Oyen United Church welcomes Reverend Rhoad
By Diana Walker (with excerpts from Dave Bruha’s interview)
The usual group of coffee drinkers gathered at the Oyen United Church Tuesday morning, February 25 joined by two newcomers, Rev. Johnny Rhoad and his wife TaiLi. Rev. Rhoad brought his coffee cup. Printed on it — God, not another meeting.
As I too, was there to enjoy a cup of coffee it presented the opportunity to interview Rev. Johnny. He shared much of this information with Dave Bruha, editor of The Consort Enterprise, printed on that paper’s front page earlier in the month.
Rev. Johnny Rhoad and his wife TaiLi.
Rhoad has officially taken on a shared ministry position, serving Oyen, Consort, Cereal and Alsask. For the past three years, he has been the chaplain at Drumheller Institution. He commuted from Drumheller on the weekends to serve the local church communities while working at Drumheller on the weekdays. He has let go of his prison commitment. He and TaiLi now live in the Oyen United Church manse.
Rev. Rhoad says he and TaiLi enjoy rural living and the Oyen community. They are looking forward to meeting more people in the area, and the coming of spring.
“I just hope I have the energy to cover four ministries,” he chuckled, saying he has a schedule worked out.
Johnny and TaiLi have little spare time for hobbies. Johnny does enjoy wheeling his wife along Main Street and taking her to the library.
“I like playing the piano, organ and guitar for worship services,” says TaiLi. “I like singing. I like painting. My preferred medium is acrylics though I also like to paint with paints based on water. I love reading. It's been hard to do a lot of hobbies since I broke my hip. I love watching several TV programs. One of my favourites is Hudson & Rex. I enjoy doing Bible studies. I Zoom with a church in Edmonton and one in the Netherlands. I still have contact with my sorority "Femmetastique" in the Netherlands. We started in 1986. Before I broke my hip I was trying to teach myself Chinese (Mandarin) with Rosetta Stone speaking, reading and writing.”
“We have the canoe and motorcycles but have not used them much of late,” said Johnny. “We always enjoy having our sons visit from Edmonton and camping in the summer.”
Rev. Rhoad will conduct eight monthly services in Alsask—excluding January, February, July and August—held on the fourth Sunday, afternoon or evening, yet to be determined.
Cereal will have 10 monthly services—excluding July and August—on the second Sunday at 9:30 a.m.
He will be in Consort on Mondays and Thursdays. Those attending Knox United Consort gather for worship at 11 a.m. on the first and third Sundays.
Oyen United Church will have services every Sunday. He will preside on the second and fourth Sundays with lay-support leading the worship on the other Sundays.
“I’m excited to be involved with all the communities and look forward to meeting more people and serving in this shared community between four churches,” says Rev. Rhoad.
Bruha’s interview went on to say:
Rhoad was born in St. Louis, Missouri, moved to Edmonton, Alberta as a baby but was raised in Dawson Creek, B.C. He attended high school in Langley, B.C., where he played football. He earned a science degree at Simon Fraser University, where football with the SFU Clansmen continued to be part of his passion.
After graduation from Simon Fraser, Rhoad took a student ministry placement in Kelowna for one summer before going to McGill University in Montreal where he also played football with the McGill Redmen and went into military chaplaincy, continuing his studies and working for five years with the Canadian Armed Forces. From McGill, he returned to Vancouver and obtained a Master of Divinity degree at Regent College.
Of his 35 years in ministry, he spent almost 20 years in the United States in various posts and furthering his education. He has lived in Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, as well as Michigan, Indiana, South Dakota and North Dakota.
Johnny and TaiLi, a very talented musician, have three sons: Ram, Romulus and Cyrus all in their twenties born in the U.S. during their time there. The eldest, Ram, has graduated with a B.Sc. at the University of Alberta and is in graduate school. Their other two sons are also in Edmonton attending undergraduate studies at the University of Alberta.
“It is always important to find opportunities for the church to be relevant to the community,” Rev. Rhoad added. He is encouraging people to reach out.
Rhoad can be reached at the Oyen church at 403-664-3987 (Home: 403-664-3081) and the Knox United in Consort at 403-577-3769 (where an answering machine will take a message).
Rev. Rhoad concluded with this announcement:
“The 100th Anniversary of the United Church of Canada is Tuesday, June 10, 2025. On Sunday, June 8 we will recognize the anniversary at Cereal United at 9:30 a.m. Worship and Oyen United at 11 a.m. worship. We will also have an Anniversary celebration with the worship service at Knox United, Consort at 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 15.”