for the first time was always a daunting experience. My parents were both from England, and our parish, All Saints, Leask, was, in the 1920s, almost 100% Englishmen and women, and to them a Bishop was a person of high position, of extensive learning, of authority and influence. I was confirmed by Bishop George Exton Lloyd in 1926; he was an imposing figure in his gaiters and unusual hat and his cane-rather than invite discussion he made pronouncements, "Young man, there is no hope for men who have holes in the seats of their trousers, but there is hope for men who have holes in the knees of their trousers." Even though we have had a General Synod for a hundred years, for
most of that time the real power was the House of Bishops, even when I became General Secretary in 1968, that was still evident, when they were in formal session they would always address one another by Diocese rather than name, to day they are much more open. I think your father, while always conscious of his position and his responsibility, never relied on his position as Bishop to override discussion or debate. I cannot recall in any detail my discussions with your father, but I do know that he did not lecture me, he always listened and his advice was generally supportive.
Today [25 January 1993] is St Paul's Day, and marks my 54th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood, and it is an anni versary on which I remember your Father with deep affection ... Your Dad was in the hospital recuperating from the amputation of his leg, and part of our quiet day prior to ordination was in his hospital room; those few hours with him were very special, and gave us a unique view of ministry praying and meditating in a hospital room rather than in a Cathedral, it really helped me to reconcile my priorities. The ordination service must have been very trying for your Dad, but it was especially meaningful for us ordinands. I keep in touch with Chuck Daisley and reminisce about those great years.
Following his resignation, Walter Burd retired to Victoria, in British Columbia, with his two sons, 17 and 15, his daughter, 12, and Florence Marian Traill, from a well-known pioneer Canadian family and a long time member of the Burd family household, who had been a valued helper to Elizabeth Burd, and who had acted as housekeeper and nurse after her death. The Bishop and Miss Traill were both concerned about ensuring a continuing home for his children, and in June 1939 they were married. Their time together was tragically short: the infection flared up into general septicemia, and six weeks later Walter Burd died. The family funeral was held in St Mary's Church, Oak Bay.
At Walter Burd's request, a later funeral service in St Alban's Cathedral, Prince Albert, was a simple one. There was no address, just the reading by Archdeacon Holmes of three messages out of the many which had been received. The first was from the Primate.
`Please convey to the family and diocese my deep sympathy on the passing of Bishop Burd. A heroic man, his memory remains to encourage and cheer us.
Affectionate greetings to all.'
Canon H. D. Martin, the Bishop-elect, said in part: `He was a great soldier and stood up to life with a brave heart. What a relief he has earned and what a reward.' The third message was a moving one, for it came from the Jewish congregation of Prince Albert. `It was good to have known Walter Burd. The memory of his outstanding ministry will not soon be forgotten. Thank God for such men. May the Divine Com forter be with the fatherless and widow.'
This last message was a follow-up to another written within hours of the news of the Bishop's death:
3 Aug 1939
The Ven. Archdeacon Holmes
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
Dear Reverend Holmes:
The officers and members of the Beth Jacob Congregation have instructed the writer to extend to you and through you to your membership their heartfelt sympathy in the great loss your church recently sustained.
The Jewish people of Prince Albert and district will not forget the service eagerly rendered by the late Bishop Burd. Calling upon the Government to take down the barrier and admit the unfortunate who were and are seeking a haven of refuge.
The writer will also not forget the Bishop's last words: "Do not hesitate to call upon us for we are always glad to help you."
Yours very truly,
S. Davidner, President
Beth Jacob Congregation
[Among other actions, the Bishop had chaired a mass meeting in Prince Albert, the constituency of Prime Minister Mackenzie King, to urge the Dominion Government to allow into Canada large numbers of the refugees from Nazi oppression. The plea fell on deaf ears. The official position of the bureaucracy of the Department of Immigration, on the question of how many Jewish refugees should be admitted, was: "None is too many' .]
Walter Burd was buried in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Prince Albert, the original church of the Diocese of Saskatchewan, beside his beloved first wife, and not far from the grave of Bishop Mclean, the first Bishop of the Diocese.
The inscription on the simple black granite tombstone, with a quotation from the Epistle to the Hebrews, reads:
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
WALTER BURD, D.C.M., D.D.
BISHOP OF SASKATCHEWAN
1933-1939
DIED AUGUST 2, 1939
"AFTER HE HAD PATIENTLY ENDURED
HE OBTAINED THE PROMISE"
