New Sarepta
[1] The ancient Phoenician city of Sarepta was located on the Mediterranean coast of today's Lebanon, approximately at the site of the modern village of Sarafand, between Sidon and Tyre.About a century after its founding, the larger German Lutheran Church in Russia began efforts to take Sarepta under its wing.Many of the Moravian Brethren objected, moving elsewhere in Russia, then choosing to emigrate to the Western Hemisphere, including Canada.From various suggestions, approximately 60 people in the new community signed a document favouring the name Sarepta, honouring their previous village.When the new province of Alberta was split from the North-West Territories in 1905, the government added "New" to distinguish it from the existing place name in Ontario.