I’ve served in the United Church in Alberta since 1988 — in rural, urban and non-profit-agency capacities — and now in an inner-city congregation. In each space, I have experienced hospitality, courage and a stubborn, gritty Albertan spirit.

Most Albertans come from somewhere else. Some pass through, others put down roots.

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Over the years people have asked me, “Why do you live there?” Truthfully, there were moments I asked myself the same question. Now, my reply is that we are not the caricature you see in the media. If time allows, I tell people about the Alberta I know and the church I serve.

It’s easy to brag about the province’s outdoors: clean rivers, lakes, soaring Rocky Mountain peaks and open prairie land that stretches on for kilometres. But it’s more than that. It is the people who have adopted the pioneering spirit, which boasts hope and possibility. The median age in Alberta is 38. It is an incredibly diverse province. Of course, we have had no shortage of premiers whose rhetoric embarrassed many of us, but also many leaders who reminded us that compassion and competence can share the same podium. In Calgary, where I live, our last three mayors have been a young Muslim man, a South Asian woman and now a bisexual man in his 40s. Diversity and opportunity is........

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