Company of the Cross
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Company of the Cross is a lay religious order which was affiliated with the Anglican Church of Canada when founded. It operated under the authority of the Anglican bishops in Winnipeg (diocese of Rupert's Land ) and the diocese of Edmonton . It also operated under the authority of the bishop of Toronto.
It was founded as something resembling a cult of personality by Ted Byfield who later also published magazines. The name Company of the Cross came from Byfield's reading of some of C.S. Lewis' works. It runs a boys' boarding school called Saint John's School of Alberta near Stony Plain, Alberta. In the past it operated two other schools, Saint John's School of Ontario (closed in 1989) and Saint John's Cathedral Boys' School (closed in 1990). It also operated St. John's Edmonton Report until it was renamed the Alberta Report (defunct). Originally, the staff of the schools and the magazine were paid $1.00 per day, plus living expenses, and lived in a communal apartment.
The religious and social viewpoints of the Company of the Cross are conservative. Its principles and ideas have been controversial, e.g., advocating harsh physical discipline of the school boys for minor infractions [1], belief that young boys should be pushed to their psychological breaking points, writing articles that attracted the attention of Alberta Human Rights [2], and lawsuits regarding abuse of students at its schools and improper preparation for arduous wildnerness excursions. One child died at Saint John's Cathedral Boys' School while on a lengthy snowshoe march and 12 boys and one teacher from its Saint John's School of Ontario died while canoeing on Lake Temiskaming in 1978. It appears to be running its course, having ended its magazine publishing operations, closed two of three schools, and reduced enrollment at the remaining school from 130 to 60. Its affilation with the Anglican Church of Canada may have been reduced, with the once remaining school it runs describing itself as "nondenominational", though this may be a way for the church to avoid inclusion in lawsuits.
